How to Write Compelling Loglines
What Is a Logline
Loglines are tools used in both developing a script and in trying to sell it.
A logline translates 120 pages of action into one simple idea. Drilling that idea down to that single sentence that includes all the essential story elements is instrumental for writers to proceed to the next stage of outlining, and then writing a treatment, and then putting the fully formed story that is in regular prose into screenplay format. At the end of the process, once the draft has been revised many, many times, the logline is used when trying to pitch it to a busy development executive who will have a reasonably accurate reference point for the script from which she can decide if that particular story is something the studio wants to learn more about and possibly take on.
A logline is also something that helps you determine whether your story is structurally sound. The great Broadway playwright and producer David Belasco: “If you can’t write your idea on the back of my calling card, you don’t have a clear idea.” One thing to note is that there is never a single, authoritative logline for a script. Each script will have as many different loglines as there are readers.
What Should Be in the Logline
Identify the protagonist: A good logline should NOT mention character names. Instead identify the story’s protagonist by including a strong character trait along with a dramatic teaser about the story. Identify what the protagonist wants: Dramatic stories are about a character wanting something and having trouble getting it. The writer must make crystal clear at all stages of the writing what a character wants. By including this want in the logline, the writer keeps in mind this crucial story element. Identify the obstacles: Conflict is imperative to any good story. What stands in the way of the protagonist getting what she or he wants? That should go in the logline. Setting and stakes are also good to include in a logline.
HOW TO WRITE A LOGLINE
There are a number of ways to write a good, strong logline. Below are 12 different approaches to get you started. As to which way you go? The devil’s in the details of your story. It’s up to you to figure those out. 
- When an event happens, a person takes action until an antagonist threatens.
- After shocking back story happens, a person pursues a difficult goal.
- An interesting person pursues a familiar goal, in an unexpected way.
- Driven by motivation, a person or people pursue a unique goal.
- Special circumstances force a character to engage in morally ambiguous behavior.
- A group of interesting people face a variety of obstacles as they pursue a collective goal.
- A group of interesting people must choose between their personal needs and the collective good as they face a common enemy.
- An anti-hero makes it his or her mission to rise to power with a certain methodology.
- Two opposite people with limited resources must unite to accomplish a mission.
- A negatively changed world can only be fixed with the accomplishment of an impossible task performed by a unique person.
- When [INCITING INCIDENT] happens, [OUR PROTAGONIST] decides [TO DO ACTION] against [ANTAGONIST].
MORE ON HOW TO WRITE A LOGLINE
LOGLINE EXAMPLES
FICTIONAL LOGLINES
Django Unchained
After being rescued by a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.
Silence of the Lambs
In order to catch a killer who skins his victims, a young FBI cadet must seek help from an incarcerated and manipulative killer.
Star Wars
A spirited farm boy joins rebel forces to fight an evil lord and rescue a princess from certain death at the hands of the evil empire.
Stranger Things
When a young boy disappears, his mother, a police chief, and his three friends must confront terrifying forces to get him back.
Casablanca
When his ex-girlfriend happens upon his bar in Nazi-occupied Morocco, a jaded casino owner must confront his feelings for his ex-lover, his cynicism, and his once-strong patriotism to help in the war effort and the heroism of his ex-lover’s husband.
Die Hard
When an NYC cop goes to LA to try to win back his estranged wife, he finds her entire company has been taken hostage by a terrorist group, and he might be the only one who can save them.
Class Action
An attorney finds that her nemesis is her own father, and must choose between her corporate client and justice.
Cliffhanger
A retired mountain climber must conquer an unclimbable peak to save the survivors of a plane crash from certain death.
Enough
On the run from an abusive husband, a young mother begins to train herself to fight back.
Erin Brokovich
An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city’s water supply.
Castaway
A FedEx executive must transform himself physically and emotionally to survive after a crash landing on a deserted island.
The Matrix
A computer hacker is lured into a group of mysterious rebels who help him start to question the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.
DOCUMENTARY LOGLINES
Grizzly Man
A wildlife preservationist spends years living with and videotaping grizzlies in the Alaska wilderness in an effort to advocate for these animals, but is his commitment to preserve these beats too dangerous for his own preservation?
Fahrenheit 911
The terrorist plot that destroyed the Twin Towers provokes a response that put the United States’ moral authority at risk as well.
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
When the quest for ever more profits leads Enron executives to market manipulation, fraud, and eventually the collapse of a company it also rocks the entire financial system to the core.
