The Solid Root: Logline for your script

The logline is your story encapsulated in one sentence.  Although some writers think that the logline is best written after the story is finished because now they know the story, the best time to write your logline is before you begin the script.

Although you will probably rewrite the logline many times, beginning with the logline written helps you keep your writing on track so that your script does not wander.  A good logline helps you not only grow your story but at times the sizzle of the logline will keep you going when the story seems to run away from you.

As you create your scenes you can check them against whether they really do add to the story and move it forward or whether it is just interesting writing but does not move the story forward.

In the logline encompasses the story with

Genre

Time

Setting

Protagonist

Set up

Main conflict

Hook

The logline succinctly tells who the characters are, what the situation is and what stands in the way.

The most common problem with a logline is that it gives the set up only and not the entire story.  Double check your logline for these other common mistakes

No conflict

Only the set up

Too long

Tell ending

Asks a rhetorical question

Sounds unoriginal

If you write your logline first, before you begin your script, you have a guideline for what to include in your story.  The logline is your personal key to story development.