Instead of grousing about writing loglines, I’m sharing my go-to list when composing them. My husband, the scriptwriter, calls this list a formula. Although the following doesn’t make my grousing cease, it does temper it and, truthfully, makes approaching writing loglines less stressful:
- Start off by describing the hook that kicks off your protagonist’s journey
- Carry on with describing the protagonist, their goal, who/what is trying to stop them
- Describe the stakes if the protagonist fails
- Try making steps 1-3 form 1 complete concise sentence
- A model: When/After [inciting incident happens], a [specific protagonist] must/struggles to [accomplish goal / overcome obstacles] by [time factor] or else [what’s at stake]
- Omit stakes and time factor if they are implied by the goal or inciting incident
- Try starting the logline with what if
If I’m still stuck, or even if I’m not, I Google show me loglines
PS. IMO creating loglines with a side of peanut butter cup ice-cream takes an edge off grousing.
Yours in loglines,
PB
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