Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Tag Me, Baby


Tag Me, Baby

Hello, and welcome to NN. Coffee, tea, and bagels are set out on the table. Help yourself. Try the homemade blackberry jam—it’s very good. I made it.


I’m sure most of you who read my blog posts know my favorite TV show is Supernatural. For those of you don’t, well now you know.


Anyway, Monday was Thanksgiving in Canada and we celebrated at my brothers. During dinner, my older sister and I were yapping about the new fall line-up of TV programs. When asked what I watch, I said, “Terra Nova, Supernatural, and The Walking Dead—the season premiere is on the 16th!


Well, my sister has never seen or heard of Supernatural. Yep, I was beyond stunned. She asked me what it’s about. Without hesitating, I used the tag line I’d heard describe Supernatural years ago: Two hot guys fighting evil.


Those five words told her what she needed to know. Sure, there is more to the show than that, but in five words she got the main idea.


This got me thinking how a simple tag line had hooked me into watching this show. Whoever came up with that tag line was bloody brilliant.


Before this revelation, I thought tag lines were just something annoying to make a writer’s life harder. Now I know a good tag line is an attention grabber. In one sentence, a T.L can give a potential reader a glimpse as to what they can expect from your story.


I thought I had a tag line all picked out for my novel, but now I’m rethinking it. Maybe I’ll post it on the blog to see what you guys all think…but before I do that, why don’t you guys post your tag lines…

36 comments:

Carrie Ann Ryan said...

I don't have a tag line... I need one, but I suck at trying to find something catchy and not cliche.

But I love the Supernatural tagline. Perfection.

Anonymous said...

LOVE Supernatural! Have it on DVD! As soon as I have a tag line I'll post :)

Christine Warner said...

I love The Walking Dead too..woohoo!

As for tag lines, they are a toughie and I never actually thought of one for my story...I concentrated so much on the query and synopsis.

Hmmm, now you got me thinking...lol

Great post today..enjoyed it!

Allison Merritt said...

Man, if they could all be so short and simple I'd go with Two stubborn idiots fighting an ancient curse, but that's not very catchy.

I saw this on a sign at a church the other day and thought, that would make one hell of a good novel: Every saint has a past and ever sinner has a future.

Casea Major said...

Yep - Tag lines are fun! I love them. Really. They are easier for me than the synopsis. I can boil things down to simplistic.

My tag line for Pirate Princess is:
Two rival noblemen, one kidnapped lady, and a seductive pirate who holds the key to saving them all.

Ella Quinn said...

How a propos to some of my discussions today.

Marion

Brenda said...

Carrie, I never thought much of T.L's either. I have a few in mind, but they just don't seem to capture the essence of my story--at least I don't think so. Yep, I need to put my thinking cap on, dig deep inside, and hopefully pull one out.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!

Brenda said...

Jennifer--you ROCK!!!

Brenda said...

Christine.....you love the Walking Dead??? AHHHHH, that is awesome.
Hey remember a couple days ago on Enchantingthemuse, I posted the Supernatural tag line and said I had no clue what I was going to blog about? Well,when I told my sister the SN tag line, I knew instantly what my blog post was going to be about. It was right there in my face!

Brenda said...

LOL, Allison, I love that tag line. If I saw that on a book I'd buy it for sure. I love the word idiot.
And you're right, there is a good book hidden in that church's T.L.

Brenda said...

Casea--your tag line is perfect--and it describes your story to a T!!!

Daryl said...

What tag line? I'm still digesting turkey.

Nikki said...

Taglines??? Another thing to think about?

Sighs.....

Great post! :)

Sheri Fredricks said...

Hi Brenda ~ Only YOU would talk about Supernatural on Thanksgiving! Those guys remind me of your LOVE'S PROPHECY characters.

He's known for his cures...and she's his only remedy.

Taglines are much like loglines. I can come up with them but wonder which is the best to use.

FUN post!

Brenda said...

Marion, for you I'm going to post my crappy T.L.
Are you ready? Believe me, it smells.
Okay....hold on, have to grab a coffee...*insert elevator tunes*...okay, I'm back....wait, now I need to blow my nose....okay, I'm back.
This is a WIP T.L for my novel LP.
She'd leave her world behind to stay with him, he'd leave his heart behind to let her go.

No throwing EGGS at me!!!!

Brenda said...

LOL, Daryl, I wish I had a turkey sandwich right now--with cranberries--oh and a piece of pumpkin pie with Cool whip.
Thanks for stopping by. Hey, are you going to post your T.L?

Brenda said...

LOL...LOL...Nikki, your comment made me laugh because that was my exact reaction the first time I heard someone talking about T.L's.

Brenda said...

Hey, Mike. Yep, we talk about strange things in our family. The same sister that hadn't heard of Supernatural, loves True Blood. She was going on and on how much nudity was on the first season. LOL, I almost choked on a piece of turkey when she tried to describe the show to my mom and dad. She said: Boobs are flying everywhere, nakes A$$'s were a constant, and I even saw balls in a shadow on the wall--and vaginas.
Mike, your tag line is pure brilliance! It sums up your story in 10 words!!!

Carrie Ann Ryan said...

Since An Alpha's Path is a blind overnight date that ends in finding out about werewolves and mating... I dunno

LOL!

Sheri Fredricks said...

Brendan~ My mom would have stabbed me with her metal-tipped chopsticks if I'd said the things your sister did at the dinner table! LOL! That sounds just like my inlaw's house. How fun!

True Blood is a good show - Well written, lots of cussing & rated R. I have to say, I'm a fan too. Except we don't get the premium channels any longer.

Glad my tagline passed the troll test! LOL

Martha Ramirez said...

That's a great tagline you thought up. I have to say i haven't heard of Supernatural either but I don't get out much.

Yes, when someone asks us what a movie is about we automatically without thinking come up with a tagline. Interesting:)

Brenda said...

Ooooh I never made up the tag line for Supernatural. Some brilliant writer for the show did, I just think it fits the show perfectly.
The tag line is what hooked me into watching the show in the first place.

Linda Andrews said...

I've never heard of that tag line for Supernatural and I've watched the show since it first came out. Of course, that TL is perfect. Your family's Thanksgiving conversation sounds like my familys. My mom always said if you were too embarrassed to talk about it, then you shouldn't be involved in it. My dad usually slinks away with the other men.

T.L. are hard to come up with. The best I came up with for my book out next month is Redaction: Humanity is about to be deleted from the Book of Life.

DaVinciKittie said...

I have a friend who is NUTS about Supernatural and keeps bugging me to watch it. I'm resisting because I fear the addiction. Oh how I don't need another one of those! I'm totally going to break down and watch it. *grin*

Since I can't give a tagline for Supernatural and I'm not writing a novel, here's the tag line for my blog (about paranormal romance books)!

/tells of grave tales

Shawn said...

My tagline for Dreamers is "Go ahead. Indulge a dream"

Duckie said...

i've never seen supernatural, but have at least heard of it...tag lines are easier hen it's not your own story...friends will ask me what my story is about i usually say it's about a girl who discover she's a witch. i know i need to think about this, maybe i'll ask someone else to give me one...great post brenda:) and that dinner conversation sounds a lot like one we would have...lol...happy be-lated turkey day

Brenda said...

Hey, Linda, thanks for stopping by.
The first time I heard the tag line: Two hot guys fighting evil was during the first season. LOL I will always remember it. Stay tuned for Supernatural. Two hot guys fighting evil.
That's been burned in my brain for years.

Brenda said...

Linda, I really like your tag line. Powerful!

Brenda said...

DaVinciKittie, thanks for stopping by.
And you must check out Supernatural. It's the best show ever. It has it all: two hot guys who fight all manner of paranormal creatures.
Hey, send me a link to your blog. I'd love to visit. I read and write paranormal romances.

Brenda said...

Shawn, great tag line!!!
Thanks for coming by!

Brenda said...

Duckie. Hey there. Glad you stopped by.
LOL, we do a lot of laughing when we all get together.

Anonymous said...

Dang Brenda, I really never thought of it that way... I'm gonna have to put my brain cells to work evern harder to come up with some. Great post! : )

Jenna said...

Hey, Brenda. Love the post! Kary helped me come up with a great tag line for Only Scandal Will Do--"Scandal bought him the woman of his dreams; now he will pay any price to win her heart."

You're right, the right tagline will sell your product for you, whether book, tv show, or you the writer.

Just keep working at it and the perfect one for your book will emerge. :)

D'Ann said...

Never watched the show...now I might. I struggle with tag lines.

Zee Monodee said...

Supernatural??? Now we're talking! I loved this one from the show: "Fighting evil just got sexy!" Ain't that the truth! :)

The tag line I have for my current WIp builds upon the title:

Before The Morning (title)... is the time of greater darkness (tag line)

Both my hero and heroine have to fight their inner demons and come out of a web of lies and deceit before they can get their HEA together

Brenda said...

Thank you EVERYONE for stopping by and commenting--and all of those who posted your tag line, they rock and you rock.
Here's my tag line for my novel, Love's Prophecy. My tag is still a WIP
She'd leave her world behind to stay with him, he'd leave his heart behind to let her go.
Thanks again to you all! Hopefully, I'll see you back here on the 12th of November.