Hello, I was wondering how you, as writers, would describe the explosion in Beirut: Here's how I have done it: After the deafening sound of the explosion, a massive cloud rose up to devour the whole city. Pile upon pile of debris showered over the broken city. The mighty explosion cut a swathe of destruction across the port. All the streets were strewn with shattered glass. Those who survived stared at the cloud in disbelief... Please let me know how I can make it better and write your own description if you feel like it.
That depends on a number of things. - Who's witnessing the event - Where they are when it happens - How far they are from the explosion - Their background/experience ...to name a few.
The port disappeared in a colossal explosion. Sometimes, short, punchy descriptions are better. It depends on the flow of the narrative. Or I might just describe it as an earth-shattering kaboom.
Jamilla opened her eyes and jumped out of bed with a bad premonition. What had awoken her was none other than the strong scent of something burning. This burning scent however wasn't alike any other she had ever experienced. It was heavier and more suffocating; distinctively chemical. She followed the scent and soon enough her concerned eyes landed on the source of a remarkable catastrophe. Through her balcony's glass door, she saw an ominous dark cloud hovering over the city. A building over the port, about three hundred meters away from her hotel seemed to have caught on fire. She went outside to witness the dire scenery unobstructed by the glass barrier. She could hear faint explosions of firecrackers, as white dots flashed randomly through the thick black smoke permeated from the old building. Might it be a firecracker factory accident? The blast caught her of guard. It was so powerful that in an instant she felt as though her eardrums exploded. It happened so fast that she didn't have time to react at all. In the blink of an eye the factory was ripped apart in tiny pieces disappearing like paper scraps in the engulfing fire. All the nearby buildings, houses, factories, all blown away like cardboard structures. The shockwave was of biblical proportions. It spread across the city like a foggy white sphere expanding in the speed of a rocket, like a mindless beast that devoured everything on its passage, turning stone into dust, fussing every single particle in its cataclysmic force. In the blink of an eye the wind of death reached Jamilla. It felt as though the hand of god slapped her, shooting her back inside. She flew half conscious in the air, amidst the thick dust, the broken glass and metallic scraps until she hit the wall behind her and then landed on the mattress. Covered in debris she lost consciousness.
