Customer Reviews

The Creative Writer's Phrase-Finder

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Creative Writer's Phrase-Finder is a great resource for writers of all ages and areas of competency.

This unassuming book has over 350 pages of great suggestions on how to spice up your dialog, action, or descriptive scenes.

Includes sections, on people, time of day, illness, and even insects. Examples of great descriptive dialog: "his breath coming in quick, pain-filled gasps" to "she grotesquely misinterpreted his actions," "the foul odor of decay," etc.

This book has it all, even a chapter on common first names and transitional phrases such as 'furthermore' 'in action' and 'after all.'

A must for any writer, seeking inspiration, or spice for their work with something different!

Very nice book full of useful or at least inspiring phrases that can give you the boost you need to start thinking of things in new ways and start generating some interesting descriptive phrases of your own. If you can craft stories, but can't describe them in an interesting and imaginative way, this might very well help. I also recommend 'The Describers Dictionary' for its unique approach to helping along these same lines. One fault I find in most of these books is describing things using the senses.. smell, taste, touch.. these types of descriptions are usually very lacking, and I think adding 'sense' elements to a story is pretty important for a reader to become more immersed in the world. Regardless, this is a great source of inspiration. Keep it next to a thematic thesaurus (Rogets International, Word Menu, etc), to help your writing.

A unique compendium of 9,000 descriptive phrases. Helps to overcome "writer's block." Provides fresh ideas"...deserves a place on the desk of every author, creative writing teacher, and editor. Easy to read type. A bargain.

I purchased the book, and like the format inside, however, I believe it would be more manageable if it was a little larger and printed as a paperback. The information is on time and as the title says, it is the creative writer's phase-finder! I would recommend the book to my writer friends.

I love this book. It can help you change a phrase and convey what you want. I have another one for a specific genre, but this one is invaluable. The suggestions for quotes alone are worth the cost of the book. You will NOT regret buying this book!

The phrases are helpful to hilarious. This book is also a must-have for all aspiring authors, it's handy for putting things into words that you can't quite put your finger on.

After, what seems like years, I'm back on the creative writing kick. I'm even taking two creative writing courses and once I started writing I realized I was missing something that was always by my side - THE CREATIVE WRITER'S PHRASE-FINDER! This book will take my writing from dull, flat and boring to something actually worth reading! It pumps life into my writing and takes description on a whole new level. In fact, I love this book so much, I bought TWO! It's a definite God-send for creative writers. I highly recommend this book!

"She kept her eyes reproachfully on his face." Really? Is this to be used in a medical horror/thriller about transplants run amuck? That's only one example of suggestions from this Phrase-Finder. Perhaps her GAZE could have been kept on his face, but I sure hope her EYES stayed firmly in her own sockets, lest surgeons must be called in!

Furthermore, if you aren't careful, your character's eyes can "slide obliquely across" someone's face! Now, a thing like that could give you quite a rash, especially of the other guy is in need of a shave!

I am aware that this is meant to be a book to spark your own creativity. However, I feel that there has got to be something better than this volume. Truthfully, these are the kinds of mistakes that get peals of shared laughter at writers' workshops. These are mistakes that anyone can make. So, for your own sake as a writer, don't set yourself out to learn the wrong way!

I really don't like giving bad reviews. However, in truth, this is a writer's aid that can hamper your creativity and make an editor stop reading before he/she has a chance to experience the real content of your work.