"So, What's Your Story About?"

What Is a Logline?

A logline is a brief, one- or two-sentence summary of your story

It tells us who wants what, what they're doing to get it, and what problems are in their way

At its most basic, a story is "Someone wants something and goes after it against great opposition."

That gives us a good start towards figuring out the essential components we'll need in order to convey a story in a logline...

"Someone" (the Protagonist)
"Wants Something" (the Goal)
"Goes After It" (the Action)
"Great Opposition" (Antagonist/Conflict)

So... a logline is one or two sentences about the protagonist, the goal, the actions, and the conflict

In 1980's Dublin, a teen whose family is falling apart transfers to a tough school where he forms a band to fit in and win a girl's attention.
(Sing Street)

In this one sentence, you know where and when the story takes place, meet the protagonist, and have the setup for the plot.

Questions a Logline Must Answer

• Who is the main character?
• When and where does the story take place?
• What gets the story started?
• What happens in the story?
• What does the protagonist want?
• Who/what is in the protagonist's way?

Who Is Your Main Character?

The Protagonist

• When describing your main character in a logline, say as much about them in as FEW words as possible.
• Do not name characters. Instead, tell us what TYPE of person they are. Example:
• Harry Potter: "An orphan boy"
• The Hunger Games: "A young woman determined to survive"
• Star Wars: "A restless farm boy"

The Protagonist

• One method is to define your character with a short "personality descriptor" plus a "stage of life or occupation descriptor"
• "A bitter ex-soldier"
• "A naive farmer"
• "An idealistic teacher"
• "Young boy who lacks confidence"

The Protagonist

• If you're writing about a pair or group of characters, you could describe the group as the "main character":
• "A troop of lost Boy Scouts"
• "A group of high school students assigned to Saturday morning detention"
• "The passengers on a sinking ship"

What Gets the Story Started?

The Inciting Incident

• The event that launches your hero on their journey.
• Harry Potter: "...discovers he's actually a wizard..."
• Hunger Games: "...volunteers to take her younger sister's place in a televised death match..."
• (Your logline might not include this)

What Happens in the Story?

The Action or Struggle

• This is a brief description of the protagonist's primary struggle, moral dilemma, or the main action of the story
• What is the action, method, or plan the protagonist is going to use in their attempt to pursue the goal?

The Action or Struggle

• Harry Potter: "...begins his magical training at a famous wizard academy..."
• Hunger Games: "...must choose between staying alive and maintaining her humanity..."

What Does Your Protagonist Want?

The Goal

• The goal refers to what the protagonist is trying to achieve by the end of the story.
• Watching the character attempt to achieve this thing--whatever that goal is--that's the story.
• This part of the logline lists their GOAL and what they're doing to achieve it, OR
• It lists their PROBLEM and how they're going to solve it.

The Goal

• The goal section of the logline should also hint at what's at stake for the protagonist.
• Harry Potter: "...so he can battle the dark lord who murdered his parents..."

Where Does the Story Take Place?

The Setting

• If your setting is a different country or time period or is dystopian, you may want to include setting in your logline.
• If your setting is modern-day America, you probably can leave this out.
• "During the last days of the Civil War..."
• "In an abandoned mining town in the heart of the American West..."
• "In 1940s Berlin..."

The Setting

• "In the wake of the zombie apocalypse..."
• Hunger Games: "In a world where the oppressed kill each other for the entertainment of the elites..."
• Star Wars: "On a desert planet in a galaxy far, far away..."

What Is In the Protagonist's Way?

The Opposition

• What is the primary force of opposition that is directly getting in the way of your protagonist achieving their goal?

Logline Examples

When a curious young girl falls down a rabbit hole, she finds a strange world of riddle-telling creatures and meets a bloodthirsty queen.
(Alice in Wonderland)

A teenage boy and a 450-pound tiger are thrown together in a lifeboat as the only survivors of a shipwreck.
(The Life of Pi)

When an orphaned boy discovers he's a wizard, he begins his magical training so he can battle the dark lord who killed his parents.
(Harry Potter)

After the murder of his father, a young lion prince flees his kingdom, only to learn the true meaning of responsibility and bravery.
(The Lion King)

A naive, 30-year-old elf learns he's human and leaves the North Pole for the first time in order to live with his birth father, a cynical New Yorker who doesn't believe they're related.
(Elf)

A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.
(The Matrix)

A young orphan escapes an abusive home in a gigantic, magical peach and has a wild cross-world adventure with seven magically-altered garden bugs he meets inside.
(James and the Giant Peach)

A young man is transported to the past, where he must reunite his parents before he and his future cease to exist.
(Back to the Future)

In a world where the oppressed kill each other for the entertainment of the elite, a young girl takes her sister's place in a televised death match and finds she must choose between her life and her humanity.
(The Hunger Games)

After receiving a message from a mysterious stranger, a misfit girl, her younger brother, and her only friend time-travel across the universe to face off against an evil entity and rescue her missing father.
(A Wrinkle in Time)

A modern nuclear-powered aircraft carrier travels back in time to the day before the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The crew of the carrier must decide whether to change history by destroying the Japanese fleet.
(The Final Countdown)

A young police officer must prevent a bomb exploding aboard a city bus by keeping its speed above 50 mph.
(Speed)