4 Elements of a Logline - One line plot description

Save The Cat by Blake Snyder, Summary of Chapter One – What Is It?

A log line is a movie/screen writing term for a one or two line description of the story. Snyder says screenwriters can sell their screen play if they have the following 4 elements.

1) Irony- A good story will have a twist.
Identify the conflict. Mention the protaganist (Hero/Heroine) and the antagonist to involve the readers emotions.
2) Target Market.
For the author of novels this would be the publisher and genre. Does the description provide an idea of the reader/market?
A bookstore is divided by genre to engage the target market. Readers that enjoy romance, young adult section, mystery, scifi, etc. head to the labeled section. A blurb on the back, though longer, tells the reader what the story is about.
3) Create a mental picture.
Does the description give the potential reader a visual idea of what the book/movie is about?
4) Killer Title.


Snyder says if the logline has these elements your pitch will be successful. Even better condense the movie for the marquee and – voila!

So we may not be screenwriters, but as authors if we heed Snyder’s advice we have a better chance of selling our book to the publisher and the reader.

What books do you think are good examples?

After sharing your good examples, I thought a look at some well known books would be interesting. I love all these books but if someone hadn't recommended Outlander I never would have read Gabaldon's work. What title and description would you give for any of the following?

Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
Twilight, Stephanie Meyer
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter), Laurell K. Hamilton

I Love The Terminator, But Not the Tagline.

Save the Cat (a fantastic book on screenwriting by Blake Snyder) asks the question - "What is the screenplay/movie about? Can you describe it to a studio executive in one line?" (I'll post about this book next week). I started thinking about which movies sang to me. What sparkled? Which movies can I watch again and again, which books do I read over and over?

I love The Terminator by James Cameron. When the movie was released in 1984 I had no plans to watch, nope – not for me. But the somewhat-significant-other rented the video, he wanted to watch it. So we did and I loved it! If the somewhat-significant-other hadn't been interested in gunfire, I may never have seen the movie.

Why? I searched movie databases. I discovered I wasn't the target audience. The producers and distributors promoted an action movie with the tagline(s), “In the Year of Darkness, 2029, the rulers of this planet devised the ultimate plan. They would reshape the Future by changing the Past. The plan required something that felt no pity. No pain. No fear. Something unstoppable. They created 'THE TERMINATOR'” The movie trailer introduces the movie with the phrase, “In the future a weapon….it feels no pain, no remorse.”

So, was it an action movie? Yes. Time Travel – definitely, and I love the paradox of time travel. Did it carry a warning about war and nuclear holocaust? Yes. Was the description of the movie accurate? Pretty much even though I could have tightened it to read - "Machines rule the planet. They have one goal, exterminate the human race. They have the technology. Can mankind survive?"

But I still think this movie was about something else, something enduring - love. The Terminator is a love story, first and foremost. The release was a success, surprising everyone. If the tagline for the movie had been different, would it have garnered as large an audience? A smaller one? Would it have languished on a dusty shelf in a video store? And did the men watching this movie realize they were in thrall of a romance?

All of the above brings me to the following questions:

1) What is the movie, story about? What one line plot description would you have used?

2) What if The Terminator had been marketed differently? How would you describe the movie? Should we look at the way we package the romance genre and would that increase the reader base to include more men? Our books are often filled with action, time travel and mystery.

3) What made this movie sparkle? Did the movie sparkle for you?

For me the sparkle was the timeless, undying love of Kyle for Sarah. The scene that sticks in my mind is when Kyle tells Sarah, “I came through time for you, Sarah. I love you. I always have.” The film's love scene wasn't graphic (the violence was, the sex wasn't) but this scene was powerful. A brillant flash of sparkle came in the close-up of the clenching of their hands.

Please, tell me what you think? I'm eager for discussion and I can't wait to read your one line plot descriptions.