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How to Write a Logline (don't skip this important pitching tool!)
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- A logline is a one-sentence pitch of your story, and an important pitching tool. It can be the basis for a longer pitch, but should also be able to stand on its own. Because of the compressed format, loglines are notoriously hard to write, but today we'll look at a simple structure for writing effective loglines!
LEARN MORE:
Develop Your Book's Logline with Jeff Lyons (transcript): blog.reedsy.com/live/logline/...
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - What is a logline?
1:43 - Common logline mistakes
3:36 - Logline structure
4:51 - Example: Jessica Jones
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You're really good at it. Cheers !!!
Wonderful advice!
I'm great at pitching, not so great at finishing the damn book. ;)
Excellent video! Looking at all your resources makes me love you more! Thank you!
This will be very helpful.
Nicely presented!
Your videos are excellent, thanks.
Any tips for writing a logline when you have multiple POVs that only converge at the end of the book?
*Im leaving a mark here
cuz Ive used that structure too and confused how to make logline without spoiling the conclusion
Totally agree!!
If I had to guess, you might have to pick the most critical of your multiple POV characters (the one who owns the make-or-break moment of the story), and let the others be secondary POVs who feed in...? 😶
Focus on the primary character/protagonist. There will generally be one who stands out from the rest as the driving force for the story. Use that as your main logline. Then, create loglines from the POV of each of the other main characters you have. Those other ones should support and run parallel to the primary protagonist's logline.
Interesting.
Do you include log lines in a query letter ?
No, but the logline will help you focus the query letter.
Question: is it okay in a logline to bend the truth for clarity’s sake?
*Example:*
My story hinges on my main character conspiring with his rival’s little sister - or at least that’s what it says in the logline. She’s actually the rival’s _girlfriend’s_ little sister - but rival and girlfriend were childhood sweethearts, and rival says in the book he _sees_ this character as a little sister. Would it be okay to say “rival’s little sister,” which is technically false, if it cuts out distracting details and also gets the dynamic across better than the actual truth??
(I know I’m late, but an answer really would make my day and be SO helpful!)
* Sight* trying to write it again since youtube just didn't send my reply.
I am not an expert in any way, but as a reader I would say yes, very much so. It does not only simplify things, but also leaves a room for some "aha" moment when you learn that things are just a little more complicated and interesting. It's not like you were lying in the pitch, you just didn't tell all the details - which is a goal in a sense. I think it is a good decision to catch a readers' interest at least, not sure about query. And the premise itself sounds very interesting! Wish you good luck and success in your work :)
My book is about a school principal who gets murdered and how different students react to that murder and the truth behind it.
Is it OK as a logline?
I think you have all the elements there of a great logline. However, I would replace the word Murder with Death. Reason being Murder is a definitive outcome, and since the students react to the truth behind the death of their 'beloved and respected principle..?' the impact could come from the fact it 'was' a Murder? Throw some suspense in the logline itself. Just a thought, hope that helps.
Who is the main character? And what is that character's goal?
Shaelin, if you do script coverage or script analysis, please PM me. Thank you
In a world where humanity has become deeply nostalgic due to a near-fatal brush with environmental extinction, a woman has been trained to be the perfect Historian Spy by the Mata Hari Society, an organization of time-travelers who employ seduction to gain information. She must travel back in time as Mata Hari herself, the exotic-dancer turned WWI traitor, who historical accounts all show was executed by the French for her espionage. Can she find a way to change her destiny before it's too late?
Just ensure your literary work is pitched only to the right people in the publishing industry. A lot of phonies do exist whose only contribution to authors' careers is to help waste time -- even when they know from moment of pitching the work---they'd be rejecting it: some agents or publishers prohibit multiple submissions yet keep manuscripts for months on end---then relish the time they'd wasted holding onto a book before eventually rejecting it. It is what actually makes a lit if then feel publishers: disappointing authors after wasting valuable time.
Give your work to real publishers, not shysters out to look good with status. That title 'publisher' does pack some really big status.
Some od then use their imprints and presumed publishing firms as front for some other activities -- not advisable for disclosure in polite conversation.
"It is what actually makes a lit if then feel publishers: disappointing authors after wasting valuable time."....I think you wrote this in haste. Can you make sense of it for clarity?
A log line is so brief, how much time is wasted even if you share it with everyone you meet?
@@johnfogarty91 Your first line isn't cohesive
---Wasting upto many months -- in some cases ten months of more before replying an author -- isn't what make them publishers -- especially if projected policies inbue hope into struggling authors by prohibiting submissions --then one there's letter in the mail : "we do not find your work publishable" ---in all that whuke, prevented you from giving another copy of your work to potentially accepting publishers...
Haven't you heard? Bob Coach sent 'Shenanigans of Sillily' to publishers unaccepting of multiple submission, wasted his time for months, then rejected it, he self published it -- it sold over one hundred million copies, publisher thought he found a legal ground for free cash in court in his argument -- 'he hadn't really rejected the book, he was only testing to find out if Bob Coach was serious as an author to pressure him to publish it' ---whoa!!
Wouldn't you just laugh a little, mm?
Thank you! I didn’t even finish this before I started using it
What is the actual matter with you?
Flirty perty book nerd tells 134,000 subscribers how to write loglines for their amped up action-driven graphic novels.