How To Write A Great Logline Fast, Every Time
A logline is the "TV-Guide" tiny blurb that makes the watcher tune in to your "show."
Your logline highlights the character, conflict, and uniqueness of your story.
Here is logline money in your bank: the coolest logline creation machine in existence:
WHO + GOAL + OBSTACLE
Examples:
| STORY | WHO | GOAL | OBSTACLE |
|---|---|---|---|
| SHREK | A loner ogre and a chatterbox donkey | endeavor to save a princess | from their boss, a tyrannical midget lord. |
| GROUNDHOG DAY | A narcissist's | race for sex, money, and fame | crashes into a supernatural force that makes him repeat the same day over and over until he learns to love. |
| TITANIC | A poor boy and a rich girl | embark on the journey of forbidden love | on the world's most famous doomed ship. |
| ROMEO & JULIET | Two young Roman lovers | fight for the right to love | against their feuding dynasties. |
Who + Goal + Obstacle = log lines that sell your story!
Longer Loglines
Even the longest logline is significantly shorter than a synopsis.
A short sentence is best.
256 characters is the ABSOLUTE max for a logline, because 256 characters won't fit in most of the places you'd print a logline, so the database fields that hold loglines won't be designed to hold more than 256 characters.
A truly polished logline will easily fit in 80 characters.
LOGLINE CHECKLIST:
YOUR LOGLINE:
- is clear and easily understood.
- suggests the largest conflict in your movie.
- suggests a cast of characters.
- suggests what’s unique about your story.
- suggests what may be familiar to an audience.
- suggests what’s easily marketable in your story.
- suggests dynamic action.
The logline should also suggest the internal struggle the character must overcome (fear, pride, shyness, anger) to reach his goal.
The story must be a conflict culminating in a decisive battle between the forces of good and evil WITHIN your protagonist.
For instance, the hero kills the villain, but only after the hero has defeated his own pride/fear/whatever vice or weakness.
Schindler saves the Jews from the Nazi's, but only after he conquers his own pride, materialistic selfishness, and fear of death.
As a final challenge, layer in character motivation.
In other words, your characters want something for a reason.
What is that reason?
- Elliot Ness is ethically opposed to Al Capone.
- Frodo must destroy the ring or be destroyed himself.
Usually, your film provides life-or-death consequences.
Add those consequences to your premise.
Take your time in writing your logline.
Your clear concept (expressed in your sparkling, clear, brilliant, rock-solid logline) provides the foundation for every draft of the script that you write thereafter.
