Here’s the reality: if you’re writing a novel, and you want others to read it, you’re going to need a logline. A second dose of reality is that loglines are hard to write. You’re trying to not only sum up your novel in one sentence, but you’re trying to entice the audience to read it.
I’ve attended 2 conference sessions and 1 online class on writing loglines. I’ve written the logline for my novel, and pitched agents using it with some positive feedback. But, I still don’t think it’s there yet. I’m just on the verge of a complete rewrite of my novel with several plot clarifications, and I’m determined to finally nail the logline.
I recently re-read the fantastic book, Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. It’s well-known as a screenwriting book, but offers equally valuable information for novel writers. Snyder includes spot-on pointers for writing the logline. Let’s look at 6 of them.
- Write the logline before you write the novel. (If possible, of course. Or, in my case, before I revise).
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this. Many writers think you should have the logline in front of you the whole time you’re writing. Here’s why—The logline is a good place to find out what’s missing.
2. The logline must have irony. Irony gets attention. It hooks your interest. It’s emotional. Draws you in. You must offer something unexpected.
Snyder offers this example of a logline for the movie 4 Christmases:
A newly married couple must spend Christmas Day at each of their four divorced parent’s homes.
It made me think of a logline I heard on TV last week. Spike Lee summed up his new movie, BlacKkKlansman:
A black man infiltrates the KKK.
Snyder sums up the first two pointers: “In identifying the ironic elements of your story and putting them into a logline, you may discover that you don’t have that. Well, if you don’t, then there may be not only something wrong with your logline – maybe you story’s off, too.” Shivers. Onward.
3. The logline must offer a compelling mental picture. It will tell you something about the setting and/or timeframe. The story will unfold in your mind when you hear it.
If you consider the last two logline examples, they both include elements of setting and timeframe.
4. The logline will include audience and cost. For novel writers, this is genre and length. A thriller of 90,000 words will have a different tone and audience than a middle grade novel of 45,000 words. If you’re pitching an agent, they need to know if they can sell it or if it will fit their portfolio.
5. Your logline needs to include a Killer Title. Snyder says “Titles and loglines are a one-two punch, and a good combo never fails to knock me out.”
A good title must be the headline of the story – it has to say what it is and do so in a clever, interesting way.
6. And after all this, you’ll need to add an adjective to describe your hero, an adjective to describe the bad guy, and a primal goal.
“By examining who your hero is and what his primal goal is, as well as the bad guy who is trying to stop him from achieving that goal, you can better identify and expand the needs of your story. The logline with the most conflict, the most sharply defined hero and bad guy, and the clearest, most primal goal is the winner.”
Loglines are not easy to write, but they do force you to bring the conflicts and characters of your story into better focus. If you write your logline in advance of your draft, hopefully you can keep your story tightly adhered to this focus. Stay tuned, I’ll report back.
Anyone else have additional tips on what needs to be included in a logline?
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