Don’t make grammatical errors or typos.
Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but look for ways to be original with your word choice and sentence construction whenever possible. For example, starting a logline with the word “When” is a bit tired. Keep in mind that loglines have their own set of clichés which should be avoided, if possible. Whenever you find yourself using a phrase like “in hot water,” “a sticky situation,” “girl next door,” or “the end of his rope,” figure out what your cliché is standing in for and put some real description in its place. Is your character going to have a hard talk with her boss, or is she going to try to kill him? When you use a banal cliché, you end up leaving out the pertinent details that make your story unique. Say, for example, that your main character has “an ax to grind” with her boss. What they actually end up doing, however, is making your logline vague and meatless. In a logline, clichés are usually a way to keep your logline short and to the point. They’re a way to get around saying what you really mean.
#WRITING A LOGLINE TRIAL#
The stakes are wrapped up in the trial itself.Ī cliché in a logline is a red flag that tells every potential script reader that you’re not ready. These two characters will be in direct conflict throughout this script hoping for opposite outcomes. One character, we can assume, wants OJ off the hook the other wants to see him behind bars.
His two main characters are OJ’s sports agent and the investigating detective. Adam Morrison didn’t lay the stakes out explicitly, but he got the stakes into the subtext. Now, you may be looking at that logline for Rockingham and wondering what the stakes are in that script. “An egotistical cinephile” paints a much clearer picture. Instead, give us a sense of who they are. Don’t tell us the name of your main character unless it’s someone real, like OJ. We need to know who we’re rooting for, how they’re going to get what they want, and what’s standing in their way. But these three elements of your script are the most important. Ideally you’ll also include the villain (if you have one) and the setting.
#WRITING A LOGLINE HOW TO#
The conflict isn’t included specifically, but the reader can quickly assume that this kid is going to get backlash from a few sources: his parents, fellow students, the administration, maybe even a local family-values group.Īs you may have gathered, there isn’t really a single set of rules for how to write a logline. It includes the main character, the goal, and the main action. This logline is a bit longer, but it’s still a succinct, easy to follow sentence. The next screenplay on the list, The Swimsuit Issue by Randall Green, isn’t based on a true story so it requires more explanation: If you’ve never heard of OJ Simpson, this is a terribly vague logline, but OJ is infamous enough not to require further explanation. “A look into the mania of the OJ Simpson trial, through the eyes of Simpson’s sports agent Mike Gilbert and Los Angeles Police Department Detective Mark Fuhrman.” The next highest-rated script, Rockingham by Adam Morrison, breaks the rules in the same way: However, because this script is about a historical figure whom we’ve probably all heard of (even if we’re not familiar with the details of her life) Kristina can get away with being a bit vague since anyone who reads this logline should have a basic understanding of the obstacles Sophia might have faced. The conflict is only hinted at in the subtext of this logline, which is usually a bad idea. It’s an appropriate length and it’s to the point, but it doesn’t really give us a sense of what’s standing in Sophia’s way. This logline breaks a few of the standard logline rules.
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