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damianameade's review
1.0
I admit I only made it part way through. The advice was terrible. While there were many points I disagreed with, the one that honestly irritated me enough to give this book only 1 star and warn friends against it was this quote:
"Don't let your heroine realize she's beautiful because the reader needs to relate and women focus on their flaws."
This is sexist bullshit. How dare anyone tell you that women, in literature and reality, cannot realize they are beautiful? Romance is about the fantasy. We can't even imagine or fantasize a confident woman? Wow.
"Don't let your heroine realize she's beautiful because the reader needs to relate and women focus on their flaws."
This is sexist bullshit. How dare anyone tell you that women, in literature and reality, cannot realize they are beautiful? Romance is about the fantasy. We can't even imagine or fantasize a confident woman? Wow.
sil_the_lobster's review
4.0
I have always loved writing stories but it got lost along the way. Then I discovered fanfiction (yes, and I am not ashamed of it) and thought this was a good way to worm myself back into a hobby that I though I had lost forever. Although I think I'm an OK enough writer for the internet platform I'm using, there's always things to learn and to improve and as we all know, practice makes perfect. I stumbled across this book through browsing and bought it without thinking twice.
What a good idea! It's very helpful, very insightful - it touches plotting, character development, conflict approach, romance-related dynamics, outlining, and it does all that without raised fingers and preaching undertone. It's clearly written by someone who knows what she's talking about and who enjoys passing her knowledge on.
If you'd like to tackle your own romance novel but are unsure about how to get it done... this book will be a great friend in need!
What a good idea! It's very helpful, very insightful - it touches plotting, character development, conflict approach, romance-related dynamics, outlining, and it does all that without raised fingers and preaching undertone. It's clearly written by someone who knows what she's talking about and who enjoys passing her knowledge on.
If you'd like to tackle your own romance novel but are unsure about how to get it done... this book will be a great friend in need!
beecycling's review
4.0
A useful reference and a lively and entertaining read too. I'll keep this close to hand for reference.
irishtraveller's review
5.0
I've been working on romance novels off and on since I was a teenager. I picked this book up three or four years ago, and it has a permanent place on my bookshelf as a reference manual. While I agree that it does discuss the process of sitting down to actually write the novel more than the actual nitty details of writing, it does enable you to think about new ways of writing your novel.
misskrislm's review
5.0
This was a whale of a book to get through, but finish I did! I don't care what anyone may say about the "for Dummies" books, they are fantastic resources from trained professionals in the field and carry all the basic information (and more) on most every subject you could need.
I bought this book thinking I knew so much about writing, Romance, publishing, and only wanted a bit of confirmation and some filling in. WRONG! I was ignorant and arrogant, confused and so very badly mislead. This book covered everything from the writer to the book to the editor to the publisher to the reader and back. Early stages. Pre-early stages. During. After. Far after. Story issues. Publishing processes. Resources. Internal therapy. Everything. I will never regret having picked this up and studied it in depth (despite how long it took because of how much it contains and how much there is to explain and consider).
I bought this book thinking I knew so much about writing, Romance, publishing, and only wanted a bit of confirmation and some filling in. WRONG! I was ignorant and arrogant, confused and so very badly mislead. This book covered everything from the writer to the book to the editor to the publisher to the reader and back. Early stages. Pre-early stages. During. After. Far after. Story issues. Publishing processes. Resources. Internal therapy. Everything. I will never regret having picked this up and studied it in depth (despite how long it took because of how much it contains and how much there is to explain and consider).
marysullivan_readsandwrites's review
5.0
I hope to one day thank the author in an acceptance speech!!
smutgeek's review
1.0
I admit I only made it part way through. The advice was terrible. While there were many points I disagreed with, the one that honestly irritated me enough to give this book only 1 star and warn friends against it was this quote:
"Don't let your heroine realize she's beautiful because the reader needs to relate and women focus on their flaws."
This is sexist bullshit. How dare anyone tell you that women, in literature and reality, cannot realize they are beautiful? Romance is about the fantasy. We can't even imagine or fantasize a confident woman? Wow.
"Don't let your heroine realize she's beautiful because the reader needs to relate and women focus on their flaws."
This is sexist bullshit. How dare anyone tell you that women, in literature and reality, cannot realize they are beautiful? Romance is about the fantasy. We can't even imagine or fantasize a confident woman? Wow.