How (and Why) to Write a Logline For Your Story

I’ve been thinking recently about loglines (I’ll tell you why in a bit) and why every author should have one for his/her story. We haven’t talked much about this at the blog, so I wanted to briefly discuss what a logline is and why you should have one.

What is a logline?

A logline is a one- or two-sentence pitch that explains what your story is about in a way that makes listeners want to read it. Loglines are important because people will always be asking you: What’s your book about? Sometimes, those people will be influential folks, like editors, agents, publishers, etc. Sometimes they’ll be other important people, like potential readers who might buy your book if it catches their fancy. The tricky thing is…this question is usually an impromptu one. It comes up unexpectedly, and if you’re not prepared, it can catch you off guard. So it’s always good to have a logline prepared.

Another good reason to write a logline is because it defines your story. If you can’t write a good one, it may not be the logline that’s the problem, but your story itself. Writing a logline can help you see potential problems or gaps within your story that will need addressing in order to get you back on the right track.

Here are a few examples of loglines from movies you might recognize (and they’ll also hint at how old I am):

A small time boxer gets a once in a lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champ in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect. (Rocky)

A young man is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his friend, Dr. Emmett Brown, and must make sure his high-school-age parents unite in order to save his own existence. (Back to the Future)

When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist, and a grizzled fisherman set out to stop it. (Jaws)

What should a logline include?

Each of these loglines contain three things: the protagonist, the overall goal, and the stakes. Let’s look at them again to see the breakdown:

A small time boxer (protagonist) gets a once in a lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champ in a bout in which he strives to go the distance (goal) for his self-respect (stakes).

A young man (protagonist) is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his friend, Dr. Emmett Brown, and must make sure his high-school-age parents unite (goal) in order to save his own existence (stakes).

When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity (stakes), a police chief (protagonist), a marine scientist and a grizzled fisherman set out to stop it (goal). In this example, the stakes are implied rather than stated outright, but mentioning that a gigantic shark is menacing a small island is enough to show what’s at stake.

It’s important to be able to narrow your story down to these three elements. It’s also important to phrase them in a way that creates interest and intrigue. If you can accomplish this, you’ll have created an honest and catchy pitch to give to anyone who might be interested in your story. And that could pay off in book sales, manuscript requests, and editor/agent interest.

Another way it could pay off is with this month’s Critiques 4 U contest :). Instead of randomly choosing winners like I usually do, I’m switching thing up and am going to choose based on your loglines. The ones that include the three required elements and intrigue me the most are the ones that will win a first-page critique. I know I’m asking for more this time, because instead of simply entering, you’ll have to do some work in advance to prepare your logline. For this reason, I’ll be leaving the contest open for two days instead of the usual one, to give you some prep time. And to sweeten the pot, the three winners will ALSO win a one-month subscription to One Stop For Writers. 

So get to work on those log lines and come bacon the 19th, when the contest begins. Winners will receive a critique and the gift of One Stop; and those of you who don’t win will have created a tool that can be used to pitch your story to anyone who’s interested.

Best of luck!

Before You Go…
Angela is posting over at TheWriteChris today. So, if you’d like to catch her 3 Brainstorming Tips for Writing Fresh Body Language To Describe Character Emotion, stop on by!

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