She bit her bottom lip...

[HeavyLocks]

Why do authors do this?? I read a lot and I've noticed it more and more. Apparently it's a way of making a woman seem aroused/scared/sexy

I can honestly say I've never bit my lip when I've wanted to be aroused/scared/sexy.

Aibu? Also what other well used "phrases make you cringe?

[HollowTalk]

I hate it when they nibble food. I always think of squirrels.

[Fluffyears]

‘Padded into the room...’ I have never understood this!

[EleanorOalike]

“She tossed her hair”

I think if you really want to be sexy you’re meant to toss your hair, glance down then up and then bite your bottom lip.

I cannot do any of these things without looking like a complete and utter twat.

That’s why no one wants me.

The following I can do:

“giggled nervously”

“stumbled over a pile of clothes she’d left on the floor”

“twisted her hair absentmindedly”

“ran away sobbing, her face hot with tears”.

[kayaholly]

Well I am a lip biter, although it's also something I do when I'm concentrating I find the names given to the body parts more cringeworthy tbh

[ChopinIn10Minuets]

I hate the ones whose faces look fresh and dewy after they've been crying. Proper full-on heartbreak crying is a messy, snotty, ugly business which leaves you with a bin full of used tissues and a face like a boiled lobster. It really isn't romantic.

[donajimena]

I just knew this was going to be about novels.
I like that thing about titting boobily down the stairs. I'll see if I can find it .

[TildaTurnip]

All of the utter tripe in 50 Shades. It’s one of two (rather different) books I’ve not been able to finish due to the writing style! Lots of lip biting and cocking of heads and other such rubbish.

[homethenababy]

Reading magazines like take a break, that's life etc when it comes to giving birth they always push the baby into the world. For example "we met blah blah then 2 years later I pushed our daughter into the world". I don't know why it grates on me. I never see birth announcements saying "on Saturday I pushed our baby girl into the world".

Or they say "I started to feel unwell and one day I took a test....." like they want to be cryptic but we all know what the test was, not exactly a driving test is it!

[Thesuzle]

“Padded softly into the room.” I think you’ll find is the phrase,
Together with;
Elfin features,
Wrists as delicate as a bird
Nipped in waist, oh sorry that’s stupid fashion talk for trussed up like a chicken...

[donajimena]

www.reddit.com/r/menwritingwomen/

[123rd]

Oh but the MN version of 50 shades was hilarious... so much bottom lip biting she must of chewed her own face off!!

[NoShitHemlock]

I have become adept at "heaving my bosom". Doesn't make me attractive tho - I look more like Mrs Brown

Although in fairness, thats more Mills & Boon, and I prefer Stephen King. His leading ladies tend to come back from the dead or fight serial killers/clowns. Now THAT I could do

As for biting my lip, I only really managed that once and it was totally sexy. Men love that "blood dripping" look, don't they?!

[DeadDoorpost]

When I'm writing, lip biting is reserved for nerves and absentmindedness because it's what I do. My lips are currently trying to heal from me biting the skin off of them.

I dont read romances so can't think of any phrases off the top of my head from what I read usually that get on my nerves. I'm sure I'll think of one in the middle of the night.

[EleanorOalike]

I’ve got wrists as delicate as a birds. They’re fucking useless. I can’t lift anything.

[Tinkerbell456]

Ah yes, the heaving bosom/ defiantly tossed curls school of writing. With maybe a pic inside the cover of the brooding hero ( they’re always brooding and have a mysterious past don’t they, and a black horse no one else can ride) and heroine locked in an entirely unrealistic embrace.

[ChopinIn10Minuets]

Lots of lip biting and cocking of heads and other such rubbish.

I'm sorry but that made me giggle. Given that it's 50 Shades are you sure it isn't the other way round?

[RocketSurgery]

I like when ever it’s quiet in a book there’s a dog barking in the distance.

[UbbesPonytail]

Because they think it’s showing not telling. Doesn’t really count with cliches though. I guess it has its place in certain kinds of fiction.

I’m currently editing a book where the 17 year old villain calls everyone, ‘my dear’. There’s a lot of notes. It really bugs me that editors don’t flush this stuff out.

[homethenababy]

@RocketSurgery or a pregnant pause. I never understood what a pregnant pause is.

[HeavyLocks]

cocking of heads

yes that's another one. I wouldn't mind but I only read Thrillers and Serial killer type books! Not 50 shades/Mills and Boon. And yes the culprits are usually male authors. 🤔

[Cattenberg]

I read a romance novel recently. I lost count of the number of times the author wrote of the hero: “his mouth hardened”. I think “his eyes narrowed” quite often too. At least they didn’t flash or darken.

And it goes without saying that the heroine was a virgin and the hero was a billionaire.

[SchadenfreudePersonified]

EleanorOalike

[Cattenberg]

I’m currently editing a book where the 17 year old villain calls everyone, ‘my dear’. There’s a lot of notes. It really bugs me that editors don’t flush this stuff out.

I read a short story (written by an older author) about modern day university students. One of the students said to her friend “come on, you little horror”.

[kayaholly]

Lots of lip biting and cocking of heads and other such rubbish.

I'm sorry but that made me giggle. Given that it's 50 Shades are you sure it isn't the other way round?

I laughed way too hard at this

The only way of heaving my bosom is by trailing it up so it doesn't drape over the floor, nothing attractive about boobs that go to your knees lol

[littledoll33]

The lip biting thing in 50 shades looked farcical!

Most stupid film I have ever seen. Poor as piss. How it got sequels made just eludes me.

I have also never 'got' why lip-biting is meant to be 'sexy' or sensuous...'

I mean WTF does she look like?! 😂🤣