Start here · Story Foundations
How to Write a Logline
A clear way to describe your film in one sentence without squeezing all the life out of it.
01 / The idea
What should a strong logline contain?
A logline should communicate the thing that keeps the story moving, not summarise every turn. It names or characterises the protagonist, establishes the destabilising problem, shows what they are actively trying to do and hints at the consequence of failure.
A lot of screenwriting language makes simple ideas sound more mysterious than they are. So let's start with the version you can actually use while you're writing.
02 / What to remember
Three things worth holding onto
You don't need to hold all of this in your head at once. These are three things worth coming back to when the idea feels slippery or the pages stop sounding like the film you imagined.
Specific beats impressive
Concrete nouns and active verbs create a film in the reader's head. Abstract claims such as ‘must face the past’ usually hide the actual action.
Irony creates charge
When the protagonist's defining quality makes the task especially difficult, the line begins to imply character and conflict at once.
Stakes belong to the pursuit
The consequence should grow from the story, not arrive as a generic promise that everything will be lost.
03 / On the page
Try it this way
There are plenty of ways into a story. This is one route you can try—not a formula, just something to get you moving when the blank page has been staring back for too long.
- 1
Write the plain version
State who acts, what happens, what they pursue and what resists them without worrying about style.
- 2
Remove names and mythology
Unless identity is the hook, use a vivid character descriptor and keep invented terminology to a minimum.
- 3
Choose the dominant engine
A subplot, twist or theme belongs only if the main story cannot be understood without it.
- 4
Test it aloud
A logline should be easy to say, remember and repeat after one hearing.
04 / Trouble spots
If this feels familiar, take another look
The sentence describes setup but no pursuit.
Adjectives are doing the work of story detail.
The line reveals the ending or a late twist.
The protagonist is passive in their own logline.
Don't treat this list as a scorecard. Every draft has a few of these. Pick the one causing the most trouble, find the earliest place it appears and work forward from there.
05 / Have a go
Try this on your script
Write ten loglines for the same project, each under thirty-five words. Change the emphasis—character, irony, stakes, arena—then combine the strongest elements.
A couple of questions writers ask
What should a strong logline contain?
A logline should communicate the thing that keeps the story moving, not summarise every turn. It names or characterises the protagonist, establishes the destabilising problem, shows what they are actively trying to do and hints at the consequence of failure.
How can I practise how to write a logline?
Write ten loglines for the same project, each under thirty-five words. Change the emphasis—character, irony, stakes, arena—then combine the strongest elements.
Where to go next