How do I practice descriptive language?

The most direct way to practice descriptive language is through a focused exercise: Pick one judgment you made today — about a person, a decision, or an outcome. Write the evaluative version first (the label you applied). Then rewrite it as pure description: only what a camera and microphone would have recorded. Compare the two sentences. Notice what the evaluative version added that wasn't in the raw data.

Common pitfall: Believing you've described something when you've actually evaluated it. 'She interrupted me' sounds factual, but 'interrupted' carries evaluative weight — it implies rudeness, disrespect, intentional transgression. The purely descriptive version: 'She began speaking while I was mid-sentence.' This distinction is subtle enough that most people fail to catch evaluative language in their own speech for weeks after learning about it.

This practice connects to Phase 5 (Observation Without Judgment) — building it as a repeatable habit compounds over time.