Charlie Brown is finally invited to a Halloween party; Snoopy engages the Red Baron in a dogfight; and Linus waits patiently in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin. - Logline for It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown**
Elevator Pitch: An elevator
pitch is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service,
or organization and its value proposition.
Salespeople use well-rehearsed elevator pitches to get their point
across quickly. - Wikipedia
Learning to write a powerful
and persuasive logline or elevator pitch may not seem important, but in truth,
these short pitches are powerful marketing tools; and learning to master the
technique of writing them may get your foot in the door when you’re ready to
look for an editor, agent, producer, or publisher.
During a recent
screenwriting workshop we were asked to write a logline for a project we were
working on. We were told to keep it to
one sentence.
A young man and woman from different
social classes fall in love, must outwit her abusive fiancé, and find a way to survive aboard an ill-fated voyage at sea.
- Logline from Titanic.
Although it sounds simple, synthesizing your entire screenplay or novel into 25 words or less can be intimidating – or seem downright impossible. And boy, did some of us create the longest, most run-on, convoluted sentences you ever laid eyes on. I have never seen so many commas, semi-colons, dashes, hyphens or parentheses.
It was then I realized I’m
not alone in finding it tough to tell the entire plot of my 110-page screenplay
in one sentence, let alone worry about grabbing the interest of a potential
producer at the same time.
Log Lines are critical. These are the short blurbs you see in the TV Guide, telling you something about the program listed. You'll also find Log Lines beside the title of books in book club brochures. These words are the real marketing tools.
You may have thought it was difficult to reduce your screenplay to a One Page, but squeezing it into a Log Line that is so exciting, so well-stated, that a reader will want to invite you to submit a script, is a real challenge... everyone finds it difficult, though. Esther Luttrell
- Logline from Good Will Hunting
Loglines must include some very specific information. One good online guide to logline structure I found online was written by Christopher Lockhart in his essay, I WROTE A 120 PAGE SCRIPT BUT CAN’T WRITE A LOGLINE: THE CONSTRUCTION OF A LOGLINE.
LOGLINE TIPS from Christopher Lockhart
A logline should be 25 words or less
and must express the core of the story without excess details. The best loglines include as many of these
elements as possible: hero, flaw, life changing event, opponent, ally, and
battle.
A logline must answer these
questions
1. Who is the main
character?
2. Who or what is
standing in the way of the main character?
3. What makes the
story unique?
Use action words when
writing your logline.
Add descriptive words to
create an image that will stay in the mind of your reader.
Here
are three basic logline formulas. They're pretty simple and that allows you to
put your focus on presenting your story, instead of trying to figure out some
brilliant, but complicated logline structure.
1.
Protagonist (has problem) and (must achieve goal) to solve that problem.
Example:
THE FUGITIVE
Protagonist:
A prominent doctor...
Problem:
...wrongly convicted of killing his wife...
Goal:
...escapes custody to find and expose the real killer.
2.
Protagonist has (a goal) but (major obstacle) stands in his/her way.
Example:
THE MUMMY
Protagonist:
An archaeologist...
Goal:
...seeks the treasure hidden inside one of the great pyramids...
Obstacle:
...but must fight off thousands of mummies to get it.
3.
(Situation) causes (main character) to face (largest obstacle) and (outcome)
Example: LIAR LIAR
Situation:
Son makes birthday wish...
Main
Character: ...shyster attorney...
Largest
Obstacle: ...must reveal the truth...
Outcome:
...reveal the truth to everyone, including his son.
Writing something short and exciting is never easy. It takes practice. A lot of it. Read and study professionally written loglines in TV guides (sometimes “iffy), newspapers, Variety, Internet film reviews… anything you can that will help you express your story concept in one sentence. - Christopher Lockhart
After writing dozens of
loglines for a screenplay I’m working on, I decided to follow Lockhart’s advice
and began researching loglines online, on Netflix, etc. I also recently shared my logline with a screenwriter's group. I've found some helpful examples and the feedback I received helped...but I'm still searching for the perfect wording.
How about you? Do you have a logline or elevator pitch you used or use when pitching your book or screenplay? What logline did you use to sell your project to a publisher or producer?
How about you? Do you have a logline or elevator pitch you used or use when pitching your book or screenplay? What logline did you use to sell your project to a publisher or producer?
2 comments:
Brilliant. It would be a good idea to have a logline figured out, before even starting to write. If you can nail it easily, you have a story. On the other hand, if you write an entire novel and then cannot figure out a logline, you have a problem.
You're right, Elizabeth, many say a writer should start with a great logline, which helps keep you focused s you write. What is your elevator pitch (or logline) for My American Eden, Mary Dyer; Martyr for Freedom?
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