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On Writing Romance: How to Craft a Novel That Sells |  | Author: Leigh Michaels
Publisher: Writers Digest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
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Seller: bookrascal
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 117099
Media: Paperback
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1582974365
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.385
EAN: 9781582974361
ASIN: 1582974365
Publication Date: January 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In On Writing Romance, award-winning romance novelist Leigh Michaels talks you through each stage of the writing and publishing process. From the origins and evolution of the romance novel to establishing a vital story framework to writing that last line to seeking out appropriate publishers, everything you ever wanted to know about writing a romance novel is here. In addition to a comprehensive breakdown of more than thirty romance subgenres, including such categories as historical, inspirational, Regency, and sweet traditional, you'll discover how to: · Steer clear of clichés and stereotypes by studying the genre · Craft engaging and realistic heroes and heroines readers will adore · Convincingly develop the central couple's blossoming relationship · Add conflict by utilizing essential secondary characters like the "other woman" · Use tension and timing to make your love scenes sizzle with sensuality · Get your characters to happily-ever-after with an ending readers will always remember Plus, read a sample query letter, cover letter, and synopsis, and learn how to properly prepare your romance novel for submission to agents and editors. On Writing Romance has everything you need to leave readers swooning!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
 From a beginning writer in the uk February 4, 2007
Ms. L. M. Pardoe (uk)
24 out of 26 found this review helpful
This is a superb book. I don't think I've ever learnt such a lot in such a short space of time and enjoyed it so much than when reading this.
What singles this book out is it's attention to detail and thoroughness. Michaels guides us all through the process from deciding to write a book, to which sub-genre suits you best, summarising all the different aspects of how to write each, straight through to editing and presenting, to writing a synopsis and query letter.
Each chapter takes one aspect of writing a novel, such as plotting, characterisation, dialogue, love scenes, sexual tension etc. and explains it in easy to read language. Then she goes on to use excerpts from different authors, together with more explanation, to illustrate each point. Its very effective and must have taken ages to compile, as she's used a wide variety of authors from both the UK and America.
Her writing and her chosen excerpts are so easy to read that it's very easy to follow, I can quite see why she`s won so many awards.
I enjoyed it so much I just wanted to hole up somewhere and read the whole book straight through, soaking up every word. There's a lot of it (257 pages) and it's quite densely printed, but that doesn't make it difficult to read because the text is broken up by subtitles, bullet points and boxouts.
As a novice writer myself I couldn't recommend it highly enough and will treasure my copy for many years to come.
One of my best purchases this year! April 25, 2009
K. Corbray (Washington, United States)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
I'm a recent college graduate with a degree in English Literature who, very recently, came to the conclusion that if I could spend the rest of my life writing romance novels, I'd be a happy camper.
Without the time (or money) to enroll in a creative writing MFA program, or even an in-person writing workshop, I've had to "educate" myself with books on writing style.
I've read and skimmed several over the past several months--books on dialogue, scene/plot development, characterization, etc--but Leigh Michaels' "On Writing" is the ONLY style book I've been literally compelled to read cover-to-cover. Usually, I start these types of books with the best laid plans, then end up skimming or skipping to the pertinent parts (i.e., what I need help with at that moment), but THIS book is so well-structured, it pulls you along.
Aimed at the beginning romance writer (like me!), Michaels' clearly outlines common pitfalls and cliches to avoid, gives extremely helpful tips on how to write "from a male POV" or "a female POV", and goes so far as to explain the structure, layout and general guidelines for several types of romance fiction (inspiration, sweet, short contemporary, long contemporary, chick-lit AND erotica). Basically, no matter why type of romance you're trying to write, there are helpful tips for you!
It's also chock-full of excerpts from published romance novels, which helps Michaels illustrate the topics she's discussing (there's one section where she points out how silly the overusage of dialogue tags can be that made me laugh out loud).
I just bought this book yesterday and, despite the fact that it's really just a style book, I've read almost the entire 250-some pages. I'm about halfway through my first novel attempt and I can already see where the tips in this book will help me improve when it's time to go back and revise.
As some have said, this definitely isn't a book for the more experienced/advanced writer (even as a beginner, there were some things discussed that just seemed overly obvious), but it's definitely going to be a valuable resource on my bookshelf as I advance my writing skills.
Provides specific and practical 'how to' information June 9, 2007
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
In addition to several nonfiction books, Leigh Michaels is the published author of more than eighty romance novels and so brings a very special expertise to "On Writing Romance: How To Craft A Novel That Sells", her instruction manual for aspiring writers in a demanding and popular genre. Practical, comprehensive, informed and informative, "On Writing Romance" covers the origins and evolutions of the romance novel, and then takes the aspiring writer through each and every stage of the writing and publishing process. Breaking down more than thirty romance subcategories, aspiring writers will learn how to steer clear of cliches and stereotypes by studying the genre they propose to establish themselves in; craft engaging and realistic characters that will appeal to a discerning readership; add conflict through the use of secondary characters; utilize tension and timing to make love scenes come alive; and provide stories with 'happy-ever-after' endings that are neither ordinary or uninspiring, but will reward the reader with a story that they will remember long after the book is finished and returned to the shelf. Enhanced with a sample query letter, a cover letter, and synopsis, "On Writing Romance" also provides specific and practical 'how to' information on preparing a manuscript for submission to agents, editors, and publishers. Anyone seeking to write a commercially successful romance novel of any kind should begin by giving a careful and considered reading to Leigh Michael's "On Writing Romance".
Generous, passionate and entertaining. November 4, 2009
Mrs. D. B. Ruschena (Japan)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I am trained in script and story editing, have produced literally hundreds of books to unabridged audio and am a bit of a writing book junkie - by no means am I a beginner in storycraft. I bought this book because I wanted something tailored to the romance genre and that is exactly what this book gives you. Yes, you could spend hours on the internet finding similar information and, yes, if you've done your research you'll have heard a lot of it before but this book not only collects it for you in one place but is also utterly entertaining. The book arrived late this afternoon and I have just finished it. It's 3a.m. - I couldn't put it down.
Michaels' passion for the subject is in every word. This is not a book written by someone jaded who wants to be able to point at her book when the 4,999,999th person asks her what the formula for romance writing is! She is also generous with her knowledge. So often one gets the feeling that the author of a writing book is holding something back for themselves - not quite fully explaining a point here or there, alluding to something you sense is more important than they are admitting. Not so here. In fact Michaels is so generous that at one point she even uses a sentence from her own (I assume earlier) work as an example of what not to do!
Highly recommended.
Romance Novel Writing is Easy with this Book! November 30, 2008
writing books wishlist (Eugene, OR)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
There are many books about how to write romances, but this one seemed more modern and in style with the times. It stood out from the shelves at the bookstore and it was well worth the money to buy it. It makes you feel enthusiastic about writing that romance novel, standing apart from the other reference books.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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