Log it in

We spoke about writing a tagline for your story but what about a logline? Is there a difference between the two?

A tagline can be used to gain a readers interest in your story. It gives a brief glimpse of what your story is about without giving away too much of the story.

A logline is used by you, the writer, to give a one sentence summary of your work, it can assist by keeping you on track while writing.

What do you need to write an effective logline? There are three elements that make up a logline.

• The protagonist

• The goal of the story

• The Adversary/obstacle

Writing a logline can help you to answer questions about your work.

• Who is my protagonist?

• What do they want?

• Who/What is against my protagonist?

• Why is vital for my protagonist to achieve their goal?

Here's an example of a logline, this happens to be for a movie, but the use of it is the same as it would be for a written work -

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

The protagonist is Marty McFly, his goal is to make certain his parents get together so he exists in the future, the antagonistic force in the story is several fold you have his mother who accidentally falls for him instead of his father and the bully Biff Tannen.

The above logline summarizes what needs to take place in order for Marty to reach his final goal. It's not an outline and everything doesn't need to be spelled out. It's a short, easy guide for the writer to follow to help them remember what the goal of the story it.

Think about your story and write yourself a logline to assist in keeping you on track toward your goal (or rather your protagonists' goal).