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Home » Writing Craft » Craft » Page 19

Craft

Name Brands in Fiction

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon July 30, 2015
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So, you’re driving down the road, and you see a Ford F-350 with Monster wheels and an NRA bumper sticker. And you see a Toyota Prius with a Go Green bumper sticker. You know these are two different personalities driving the vehicles, right? You probably have formed an image already. I would guess you even think the driver of the truck is a male and the Toyota is a female. Or you might see a middle-aged woman emerge from a Mercedes-Benz decked out in designer apparel and nearby, a teenager emerge from a Ford Mustang wearing fast fashion. As an observer, you form images of these people and how they live, correct?

So it stands to reason that this is a great and quick way to convey impressions of your characters to readers of your contemporary novel, right?

Wrong.

Huh?

I’ll admit, to say, “Wrong,” is draconian. However, there are good reasons to avoid using name brands in books even though observing what people buy in real life is one way we assess them, whether we admit it or not.

But here are a couple of reasons why this isn’t such a great idea when writing a book:

1.) Your readers may not know the brands as well as you do.

I am the daughter of a man whose nickname in high school was “Speed” (because he drove fast) and he was proud of it. I also love cars, although I try not to exceed the speed limit. I have been told that  “Da-da” and “ca-ca” were my first utterances. In that order. So I keep up with cars, especially my favorite brands. But that doesn’t mean all readers do. Many of my friends say, “All I care about is that my car gets me from Point A to Point B.” But these friends of mine have other redeeming qualities.

The point is, your reader may not understand or care about this brand reference that is so important to you. Why spend your valuable writing time on a reference that may be lost to a large portion of your readers?

2.) Some of your readers may absolutely hate the brand you love.

Yes, it’s true. Not everyone likes Ford Mustangs. I know, that’s awful, right? Like, who doesn’t absolutely adore Mustangs? Well, maybe the reader whose ex-boyfriend drove one. You never know. And now your heroine is driving one. So your reader is now remembering that terrible breakup…Annnnd that may be enough to make her put your book down. Right. Now.

3.) One day soon, name brands will make your novel seem quaint.

This has always been true, but it is even more true today because tastes change faster than ever. Granted, there will always be the edgy contemporary novel that is deliberately trendy. And there is the novel that is all about designer brands. But that’s not the norm in CBA.

Generally speaking, if you want your work to be read more than six months from now, or if you are going the traditional publishing route, you want to be on trend but not ridiculously so.

4.) Using name brands to teach a lesson can backfire.

You may be trying to make a character unlikable to make a statement about snobbishness and/or stewardship and, in doing so, deck her out in designer duds. Perhaps this is a minor character you don’t think anyone will care about. However, by using this character as a straw woman to take the hit and to be a Sunday school lesson, you may be turning off readers.

What if the reader herself wears the designer duds you so despise? Or what if this “terrible” character is just like the reader’s beloved aunt? You may inadvertently turn off a reader by this form of preaching. Readers will easily see that they are being criticized and they won’t like it — or your book. So tread carefully here if you choose to tread at all.

5) Legal pitfalls

Before you use a trademarked brand name in your fiction use a little legal caution. There are things like “defamation” and “infringement” that can be troublesome. Simply refrain from saying that particular car brand is the “worst car ever made.” There are some excellent articles online to help if you are concerned:
Rights of Writers
Trademarks in The Fault in Our Stars
Daily Writing Tips

Are brand names absolutely forbidden in contemporary fiction? Of course not. Not when it makes sense to use them. But if a silver sedan for one reader is a Mercedes-Benz S class and for another, a Lincoln MKS and for another a Kia Optima, then let the reader enjoy the ride.

Your turn:

What other reasons can you give for not using name brands?

Can you think of reasons when using name brands are effective?

 

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Category: Copyright, Craft, Legal Issues, Writing CraftTag: Copyright, Craft, Legal, Writing Craft

Fiction: Contemporary or Historical?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon July 16, 2015
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Recently I noted an article in a prestigious publishing journal that says readers are looking for more fiction. I hope the article is right! To narrow this down, we can look to historical versus contemporary, since many authors write both. To clarify, for the purposes of this blog, I am limiting my discussion to traditional CBA trade book fare of strong stories heavy on romance. I am not …

Read moreFiction: Contemporary or Historical?
Category: Career, Craft, Creativity, Genre, Get Published, Romance, TrendsTag: Contemporary Fiction, Genre, Historical Fiction

Are You Leaving a Legacy Now?

By Karen Ballon July 1, 2015
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Two weeks ago I wrote about a video made to honor Paul Lee, a student at Seattle Pacific University whose life was ended too soon in the shooting a year ago. The video mourned his loss, but it also celebrated his life and showed the impact he’d had on those he met in his few years of life. When I first watched the video, it inspired and challenged me. Paul’s legacy is one of joy and dance and …

Read moreAre You Leaving a Legacy Now?
Category: Career, CraftTag: Career, Legacy

Nuance: A Key to Real-Life Characters

By Karen Ballon June 24, 2015
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I love watching movies and TV. Love being transported by the stories and entertained by the characters. Lately, I’ve been keying in on something, though, that is helping me with building characters in my fiction. Nuance. It’s defined by good ol’ Webster’s as “a subtle or small distinction,” but I’m finding that it could be defined as “the difference between real-life and stereotypical characters.” …

Read moreNuance: A Key to Real-Life Characters
Category: Craft, Writing CraftTag: Characters, Craft, Writing Craft

Why We Must Be Forthright

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 18, 2015
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 I’ve heard more than one writer say, “I’m sneaking Christianity into a book for the general market!” Wanting to reach the unsaved is a wonderful mission, but in my opinion, sneaking (and I’m not kidding when I say authors actually use this verb) Christianity into books isn’t the way to do it. Why not? Well, for one, that’s not the example Christ set. …

Read moreWhy We Must Be Forthright
Category: Branding, Craft, Creativity, Marketing, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Christian, Craft, Writing Craft

Eyes Open, Antennae Up

By Dan Balowon June 16, 2015
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I can find humor anywhere. It’s a gift…or a curse. I waver on that regularly. About 35 years ago I was in a small grocery store across from our apartment to pick up a few things we needed. We didn’t have much storage space so we went to the store multiple times each week for few things each time, usually diapers and baby formula. To this day, I can still see the well-dressed middle age woman in …

Read moreEyes Open, Antennae Up
Category: Craft, CreativityTag: Creativity, Humor, Writing Craft

What’s in a Name?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 11, 2015
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Look at this list of names: Mary Maxwell Julius Cromwell Hector Williams Lucinda Smith Do they mean anything to you? Probably not, unless you happen to have some random connection to them such as you happen to have an aunt named Lucinda. Truth is, they don’t mean anything to me, either. I just made them up. (With apologies to the many people named Mary Maxwell, et al on Facebook.) But what …

Read moreWhat’s in a Name?
Category: Craft, Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Character Names, Craft, Writing Craft

Wordsmith Tools

By Karen Ballon May 27, 2015
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Thanks so much for all the great comments last week. I had such fun reading your thoughts and your must-edit words. It’s always so comforting to know we’re not alone in our struggles, isn’t it? So, now that we’ve confessed together, let’s take a look at some tools that can not only help you in the area of unique and effective word choices, but can actually increase your ability to portray …

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Category: Craft, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Resources, Writing Craft

Wordsmiths of the World, Unite!

By Karen Ballon May 20, 2015
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Did you know you’re a wordsmith? If you’re a writer, you are. A wordsmith is defined by Webster’s as a “craftsman or artist whose medium is words.” That, my friends, is you. Which is why I’m coming to you today and asking you to have mercy on your readers. (Yes, I’m making this same request of myself as a writer.) Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, let’s be done with empty words in our …

Read moreWordsmiths of the World, Unite!
Category: Craft, Editing, Grammar, Writing CraftTag: words, Writing Craft

All Dialogue Mechanics Are Not Equal (Viva la Différence!)

By Karen Ballon May 13, 2015
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While editing a novel recently, I was writing a note to explain the importance of beats. Which led me to an explanation of the importance of varying the kinds of beats we use. Which led me to a realization: dialogue tags and beats and descriptive beats are very different things. Okay, okay…yes, I already knew that. But I hadn’t really thought it over much. As a writer, I sometimes tend to operate …

Read moreAll Dialogue Mechanics Are Not Equal (Viva la Différence!)
Category: Craft, Editing, Grammar, Writing CraftTag: Beats, Craft, Dialogue, Writing Craft
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