Sarah's advice: writing descriptions

If you want your single friend to have the best possible chance on MSF then writing a cracking description is the best help you can give. Here are a few tips to help your single friend out.

1. Keep it (fairly) brief

This can be a tricky line to tread. You want to do justice to your friend's full and fascinating life, but you don't want to bore potential dates with a detailed account of their amazing hat trick in the 1988 youth club cup final. Stick to two or three succinct paragraphs outlining why your friend is a stone cold fox and how much fun they are to be around.

2. Keep it light

MSF is all about the fun, remember, so avoid any doom and gloom. This doesn't mean you have to suggest that your friend skips around in a glittery world full of kittens and lollipops, but you want to give them a fighting chance so think about how you phrase things. For example: 'Sharon has just about recovered from a very painful and drawn out break up' versus 'Sharon is recently back on the dating scene'. One definitely sounds better than the other, I'm sure you'll agree.

3. Be creative

Don't be afraid to do something different. A poem, a limerick, a list, a Cosmo-style questionairre, anything like this will make your friend stand out from the crowd. If you're sticking to the few paragraph format make sure you throw in some wit and sparkle. Take your time over it to make sure you're making your friend sound as good as you can.

4. Make it specific

As you have been given the very high honour of writing your friend's description, you must know them pretty well. With this in mind, think of specific things that you know and love about your friend, that you feel describes them well and will make them seem real to the reader. For example, rather than a list of things your friend likes ('Sharon enjoys pasta, flowers, vodka, zumba and Busta Rhymes') try to think of an engaging anecdote ('Sharon is a huge fan of Busta Rhymes and once drank so much vodka after going to zumba that she posted him some flowers and pasta').

5. Be nice, but not too nice

As all of the above attests, your job here is to big up your friend. However, some of the best descriptions I've read aren't shy of a little gentle mockery. It might seem parodoxical that you taking the mick out of your friend will make them more attractive to others but it illustrates the strength or your friendship and will show that they have genuine mates and are a genuine (ie. slightly less than perfect) human being. Don't go too far though, you don't want them sobbing into their keyboard as they're trying to reply.

And that's it! f you want some more ideas, keep your eyes open for our regular Fab Profile Alerts to check out the profiles that catch our attention. I'll be back in a couple of weeks with some more online dating advice, tips and news.