Once upon a time, a little show called Heroes existed. It had an epic first season, near perfect. The rest? Fair to say, they didn’t nail the landing. I’m not here to talk about that. Others have. With feeling. It was that kind of show. No, I want to focus on their tagline, and my newest obsession. In fact, it has totally inspired me and I’m this close to stealing, ah, borrowing it, if only I can find the right word(s), I can co-opt it as the perfect elevator pitch template for my novel. But that right word or collection of them? UGH!!!!
Then, 2006-2010
Save the cheerleader, save the world
First season tagline
For those of you won don’t remember, 2006 was a while ago, Heroes focused on a group of people who discover they have superpowers. Turns out, and this many come as a shock, they have to come together to stop an epic, world ending disaster (is there any other kind?). Superheroes, yep they existed pre-Iron Man, Marvel phases and DC TV. Don’t believe me? Check it out.
At the center, as you can see from the trailer, is Hayden Panettiere’s Claire Bennet, aka the cheerleader. The irony, saving her seems a strange task considering that, it seems, she can’t die. But clearly they needed to save her in order to, you know, save the world. And they did manage to pull it off, only for the pesky government to come along and want to round them up. Well, thank. See if I save your ass again!
Now, The Minor Invasion Trilogy
Fast forward to to a writer working on a trilogy, me, and I’m working on book 3 now, title still to be decided. As the final book, of course the big dilemma, one that I’ve built in the first two books, hits the fan and then requires some kind of resolution. One of my main characters (no spoilers, just a small hint) needs saving. Worse, he galaxy is a mess from the events fo the first two books, and I’ve set it up so that by saving the DMD (Damsel In Distress for the uninformed), it will give them the key to putting the galaxy back to rights. As I was plotting this out, the infamous tagline came to mind, and I thought, if I could just find the right turn of phrase with that as the base, I’d have my elevator pitch. This is the best I’ve managed to come up with
Save the human, save the galaxy
Yes, I know, it’s flat, dead as 7-UP left out for a week, but I can’t seem to find anything else. And this is where you (and I) realize the poetic genius involved in this hook thing. You know, that combination of six to twelve words that draws your attending and sticks in your brain like glue. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s also the word in music used to describe a short, repeated series of notes, usually on guitar, that tickles the ear. Masters of this have respect for a reason. I’m not there. Not even close, but I’m open to suggestions. If you would care to leave them below, I’d be grateful