More saving. More doing.
McDonalds
I'm lovin' it.
Budweiser
The king of beers.
Kay Jewelers
Every kiss begins with Kay.
John Deere
Nothing runs like a Deere.
Home Depot focuses on saving and doing, Budweiser positions itself as the most notable competitor amongst the beer brands, Kay Jewelers cleverly links its wares with romance, and John Deere highlights its reliability.
I think McDonald's is just trading on its long-time position in the fast-food market. Probably by the time someone got around to suggesting, "Hey, McDonald's needs a tagline!" people were just like, "Whatevs, dude. Everyone knows McDonald's. Let's just remind them that they love it."
I would like a tagline that quickly and efficiently identifies what I write and what I can offer a prospective reader. 2011 - TAGLINE #1So far, my taglines have been wide of the mark. When I first started blogging back in... Wow. Was it really August 2011? I've been doing this for four stinkin' years? No wonder I feel like I oughtta be famous by now. |
My idea was that, just as I write stories, the Master Writer (the Lord) writes my story too. Really neat idea, just not a good application of it. It didn't tell people anything about me or my writing except that I'm a Christian with too many lofty ideas.
2013 - TAGLINE #2
What is true? What is real?
This came a little closer to my intention. I never wanted to write just stories. Anyone can do that. I wanted to write stories that would make someone jump up while reading to exclaim, "That's real! That's what real life is like! This author gets it!" even in the midst of a epic fantasy or thrilling sci-fi adventure. I also wanted there to be some kernel of truth to each story, so that the reader saw beyond the entertainment and the wild imagination and saw some purpose to life, some grand design that was more than Live, Work, Pass on your genes, Go extinct.
But asking the question didn't tie in well with the fact that my books were fiction, not non-fiction (in which you'd expect more reality and truth), so I had to back off that idea too.
2014 - TAGLINE #3
Tell the story true.
But then I had to explain what I meant, which is:
- Universal truth is really the biggest draw to any story--people find something they can relate with because it is true for everyone--so a good writer fashions the story around some core of truth.
- You can't simply write some moralistic Aesop's Fable and call it fiction. That doesn't work in the modern world. So you have to write the story the way that the story wants to be written, and work in the truth as a natural part of the story.
2015 - TAGLINE #4
But I still feel like something is missing. Again, there are thousands of sci-fi and fantasy writers out there. What makes me different?
My tagline needs to be:
- Directed toward my ideal audience
- Clear about what benefit I offer them
- Purposeful about what makes me different than the competition
I recently downloaded Derek Halpern's free ebook: "How to Get Your First 5,000 Subscribers" and he made me do this little exercise:
What do your ideal subscribers want? My subscribers want immersive speculative fiction with the flavor of reality. What's the main problem they have that you believe you can solve? Lack of both moral fiber and realism in their stories. What's your method for solving that problem? To write wholesome, challenging, and symbolic speculative fiction. |
What do you love to talk about more than anything?
I love fiction--all its details and layers and capturing of real-life problems and characters.
Sum it up in one sentence:
I want to share the essence of reality, truth, and honor by writing well-crafted, symbolic speculative fiction.
As I stared at the answers I had given automatically and without much thought at all, I saw myself on paper for the first time. It was both liberating and terrifying. Because I saw what I am, and what I am meant to be. It was like that first ray of light in the midst of a storm.
It literally brought tears to my eyes.
YOU CAN'T CREATE A TAGLINE WHEN YOU'RE AFRAID.
Tell people that I write clean fiction?
"Aaah! I knew it! It's going to be boring and trite and shallow, like some 1800s 'Just be good and it will all work out for you' tale."
Or: "Aaah! I knew it! Another of those fictiovangelists, trying to sneak some smarmy Christian message into an otherwise awesome fantasy storyline!"
Tell people that I write fiction dedicated to realism?
"Aaah! I knew it! She's going to take all the fun out of speculative fiction. Might as well write a textbook."
Or: "Aaah! I knew it! She's going to roll in the gutter and start dropping F-bombs just to prove she's 'hip' with the nitty-gritty of life!"
But I've been running away from what I am truly passionate about because I'm afraid. Afraid that the non-Christians will never give me a chance, even though I know they could enjoy what I write, and that Christians will judge me because I might use the word "crap" and talk about drugs and prostitutes.
Fear is holding me back. But I don't have to be afraid anymore.
DON'T BE AFRAID OF WHAT YOU REPRESENT. SHARE YOUR MESSAGE BOLDLY.
To answer these questions, I've been writing myself notes and seeking a tagline along the way. Here are my ideas, notes and taglines all jumbled together.
(Yes, if you were to peek inside my mind, it would look like something from a Dr. Seuss book: crazy colors, inspiring landscape, soaring structures, and quizzical monstrosities all sharing the same space. Sometimes it's a garden, sometimes it's a psychedelic whirlwind, but always it is busy!)
READY? AHEM...
(Martian Kitty thinks this one is a little too heady.)
Reflecting Reality, Pursuing Purpose, and ...
[insert something about imagination or creativity, to assure the reader that the purposeful realism isn't going to detract from the promise of an awesome story]
True imagination sacrifices neither intelligence/realism nor conscience.
Realism. Honor. Imagination.
Realism. Purpose. Adventure.
Clean but real.
Realism with purpose.
Real. Clean. Fiction.
A wild imagination. A clean conscience. A realistic story.
"A realistic story." Wow. Designed to impress. Not.
Real but clean. Honorable but hardcore.
I like the word "hardcore." It sounds powerful.
Realism without smut. Virtue without triteness.
This one had me giggling at 10:30 p.m. as I wrote by the light of my flashlight so I wouldn't disturb my roommate, Martian Kitty. "Realism without smut." I'm still grinning about it. It just sounds hilarious, doesn't it? It's pretty darn close to what I intend, but somehow I can't see it on a banner or a business card!
Clean is often misinterpreted as: trite, simplistic, shallow.
Real is often misinterpreted as: immoral, pessimistic, rough-edged.
Clean with guts. Real with virtue.
This one makes me laugh too. It could be really misconstrued.
Wild imagination meets reality. Reality meets clean.
Laaaaaaame!