Forgive another post about branding and platforming. I’m on a kick, but I’ll bring it round to writing.
I’ve noted my general aversion to terms like branding and platform. I’ve no ambition to become McDonald’s or Nike, and I’m uncomfortable at the dais. The spotlight sounds like fun until it hits you.
Nonetheless, the concepts have value. They merely need reframing. I prefer terms like community, communicating, and identity, but the tools of branding and platform can be used to build these as well.
Viewed in a less corporate way, branding is merely the assertion of your authentic self, but with a louder voice. Platform doesn’t have to mean an elevated spot for a single speaker; it can be a dance floor for hundreds. Consider branding as an invitation. If you like what you see, come on in.
In essence, branding is simply the writer telling one more story, the story of himself. “Who am I” is both the question and the answer.
That equation is a bit more difficult for some of us than others.
The “who am I” statement came up during Jane Friedman’s business workshop a few weeks ago. Attendees were asked to create a branding statement of no more than two sentences, twenty-five to thirty words, with one sentence being better.
Most of the table had an easier time narrowing down their focus, whether that might be genre (series murder mystery); market niche (YA science fiction); or non-fiction topic (mental health, grief). For those of us – me – who follow stories and characters where they lead regardless of genre, crafting a single statement was harder.
How does one sum that up? I felt a bit like the odd man out at the table, but the writers I admire also don’t fit into a 25-word purpose statement. Margaret Atwood, Alan Moore, Ray Bradbury, Octavia Butler, Dave Eggers, China Miéville, and Marge Piercy aren’t confined to any one genre. Neither are Stanley Kubrick or Steven Spielberg. How do you describe a man who directed 2001, Full Metal Jacket, and The Shining or the one who directed Jaws, Lincoln, and West Side Story? Of course, I’m not in that stratosphere, but if I’m going to sit at someone’s feet, I want the best view.
Even writers known for specific genres branched out into romance (Patricia Highsmith, The Price of Salt), alternative history (Philip Roth, The Plot Against America), or semi-autobiographical fiction (Philip K. Dick, Confessions of a Crap Artist, which is, ironically, my favorite of his books).
And what about those of us who cram our genres together like chocolate and peanut butter and occasionally jam or a banana? We like a bit of horror in our romance and magic in our murder mystery and fantasy is our historical novels. Alien? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Game of Thrones?
“My experience of life is that it is not divided up into genres; it’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you’re lucky.” ― Alan Moore
Currently, I’m actively writing one fantasy novel and am outlining a follow-up set in the same world but with different characters. After that? Well, my 2026 project is probably a faith-based contemporary novel, and then a 1930s rural murder mystery. Then I might work on a science fiction romance set in the multiverse or a 1960s small town marriage drama. I have a great premise for a road trip horror novel and another for a coming-of-age ghost story. I could jump on a Victorian-era SF novel or a series of grand guignol plays I’m toying with.
Branding would be a lot easier if I wrote YA romance or a detective series or whatever Twilight/Game of Thrones rip-off is popular this week, but what’s easy isn’t always what’s fun. And frankly, it wouldn’t be easy for me, because I’d hate every minute of it.
Fortunately, Jane had good advice about focusing on tone and experience, if genre or market niche aren’t as relevant. I can work with attitude, and I clearly have recurring themes – you might call them personal issues – I work out in my writing. This is probably a good place to refer back to my post on the Writer’s Credo. If you can’t pinpoint what genre you write, at minimum, you should be able to tell your reader what you believe.
So what do I write?
I write caustic tales of misfits, loners, and misanthropes. Multiple genres, many sins, leavened with dark humor and the kind of hope that leaves a scar.
Sound good? Come on in.
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