What you NEED to know about LOGLINES before you write your script

You're going to want to see this.

Nothing.
Get to work.

I’m not going to talk about how to write a good logline. One, because so many other people have, and two, because the challenge of writing a good logline keeps so many people from actually writing the rest of their script.

The issue with most writing books is that they are written from the perspective of analyzing already completed scripts instead of from the perspective of a writer at the beginning. They say, “Chinatown did it like this so just do it like that and your movie will be as good as Chinatown.”

That’s not how writing works.
Writing isn’t linear. The best time to write your logline is after you’ve written the script a couple of times and you actually know what the story is.

For now though, at the beginning, you’re dealing with a different challenge which is just getting what’s in your head onto the page. So just do your best.

Here’s something to help:

[NAME of SCRIPT] is the story of [CHARACTER or CHARACTERS] in [WHAT PLACE or TIME] dealing with [GENERAL IDEA OF THE STORY].

Is that a perfect logline? No, but you need to start somewhere.
Instead of worrying about having the perfect logline to sell your script, use it as a North Star.
Does your logline reflect the script you’re creating?
If yes, great! Keep going.
If no, you have two options: change the logline or change the script. Both are totally valid decisions.

For now though, stop focusing on what some book that is neither helpful for writing scripts nor saving cats tells you is important and just focus on getting the script that you’re excited about on the page.

That’s all for today!