How to Write Romances

by Phyllis Taylor Pianka

Book Overview

In bookselling today, romance indures as the best-selling genre in the mass market. This book offers writers expert guidance for creating stories that will captivate readers and get the attention of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898793246
• ISBN13: 9780898793246
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books
• Length: 164 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

It wasn't for me

I didn't find this helpful since my idea of "Romances" wasn't so streamlined as it apparently is. If you are not writing for the actual genre "Romance", I wouldn't recommend this book if you're like me, who is writing A Love Story, but one that wouldn't be put on the Romance shelf. However, if you ARE writing a classic Romance and dream of having it sit on a shelf right next to other classic Romances, this is definitely for you. I stopped reading a few chapters in when I realized this just wasn't what I need; I had no idea that the Romance genre has actual guidelines right down to the accepted page numbers? And that publishers will actually look for key points and events to fit it within the Romance category? I'm not sure if this is still a thing, as this book is pretty dated now, but it just was not a resource that would help me in my situation. I didn't want to give it the 2 stars (for "I didn't like it") because it wasn't a matter of the book being bad, just not for me. It can be an excellent resource for others, it seems very thorough with examples and references. As long as you're not ignorant to "Romance" like me, you should be fine (lol). The information given didn't apply to my characters or my plot & character arcs, and I was hoping for a bit more variety on emotional arcs & relationships in general, but it just felt very limited to me.

Excellent general writing tips - keep the highlighter handy

I'm not a romance writer, but decided, on the recommendation of a friend, to read this book. Before I knew it I had my highlighter out and was highlighting key things that I knew I wanted to refer back to. This book is not just a book about how to write romances. It is far more than that. It also gives key information on writing romance vs mainstream fiction, tremendously useful key information, and a lot of encouragement (enough that I actually outlined the plot of my next novel). I have read a lot of books regarding writing. This is one of the most useful ones I've read to date. I believe any beginning writer could benefit from much of the information held in this particular book. It now stands as a keeper on my shelf - one I'm sure I'll refer back to as my writing progresses.

Excellent How-To for Romance Genre

In American fiction, 40% of the marketplace is in the romance category. Novelist Phyllis Pianka takes writers through the paces to learn about the genre and discover their niche in the marketplace. In particular I love the realism built into the section called Fifty-Three Reasons Why a Book May Be Rejected. Because I am an acquisitions editor and I've rejected more than 200 fiction submissions since January, I can quickly agree with these various reasons and the validity of them in many writer's submissions. If you are interested in learning how to write romance novels, I recommend you consider this book.

Encouraging and Great for Aspiring Novelists

This book has really calmed a lot of fears that I had when I began writing. Pianka is very thorough but not overbearing in her explanations on how to create compelling romance. She includes great advice from well known romance writers such as Nora Roberts and Jo Beverley. I have the highest regards for many of the people who she interviewed.She makes learning fun and enjoyable. There are many humorous antecedotes that made me laugh. And I enjoyed reading some of the things editors had to say as well. She also kept me grounded with her advice that the process can be hard and there is a lot of competition. But she's very encouraging and uplifting with her advice that there's lots of unexplored plots, characters and ground to be discovered in romance fiction.Fast Flowing... this book really helps to get you focused and serious about writing.

The only romance manual you need.

Very, very valuable as both a guide to writing romances and a guide to getting them published. Gives concrete, useful tips and techniques on all aspects of the process, and manages to make it all sound fun and achievable. Especially excellent were the sections on dialogue, planning, plot pacing, and writing for specific lines and genres (historical, fantasy, Christian, etc). Also much fun to read if you think romances are silly, because there are frequent references to how popular "secret babies, cowboys and arranged marriages" are.

Excellent!

A must for anyone who wants to write a romance book. Mrs.Pianka does an superb job in her step by step process of how to begin your novel. And the character description sheets are ideal for sketching out your characters. This book is exactly what the aspiring romance novelist needs.