What’s my logline? What is the single, core problem statement that encapsulates the plot of my novel? The detailed mechanics of the plot don’t matter. Readers want to know who is it about? What’s their core problem? What’s at stake? What are the consequences? Tell me in one line; the logline.
If you can’t pitch the novel in a compelling single line, the you don’t know what your story is about. Or else the story just isn’t clear enough. When someone asks about you book, you need a short and snappy logline to summarise it. Shorter than an elevator pitch, the logline has to force those elevator doors open long enough for you to thrust the book into willing hands.
The logline has a lot of work to do between the opening capital letter and closing full stop. It has to set genre and tone; it has to introduce a protagonist, and antagonist, setup a conflict and outline the stakes.
Attention spans grow ever-shorter, and the logline is an essential tool in selling the book.
Some writing coaches say you shouldn’t even start writing without your logline in place. So much for Discovery Writing!
Let’s try a few loglines and see what’s possible.
Out of the Mists…
- “A mis-matched gang of thieves aim to steal from the Dark Lord himself and find themselves in a revolution.”
- “Street-thief Vin learns magic in a high-stakes heist that threatens the Dark Lord’s thousand-year reign.”
That’s the first of the Mistborn series. Neither of those address the My Fair Lady meets Ocean’s Eleven genre mash-up that the author Sanderson himself talks about. They don’t mention the romance sub-plot or the high-concept where the Chosen One failed and the Dark Lord won. Those are details. They’re not what the story is about.
We could delve into the themes of love, loyalty, family and resistance. But those are awfully big themes and readers want characters to root for. That’s why those two loglines focus on the protagonists, the antagonists, the stakes and the consequences.
Hooked by Classics
The logline is the baited hook we want to reel in potential readers. Let’s try some classics.
- “Divided by class, Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy must overcome her prejudice and his pride in a search for love.”
Guess the novel…? Why, it’s the classic enemies-to-lovers, will-they-won’t-they Regency romance. Protagonist, antagonist, conflict, stakes. All tied up with a ribbon.
- “Ishmael, the sole survivor of a lost whaling ship, relates captain’s Ahab’s self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.”
That will be, err, Moby Dick. Protagonist and two antagonists, plus conflict – and a little spoiler. Man against man and man against nature.
- “Orphaned Pip learns the true value of wealth and status when he is thrust into society by his mysterious benefactor.”
Great Expectations is a coming-of-age, Worldview story.
Power Tools
You can see from these loglines some of those promises Sanderson says are required at the outset. The progress and payoff better deliver on the way to the end.
I can create very accurate loglines for my series, but do they encapsulate what my stories are about?
- “A seer on the run from the Empire seeks a rebel fighter in the wilderness to help her escape.”
- “A seer and a rebel gather found-family while they evade psychic priests, a fire mage and elite soldiers.”
- “The seer and the rebel infiltrate a dangerous city to bring down the Emperor.”
In a plot-centred, mechanistic way they work. They’re selling fantasy-adventure, on-message, on-genre. But I can probably do better if I focus on character and theme.
- “Jovanka seeks to escape fate and change her destiny with the help of the last rebel to stand against the Empire.”
- “Jovanka must make life-or-death choices to save her found family from the hunters.”
- “Jovanka must be willing to sacrifice everything and everyone to bring down the Empire and end the hunt.”
Now we have some loglines with depth. Sure, I can sell some books on the first set, but the second set promise so much more story.
What I need to do now is print both sets on some double-sided postcards that I can pull out when the need arises. Well, it’s more convenient that writing them on an actual log.