  Romance/Love
This week: Tags and Phrases to Excite Edited by: JACE - House Targaryen  
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A short background. About eight years ago I changed direction with my writing style after reading some particularly bad "purple prose." That's a term used to describe the often flowery, heavily cliched writing often associated with the Erotica genre.
No, please don't stop reading--this column is not about writing erotica. But some of what I learned about tags and phrasing can apply to your stories about romance and love.
The ability to excite rests almost as much with your reader as with your ability to turn a good phrase. Your readers have their opinions about whether your words excite them or send them crashing to the floor in a fit of hysterical laughter. What words excite one person may kick another right out of your story shaking their head. My goal in writing romance and erotica is to make my reader feel part of my story. I suspect you know when a phrase is not quite right; it throws you from the story like catapulting over your bicycle's handlebars when you hit an impediment. Likewise, a great turn of the phrase carries you effortlessly, and perhaps breathlessly, through the scene.
So how do you know what to write? In my opinion, let your characters tell you. They need to become real--their strengths and weaknesses, their feelings, their foibles. Write them, and let them go. Your best phrases will come through in their actions and their dialogue. Develop your own style. You've read romantic stories. (You have, haven't you?) You cringe over some words and phrases; you think, my character would never say that. And you know it when a particular phrase really touches you.
In a rejection letter of one of her novels, Jean Kent received this comment from the editor. You need more tags!
Tags are short decriptive phrases that are tucked into your dialogue and woven into your story in such a way that the reader is not even aware of them. They are the difference between a routine narrative and a sensuous story that leaves you breathless. One example provided by that editor:
Old: He reached out and touched her arm.
New: A tingling of excitement raced through her as his fingers trailed sensuously down her arm.
Writing exciting phrases begins with you, but ends with your readers. Many times, a great phrase becomes over-used and loses its luster. Be willing to change; use your heart when writing, and listen to your readers (in their reviews). Be a reader yourself--you need to know what is out there to be sure you aren't left behind.
Check out The Romance Writer's Phrase Book by Jean Kent and Candace Shelton, published by the Berkley Publishing Group. It contains phrases on such topics as Physical Characteristics, Facial Expressions, Emotions, and Sex. Even if you don't feel comfortable using their phrases, they'll help ignite your muse to create your own.
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Romance/Love: October 03, 2012 Issue [#5289]
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