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Romance Writer's Phrase Book
Have you ever had your romance manuscript rejected because it lacked romantic tension? Now there's The Romance Writer's Phrase Book, the first word book designed especially for romance writers everywhere.
The essential source book for every romantic novelist, this helpful guide contains over 3,000 descriptive tags all arranged for quick, easy reference. Now you too can add life and breath to any romantic novel. The Romantic Writer's Phrase Book neatly organizes these tags into fifty easy-to-use categories, including: physical description, body movements, facial expressions, eyes, voices, emotions, and sex.
Guaranteed to stimulate the imagination and make your manuscript a resounding success.
The essential source book for every romantic novelist, this helpful guide contains over 3,000 descriptive tags all arranged for quick, easy reference. Now you too can add life and breath to any romantic novel. The Romantic Writer's Phrase Book neatly organizes these tags into fifty easy-to-use categories, including: physical description, body movements, facial expressions, eyes, voices, emotions, and sex.
Guaranteed to stimulate the imagination and make your manuscript a resounding success.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
15 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 11, 2012
I just found this book on the sidewalk. The copy is beat up and has phrases that the previous owner(s), each of whom I'd love to meet, checked off. The introduction may be the funniest/most fascinating pieces of writing I've ever read. Then the very first "tag" in the "Physical Characteristics - Female" section-
"her hose felt like sheaths of clammy cloth on her exceptionally pretty legs"
Logically I sat at the nearest bus stop and read the whole book. One of the checked-off phrases-
"he stared at her and then burst out laughing"
I sort of want to start writing some sort of poetry or prose using only phrases from this amazing, amazing book.
Maybe something like this-
"Untitled"
Her hose felt like sheaths of clammy cloth
On her exceptionally pretty legs
He stared at her and burst out laughing
She wept aloud rocking back and forth
His hands were big and square
"her hose felt like sheaths of clammy cloth on her exceptionally pretty legs"
Logically I sat at the nearest bus stop and read the whole book. One of the checked-off phrases-
"he stared at her and then burst out laughing"
I sort of want to start writing some sort of poetry or prose using only phrases from this amazing, amazing book.
Maybe something like this-
"Untitled"
Her hose felt like sheaths of clammy cloth
On her exceptionally pretty legs
He stared at her and burst out laughing
She wept aloud rocking back and forth
His hands were big and square
February 6, 2015
Oh, wow. I found this at a used bookstore, completely by accident, and I couldn't NOT buy it. It's awful and hilarious, a list of phrases that you can use to inject your writing with "romantic tension." Apparently, by "romantic tension," they mean "adverbs." The phrases are largely things like, "she countered icily," and "he kissed her devouringly," and "she smiled nastily" and on and on. There are also many WTF phrases, like, "mentally, she caressed his qualities." Okay!
July 6, 2020
This is a surprisingly useful little book full of what the author calls "tags" or descriptive phrases to add visual appeal to your writing. Although it's tailored towards romance writers, I think any writer of prose would find it useful. Maybe you're running out of ways to describe your characters black hair or blue eyes. There is a list of a dozen synonyms for black, blonde, red, blue, every color you can imagine. There are sections to describe the beauty of men and women, every aspect of their appearance, from hands to faces to body movement, a whole section on emotions, and even a section for sex (which is not explicit, mostly euphemisms). My only quibble is that the section on emotions described so many negative emotions with just one list for happiness. What about other positive emotions like contentment, pleasant surprise, relaxation, etc.? But that is a reflection of basic human emotions; there's only one positive one, enjoyment, while the others (fear, anger, disgust, contempt, surprise) are basically negative. If you're looking for a way to add some zing to your writing, or you are concerned with being too repetitive in your adjectives, this book can really help.
November 28, 2018
I was amazed to see this kind of books, I've never seen anything like it. Basically, as its name suggests, the book includes phrases that are creative, novel and interesting but designed mainly for romance writers. I can assume the authors may have the same concept for other themes.
This is useful for anyone who wants to write essays, prose and poems that are romantic or sentimental in nature.
This is useful for anyone who wants to write essays, prose and poems that are romantic or sentimental in nature.
June 18, 2019
A great book indeed.
November 7, 2023
Funny, quirky, outdated, and on time. The phrasing is a dinosaur but it makes one stop and think about how you want the words to fall out...
January 26, 2024
Dated and overwrought. Two of the worst from the chapter on sex are “she lay drowned in a flood-tide of the liberation of her mind and body” and “mentally, she caressed his qualities”.
August 23, 2012
Writers have a way with words, but sometimes they get hung up on the same ones over and over again. Any genre can do that including romance writers. So, what do they do? They get resources such as Jean Kent and Candace Shelton’s The Romance Writer’s Phrase Book.
This is not a book on how to write romance. It is a resource book to help you get your phrases just write and not keep using the same ones over and over again till the reader can’t take anymore. The book is divided into several sections discussing physical characteristics of men and women, body movements, facial expressions, humor, eyes, voices, emotions, sex, emotions, and colors.
This is not just a short list of phrases to help you. These lists are extensive and can be reworded to suit your particular story. Stuck on a scene? Let this book help you get over the temporary brick wall.
If you are a writer of romances or will have some romance in your books, you could use this reference book. The truth is that you cannot get enough reference books for your writing.
Note: I purchased this book with my own funds.
This is not a book on how to write romance. It is a resource book to help you get your phrases just write and not keep using the same ones over and over again till the reader can’t take anymore. The book is divided into several sections discussing physical characteristics of men and women, body movements, facial expressions, humor, eyes, voices, emotions, sex, emotions, and colors.
This is not just a short list of phrases to help you. These lists are extensive and can be reworded to suit your particular story. Stuck on a scene? Let this book help you get over the temporary brick wall.
If you are a writer of romances or will have some romance in your books, you could use this reference book. The truth is that you cannot get enough reference books for your writing.
Note: I purchased this book with my own funds.
March 23, 2016
This book was a bit of a life saver. It's helped me to express what I've read so often and wanted to write, yet couldn't find the right words at the moment I needed them.
Yes, one could think of it as cheating but really, couldn't we say we've all cheated. Don't we get much of what we write from our own experiences from watching others, from other stories we've heard, and from all those books we've soaked up over the years.
Face it, for most of us, writing is a learning experience. One that with time we grow and learn and get better which only comes from trial and error and persistence. Until we get to be the writers we aspire to be, why not use every possible tool we can that's available to us. Eventually you won't need this book but until then it's a way to get over those humps.
This was definitely one of the greatest writing tools I've invested in.
Yes, one could think of it as cheating but really, couldn't we say we've all cheated. Don't we get much of what we write from our own experiences from watching others, from other stories we've heard, and from all those books we've soaked up over the years.
Face it, for most of us, writing is a learning experience. One that with time we grow and learn and get better which only comes from trial and error and persistence. Until we get to be the writers we aspire to be, why not use every possible tool we can that's available to us. Eventually you won't need this book but until then it's a way to get over those humps.
This was definitely one of the greatest writing tools I've invested in.
September 11, 2015
As someone who writes a LOT of fan fiction in the romance genre, this book is an absolute godsend. From the moment I first picked it up and flipped through the pages, I was completely amazed at how much it changed my writing. It's not a book that lectures on how to write romantic phrases, but rather it's a 'dictionary' of sorts that I find myself using all the time. There are sections in this book for every possible descriptive act, some as simple as two characters looking at each other to describing sex scenes (in a very tactful way). There's no real chapters here; just lists upon lists, each one containing a phrase to make your writing come alive. It's a wonderful book for those like myself who feel like they are constantly writing the same phrase again and again.
September 3, 2008
Word can hardly express my romance junkie/ writer love of this book. I got it at a used bookstore and I adore it.
The best way to describe it is a thesaurus for romantic writing, though it might work for any fiction writer who finds themselves searching for another way to say 'he smiled.'
While the phrases included are mockable and cliche, they are also helpful. I'd recommend this to anyone writing fiction.
The best way to describe it is a thesaurus for romantic writing, though it might work for any fiction writer who finds themselves searching for another way to say 'he smiled.'
While the phrases included are mockable and cliche, they are also helpful. I'd recommend this to anyone writing fiction.
May 20, 2014
I had written five historical nonfiction books and most recently three creative nonfiction novels. This book by Jean Kent and Candace Shelton has greatly helped expand the emotions in my narrative style of writing creative nonfiction. It has over 3,000 descriptive tags. Don't let the name fool you, The Romance Writers' Phrase Book. The tag lines are a God send for spicing up the emotions throughout a novel in any genre. They did for mine when writing Adversity, Faith, and Sisters of Mercy.
June 25, 2008
Way fun book filled with typical and not-so-typical romance phrases. Broken down into sections like physical characteristics, body movements, facial expressions, humor, eyes, voices, emotions, sex, and miscellaneous, and includes a section on how to describe color. A great way to job your imagination...there are some really funny turns of phrase that will get you giggling.
February 2, 2013
This is a book you have to find secondhand. It's best if someone has already dog eared, highlighted and pencil marked all the best bits. Then you want to open it up and see how many phrases you can just string together nonstop for a good instant DIY romance novel! I would honestly be hard pressed to ever give this book up, just based on how silly it is.
March 27, 2009
This is one of those books I'm kinda embarrassed to admit I own. Still I think it's a good resource for people looking to brush up the quality of the attributives in their prose fiction or in their writing generally.
August 13, 2011
Terrifying to think that every phrase you will ever need for Mills & Boon is contained in this slim volume. Now if you could just figure out how to weave them together? You would be writing four of them a year.
May 16, 2014
After five books published I finally found a book that contains over 3,000 descriptive emotion tags. Instead of "he said," or "she said,", this book is arranged for quick and easy reference for authors wanting to add real 'sparkle' to their novels. It is guaranteed to stimulate the imagination.
May 11, 2016
I picked this paperback up at a library book sale without opening it first. At least it was only a quarter. While it was an interesting peek into what romance tags looked like in the '80s, things have changed drastically since then.
Want to read
August 31, 2011OMG, this looks amazing and hilarious!
January 29, 2012
I think it's very helpful when writing. Some examples seem dated, but it's nothing you can't vamp up on your own.
June 20, 2012
This book is one I have had on my shelf for a very long time, but just picked it up again on a whim. Hidden goldmine for ideas! I love it.
March 7, 2016
This has really helped my novel. See my full review here: http://wp.me/p7fFq4-5Z
January 30, 2020
Great book for phrasing your stories... I had a hard time phrasing certain things in my stories but this helps a great deal.
April 17, 2017
A great source of alternative words when writing romance. Of course, some ideas are more useful than others, and some don't work at all (at least for me), but this book offers a great overview of what is out there. It has also sparked many of my own explorations of describing people and situations in a different way.
Very useful - including for a good laugh when looking at some of the "standard" expressions that are out there.
Very useful - including for a good laugh when looking at some of the "standard" expressions that are out there.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews