Mastering the art and skill of writing a compelling logline is critical for screenwriters who want their chance at success in Hollywood. Your very first step toward that success is to get a producer or studio to say YES to reading your script AFTER they read or hear your logline!
In this article, we will clarify some confusion around what a logline is and what it is not. We will also delve into the true purpose of the logline and the essential elements it should contain.
Moreover, you will find valuable tips to help improve your logline-writing skills and thus increase your chances of getting prospective producers excited about reading your screenplay!
Understanding the Significance of a Logline
A logline holds immense importance for your screenplay as it is basically an invitation into the world of your story. As such, it should encapsulate the essence of your entire script in just a sentence or two.
The logline is NOT there to tell the background of your story. The primary purpose of a logline is to captivate the imagination of whoever is reading it so they want to read your whole script. When carefully crafted, a logline can unlock the door to a world of opportunities for your screenplay. And the first step to doing that is for the logline to open the doorway into the world of your screenplay.
What is a Logline?
A logline is a masterfully condensed summary of your screenplay, offering a brief taste of it… giving the reader a sense of the kind of world they would be jumping into if they were to read it.
In the realm of loglines, brevity is supreme, and your logline should be no longer than one or two sentences or about 50 words. With its limited word count, you can see that every word matters. The job of your logline is to simply entice the reader to willingly step into the deeper realms of your screenplay, otherwise known as getting them excited to read your script.
This constraint of limited words is not all bad as it compels you to distill your screenplay’s core elements into their most potent form. Every phrase should reveal something about your story and resonate with the essence of it.
Think of crafting your logline as akin to painting a vivid picture with a limited palette of colors. Each brushstroke — each phrase of your logline — must be deliberate and purposeful, conveying the essence of your film in an evocative manner.
The challenge lies in conveying the heart of your story while leaving readers yearning for more. It’s a delicate dance between revealing enough to spark curiosity while withholding enough to ignite intrigue.
The Difference of the Logline and Tagline
A Logline is not a Tagline and it’s important to know the difference. A tagline is a catchy phrase seen on movie posters, complementing the visual aspects of the film. You might see something like “Make My Day” or other repeatable bits of dialogue like “I’ll Be Back,” which are not only memorable bits of dialogue but also have us intrigued about the story when seen alongside the images.
A tagline is sometimes also thought to be what used to be the very, very short description in the old “TV Guide” print magazine. It’s also still seen as a brief description on TV listing channels where it just gives the line of action of the story without all the more compelling color commentary that a logline might have. A tagline might simply tell us the nature of the story or the line of action: “A young woman brings a surprising guest to dinner with her parents.”
But the logline tells us more. Let’s take a look at what it includes.
Tips for Crafting an Effective Logline
Many times a logline is the only thing that a producer or their reader will see before they make a decision on whether it’s worthwhile to read the script.
While the tagline listed above might be a little bit intriguing, it doesn’t tell enough about the story to be certain you have someone hooked into reading it. When I wrote the tagline above, of “A young woman brings a surprising guest to dinner with her parents,” I had the movie “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?” in mind. It was done in 1967, about interracial marriage, which was very controversial. But with only the tagline, that surprising guest could have been a turtle a young woman adopted or an old homeless man she had befriended or anything! We know the direction of the story but nothing more.
In a logline, we must tell more about the story to be certain we get them hooked, so that if the story is in the ballpark of what they’re interested in, they will say YES! I want to read it!
So let’s see what a logline needs to have in it.
Clearly Define the Core Conflict
One of the key fundamental aspects of an engaging logline is letting us know what the conflict is and who the parties involved are — which are your lead characters.
Conflict is the essence of a story — without conflict, there is no story. So your logline must tell it what that conflict is. You need to introduce the hero and usually the villain too or at least imply who it is. And we should get a sense of their opposing motivations and goals. Using colorful, easy adjectives for your main characters will enhance the logline’s impact as well since it will help us to visualize the main character.
This conflict that happens with your Main Character is the driving force of the story itself. It creates tension and when tension is done well, it captivates your audience. By succinctly presenting the conflict in your logline, you can immediately grab the attention of potential readers or producers.
Highlight the Obstacles Faced by the Hero
In the process of the conflict that is presented, your Lead Character will be facing some obstacles. But obstacles to what? Obstacles in the way of them getting what he or she wants. To show us the obstacles, then, we must first get a glimpse of what your character wants — their motivation or goal — so then the obstacles have meaning. Highlighting the conflict or a key obstacle will generate curiosity and make your logline more intriguing.
The more compelling and challenging the obstacles, the more intriguing your screenplay becomes. You just need to ensure that these obstacles tie directly into the main conflict and thus enhance the tension and intrigue.
Create a Great Hook
The central piece of the logline that will demand that a producer read your script is “a good hook.” Or if we’re going with the fishing metaphor, it’s really good bait that draws them in then a good hook that won’t let them get away (without reading your script)!
What is a hook?
A hook is a captivating element of your story that grabs the reader’s attention and compels them to take the next step with your story whether it’s to read your screenplay, watch the trailer, or buy a ticket to see the movie. It should pique curiosity, ignite intrigue, and create a strong emotional connection with the reader or viewer.
The hook can take various forms, such as an intriguing opening line, a shocking event, an unexpected twist, or a compelling question. It could be an enigmatic object focused on, a mysterious character, or a captivating premise that captures the imagination. Your hook can be a distinctive concept, or any other intriguing element that grabs attention.
At its base, the hook is a magnetic force, compelling readers to delve deeper into your screenplay. It should instill a deep desire to find out what lies ahead as it grabs readers from the outset and gets them increasingly invested in the journey that unfolds.
The main definition of a hook is that it is unique in an interesting way. It’s not different just to be different but it’s somehow evocative, engaging the readers’ imagination so they cannot help but ask: “… and then what happened?”
Ultimately your hook is THE THING that makes your script stand out from the hundreds of other stories the producer got pitched that week.
Sample Loglines:
Let’s examine modified loglines of famous movies that follow these tips:
- Alien: When the crew of spacecraft Nostromo investigates a strange signal from a nearby planet, they discover it was intended as a warning, not an SOS. Too late to retreat, they awaken a hive colony of horrific creatures who are now out for revenge.
- Legally Blonde: After being dumped by her blueblood boyfriend for being “too blonde,” a sorority queen and Hawaiian Tropic girl decides to prove herself by following him to law school. There, she discovers her untapped legal savvy and fights to win him back.
Wrap Up
Being able to craft a compelling logline is critical in getting producers to read your screenplay. By following the steps above to a good degree, you can significantly improve the chances of writing a logline that does justice to your screenplay.
In fact, writing a great logline has a side benefit too that is rarely talked about. This is a VERY IMPORTANT BONUS TIP that only those who read this whole article will get….and it’s a biggie.
If you want to save yourself a huge headache before you even begin writing your script — or really you can do this at any time in the process of writing your script and you’ll get the benefit — the do the following:
Write 3 to 5 strong loglines for your story before writing the script. You could even run it by some people to see their reaction. If you can nail the logline before you write your story, you will save yourself a tremendous amount of rewriting on the backend.
There’s something magical that happens when you get super clear on what your story is about and you can synopsize it into a fabulous logline. If you can get that clear up front, you’ll be amazed how much it will cut down on your rewriting and editing time. Not to mention the fact that you can ask to see how people respond to the idea before spending all the time writing it!
If you would like specific feedback or help with your logline, you may want to consider getting a session on Pitching Your Script, which again… can potentially help save you a tremendous amount of time writing scenes that shouldn’t be in there. And if you’re ready to market your script, check out our Script Marketing Campaign, in which we work on a logline for you!
The most important thing is to get started and give it a shot!
