Wednesday, September 3, 2014

What is your tag line?

Identity - we all have one - but what is your true identity?


We present faces to the world that match our roles: mother, friend, sister, boss... But who are we really?  Behind all your faces, who are you? What do you care about? What do you want? What cheers you, harms you or drives you?

I've thought about those questions. I've searched for answers, direction and inner peace. In the distant past, I thought I was the only one searching for these answers. Turns out I do not have a monopoly on the questions. Everyone I've met has asked these or similar questions more than once in their lives

We start out as babies with a clean slate. Everyone we meet, every circumstance of our lives and every action we take write on our slate. But do we let the writing of others define us? Or do we search out our own identity?

Each of us is unique and our answers will be ours alone.


I don't pretend to have answers for you. I have found a few for myself. However, those answers shift with my mood, my circumstances and my heart. I continue to search, to redefine and find new purpose in my life.


This fascination with who we are, why we are here and how we cope has shaped my writing. I write about:

- the puzzle of inner and outer identity
- the impact of people and circumstances on my characters
- the course of overturned lives.
- and I write about characters who find inner strength and skills to put things right in their world.


There are many reality-based books, horror stories, and love tales on the market. A story for everyone, but not the same story for all. I like stories with a puzzle, with struggling human characters and an ending that offers hope. In my writing, I strive to offer those ingredients to my readers.

 

Two of my favorite authors have tag lines I can get behind.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips: Because life is too short to read depressing stories.
Mary M. Forbes: In dreams we can be anyone we want.

 For today, my tag line is:

Stories that set things right....characters that find their way.

Do you have a tag line for your books or for your personal life story? Care to share it? I'd love to hear from you.








8 comments:

  1. Thank you Mahrie for mentioning me. So you know I have one. I was asked in a radio interview what I wanted my readers to get from my writing. I stuttered with our famous eh? well in place - then came up with escapism. It felt like running away from problems. My characters through my own experiences never run away from problems. Well... at least not for a long time. Only when it's smart to run away and live to fight another day, they might. A great article. And yes - we are not alone. It's comforting to know that.

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  2. Thanks for stopping by, Mary. My discussions with you have helped me clarify my brand and work toward a tag line that fits my stories.

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  3. Excellent post, Mahrie! My books, articles and blog posts all deal with reinvention. I'm using the following tagline for my blog - On the road to reinvention. From your examples, I see that a verb is needed. Another possibility - Second acts are possible, in fiction and in life.

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  4. Joanne - your tag line drew me to your site in the first place so I think it is effective. Who is to say a verb is needed or not? I do however also like "second acts are possible..." all on its own. Simple and succinct.

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  5. The one I love - which seems to show up in all my stories - is, 'Fall down seven times, get up eight'.

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    1. Diana - that is a good one. Excellent advice for both characters and writers!

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  6. Huh...this is really interesting. I definitely think I need to give this some thought. I think this helps pin down ones writing values as well. And I do like the taglines you highlighted :) And yours as well! Great post.

    Sarah Allen
    (From Sarah, With Joy)

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  7. Glad you find this thought provoking. Nailing down your core story gives all your books "shape." A core story transcends genres.

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