Customer Reviews

Romance Writer's Phrase Book (Perigee)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Don't give it as a gift. Really. This book is beyond insulting to a writer. But, is it useful? You better believe it! It's especially useful when your brain has just cramped up from writer's block; or, when you need just the right hue of green for the hero's eyes and all you can think of is "glittery mold". Save yourself from insult and be sure to buy this book before someone thinks it a kindness to buy it for you.

Take a little bit from column A, add it to column B... continue on, and before you know it, you have your very own romance novel! Well, it doesn't quite write itself, and this book doesn't exactly give you everything you need--but where's the fun in writing if you take it all from somewhere else? Sometimes I felt like I was cheating--sneaking a look at the answers before writing something myself. But this isn't cheating. It's inspiration, a nudge in the direction you want to go. It's a companion book, but not something you can't live without.

It is exactly what it claims to be--a romance phrase book. It covers looks, feelings, facial expressions, voices, and, of course, sex. This last category I found the most lacking. The sex is the most important part of a romance novel--it's why most people read the books. I felt that the phrases used here were a bit... reserved. They skirted around the lovemaking and didn't get around to the nitty-gritty of it. We get phrases like "love flowed in her like warm honey" and "gusts of desire shook her," but not much that actually gets down to describing the act of intercourse. I guess this is what I have to come up with on my own.

Something I was hoping to find in a book like this is more words for anatomy. There is a section on physical appearance--both male and female--but they're the shortest sections in the book. Again, I found this book a little reserved. Where are the euphemisms for that certain part of the male anatomy? There are plenty of words to use, but it's difficult to know which to use when... and this book helps none at all with that. Again, this is one of the most important parts of a romance novel. You'd think that they could at least include something as simple as this--I don't want to have to use "manhood" for the rest of my romance writing career.

Other than that, though, this book is rather good. It's a good way to spark the imagination. If you're having trouble in your writing, pick up this and get a little hint. Sometimes that's all it takes.

Oh, but this book is awful! Its authors have taken all the very worst, most revolting, most overused phrases found in romance books (those same hackneyed phrases that make romance book editors swear they'll scream if they have to read them one more time) and organised them into one tome, all in neat little chapters. This book is like a tombstone on the grave of creative writing, and my advice to any aspiring romance writers is to follow your heart and your head in your writing, not the sickeningly bad examples shown in this book. Frankly, while this book's terminology is supposed to be rather sexy and sensual in content, it is actually only about as much of a turn on as getting a pap smear. In fact, I've read tractor magazines that were hotter and spicier than this.

And yet, in spite of all that, this book is nonetheless still quite a fun read, so long as you don't take it too seriously. Honestly, most of the phrases listed in it are downright hilarious! Read them out with your friends while you're drinking margheritas. Test how long you can keep a straight face before you have to laugh at how ridiculous they are.

My advice to you is that if you want a good laugh, then go ahead and purchase this book. However, if you're looking to buy it because you need advice on how to write a good, original romance book and be taken seriously as an author, then look elsewhere. Elizabeth Benedict's book, 'The Joy of Writing Sex' is an excellent alternative. Or try a simple, old fashioned thesaurus. I'm sure Amazon sells them.

I've owned this book for many, many years and it's to the point where the cover and pages are dog-eared and the spine fell apart so I had to tape it to make it last longer. So when I read the reader comments below, I had to post a different take on this book.

Yes, the book was written back in the 80sm so yes, the verbiage and trends in "how" you say things has changed. Any reference books can become out of date. However, the overall message and purpose of the book seems to have been overlooked. The Romance Writers' Phrase Book is a guide that's meant to inspire an author and get a writer to understand the importance and the role of the "descriptive tag/phrase" when it comes to the overall art of writing as a whole.

Romance fiction in particular relies a great deal on emotion and internal conflict. Neglecting the little details, those descriptive phrases, can make or break a story. When I open this book, I'm not looking for a word-for-word phrasing I can simply cut and paste into my manuscript. Romance writing (heck, any writing) is never that simple or that formulaic. For me, the phrase book is a good starting point when I'm stumped on a gesture or where to start on how I want to describe an action or a particular emotion.

The Romance Writers' Phrase Book has everything from describing facial features like eyes, noses, lips, and foreheads to common actions like sitting, standing, and shrugging. It covers positive gestures like smiling, to negative gestures, expanding the basic frown to include visual cues like the eyebrows and eyes. The book covers a wide range of "emotion" tags/phrases as well.

The Phrase Book isn't meant to be a verbatim dictionary of tags and phrases to copy, it's meant to help teach a writer how to develop their own, to show them the difference between writing:

He reached out and touched her arm.

AND

A tingling of excitement raced through her as his fingers trailed sensuously down her arm.

While some of the phrasing might seem out of date, the message and lesson of the book will never age, and the inspiration a writer can gain from its pages is priceless. That's why this book is never far from reach and is a staple on my bookshelf.

Okay, I know that there is a lot of bad romance writing out there full of embarrassingly melodramatic descriptions and cheesy metaphors. And this book has plenty of silly phrases that I would NEVER use; but it also has a lot of wonderful, inventive phrases and a rich vocabulary.

The book is an enormously helpful tool, if you give it the proper chance, and appreciate it for what it is. I don't use it to copy the phrases. I use it to spark my own imagination, to help me come up with my own phrases.

So often only cliches come to mind when I try to write a sex scene, or even a passionate kiss. This phrasebook offers such a wonderful variety of descriptions for that kind of thing. It reminds me that the English language is much more interesting than my day to day vocabulary.

I might use a verb from one phrase, combine it with a noun on the next page, then maybe add a cool metaphor of my own that I wouldn't have thought of if I hadn't been inspired by something from the phrase book.

I highly recommend this book to writers of fiction, whatever the genre. Let it assist you, perhaps even inspire you . . . and feel free to laugh at all the silly stuff. :)

I found the Romance Writers' Phrase Book, by Kent and Shelton very helpful for the Christian contemporary romance novel I just completed. Moreover, I think this assortment of narrative "tags" would be beneficial for any fiction story, especially one containing much dialogue. Some entries are simply gestures, such as, "she closed her hand over his," but others are clearly meant to be used with dialogue, such as, "he ripped out the words impatiently." This book is full of short, one-liners, called tags, that are frequently used in dialogue and narrative with the reader almost oblivious to them. However, they add so much to the "showing, not telling" of a story. No two people stand and talk without facial expressions, gestures and eye contact. This book gives you the wording you need to make your otherwise "cardboard" people come alive and seem real. To move from a book of cold, hard facts to one with moving, exciting scenes one would benefit from the Phrase Book. The over 3,000 descriptive tags are arranged under topics, such as emotions, facial expressions, and body movements, making it easier to find the perfect phrase to add life to your story. Unfortunately, the topics are not alphabetized and it could use an index (I made my own to use alongside it), but being it's a small, soft-cover book, it's not hard to flip through as you are creating your story. I agree that it is not the most recent (1984 edition) and a revision is greatly needed, but I found it very handy. There are enough phrases I can use, I can certainly afford to throw out the others that are out of date. I would say that by the condition of my rather dog-eared book, I consider it very helpful and my almost constant companion while working. If a newer version ever hits the book store, a copy will certainly be on my shelf of books I most often use.

When I received this book as a gift, I was vaguely insulted. I mean, really -- I want to feel I'm creative without outside assistance! I admit it -- I hate the thought of ever having to consult something like this.

However, this book help break through writer's block. Reading the lists helps bring other ideas to mind, and since some entries can best be judged as humorous rather than romantic (to my mind, anyway), laughter can at least break the tension of that "I'm stuck!" feeling.

Would I have bought this book? Never in a million years. But since I own it, I admit (with some shame) that I have flipped through it to jog my mind.

Using this book for all one's descriptives would be a recipe for disaster. It's my personal rule not to use any phrases from the book (or any cliches, period). But as an "assist," I've found it useful.

This book should DEFINITELY be used as a LOOSE guideline ONLY!! (They even advise you of this in the introduction to the book) The phrases they provide sound like they were copied out of the first 10 romance books they could get their hands on! Don't look for original material...
On the opposite side, it does serve as a muse to inspire you to create your own catch phrases.
It wasn't totally useless as reference material, but had much to be desired...

I have found this little book to be very helpful when my mind draws a blank on just the right phrase needed for a scene. By reading the phrases in the book so many more come to mind. I believe this is just what it was intended for. It is also very well laid out. I recommend it to anyone just starting out in the romance genre.

Writers wanting to escape the dullness of `he said' and `she frowned' will find inspiration in the Romance Writers' Phrase Book. This clever little book's one-line descriptive phrases (or `tags') are designed to help create chest-heaving scenes of passion, but can easily be adapted for any type of fiction.

Over 3,000 descriptions are divided into sections like physical characteristics, body movement, facial expression, emotions and voices, and then subdivided again. For example, the chapter on emotions breaks down into categories such as happiness, determination, surprise, fear and embarrassment.

Most writers will find some of the tags too over-the-top for comfort. Imagine using `all of her loneliness and confusion welded together in one upsurge of devouring yearning'! More useful are expressions like 'he had depthless, jet-black eyes' and 'she flicked an imaginary speck of dirt from her dress'.

The beauty of the book, however, is the inspiration it provides when you're scratching your head over how to express a character's reaction. You might not use any of the tags word for word, but you can seize on the emotion they convey and present it in your character's language.