Although today is National Grammar Day, we aren’t going to examine any aspect of grammar…rather we are going to expose yet another baffling term that is probably new to you…actually a pair of terms that are often confused. Because you’ll probably need both a Tagline and a Logline, it’s a pretty good idea to distinguish them.
Logline
Commonly expanded and used as an Elevator Speech, or expanded even more to become a Blurb, a Logline is a quick description of your book that includes enough information so the reader knows what it’s all about. Easy enough to build…determine the proper parts and put them together.
Start with your main character…but not his name, just a quick description as an outsider would see him with a couple descriptive adjectives to give some depth.
- A former boy scout
Then you need to add some setting, just enough to set the general situation or time period. You could also include an indication of genre here.
- A former boy scout, now in his early twenties, is finishing up college
Next, mention what’s changed in his life. Why is the story starting here? That would be the Inciting Event from Act I. Don’t go into too much detail, just a quick reason why things have changed.
- A former boy scout, now in his early twenties, is finishing up college and arranges one last great adventure with some fellow scouts
Now we need to know the stakes…what could happen…what are the risks?
- A former boy scout, now in his early twenties, is finishing up college and arranges one last great adventure with some fellow scouts. Using some experimental technology, they plan to travel far to experience a new world
Finally we need to get the reader to care about the characters.
- A former boy scout, now in his early twenties, is finishing up college and arranges one last great adventure with some fellow scouts. Using some experimental technology, they plan to travel far to experience a new world where they discover more about themselves than they expected and have to make some crucial decisions to ensure that all return safely
Optional
To keep the tension strong, a ticking clock is handy to have.
- A former boy scout, now in his early twenties, is finishing up college and arranges one last great adventure with some fellow scouts. Using some experimental technology, they plan to travel far to experience a new world where they discover more about themselves than they expected and have to make some crucial decisions to ensure that all return safely before the door to the new world closes.
That covers the Logline, just two sentences.
Tagline
Often found as a subtitle on a novel, the Tagline gives a feeling of what the book is about…but none of the details. You can’t predict anything about the book from the Tagline, but it makes you want look more, just like a slogan—complementing your cover image as it illuminates the heart of your book.
Creating a Logline was a straightforward step-by-step process…creating a Tagline, on the other hand, is a whole ’nother ball of wax. Because your Tagline has little to do with the content of your book, there is no quick and easy method to create one. It is a purely creative task, so we suggest that you consider the list below for inspiration and do a lot of brainstorming. Come up with as many as you can and pass them by your friends and family, critique partners, possibly total strangers. See how they react, what questions they ask, what excites them. Would they pick up the book based on that alone?
You’ll probably recognise some of the following Taglines…and could even name the book, movie, or show.
- There can be only one.
- A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
- Who you gonna call?
- One ring to rule them all.
- …the temperature at which books burn.
- Winter is coming.
- Don’t go in the water.
- Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…
- Winning will make you famous. Losing means certain death.
- The truth is out there.
- We are not alone.
- There are two sides to every story.
- Half Boy. Half God. All Hero.
As you can see, even if you know what those Taglines refer to, by themselves, they don’t give any clue what the story is about. That’s the problem with Taglines. All we can do is wish you luck!