A logline is typically a one-sentence summary that tells what your story is about. This one-sentence summary typically applies to films and television shows but can also apply to other types of stories. They offer a precision that other methods of beginning a story do not provide. For lack of a better term, the logline is the hook (attention getter) for your story. In general, loglines must be very specific and include various essential components depending on the formula used to develop the logline.
Logline template
There are several ways to construct a logline. Two of those ways are shared below, but there are other methods as well.
The Short Version
The short version of a logline is helpful but may lack the pizzazz required if you plan to market a script or story. However, it is useful and may serve as a starting point like a working thesis statement in an essay – a rough draft.
To construct a simple logline, look at it like the following:
Something happens to move the protagonist forward, who the protagonist(s) is/are, what action the protagonist is taking, and who the antagonist(s) is/are in the story.
An example of your story in a simple logline might look like the following:
When a young scientist disappears, her best friend and high school boyfriend must confront a violent gang to get her back.
The Long Version
The long version of a logline is useful and has a bit more pizzazz. It may serve as a final version of a one-sentence summary of your script or story. It’s much more like a final thesis in an essay as opposed to a rough draft. It adds in the stake(s) (what the protagonist has to lose if they don’t take action) and the protagonist’s goal in the story.
To construct the next version of the logline, look at it like the following:
Who the protagonist(s) is/are, what action the protagonist is taking, who the antagonist(s) is/are in the story, the goal that moves the protagonist(s) forward/what the protagonist will lose if no action is taken.
An example of your story in the alternate version of the logline might look like the following:
A young entomologist’s best friend and high school boyfriend must confront a local gang before their best friend is tortured and murdered.
The most crucial part of any logline is getting started. To do that, put some thought into a story that you might want to write and play with the loglines a bit. First, ask who your protagonist(s) and who your antagonist(s) are in your story. To help you, here’s a random logline generator that may or may not fit into the script above as they are linked to the industry film/television standard. So, be cautious when using a logline from a generator. With that said, generators can help with a starting point if you are having trouble generating ideas.
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