Thread by @storyandplot

I spent the first half of my career resisting loglines. I hated them and wrote them AFTER I finished a screenplay. This was dumb and my career suffered. I finally embraced them, and it’s made a huge difference. This is what I learned over this time, #screenwriting 🧵

First, let's talk about two big mistakes I think people make and then what I think is necessary for a good logline.

The first mistake people make is that they think the job of the logline is to describe what their screenplay is about. This is not true. This is something it needs to do, but it is not its job.

The job of the logline is to GET PEOPLE EXCITED TO READ YOUR SCREENPLAY. THAT is its job, and that is how you judge its success.

Let me repeat that. Your logline should make the reader want to read your script. It is a marketing tool and getting the person to read your screenplay is your #1 priority.

After 27 years in this business, I am firmly convinced the sale of a screenplay comes down to primary things: 1) The quality of the logline, and 2) How well you deliver the PROMISE of that logline

The logline is that important. Embrace that. If you do, when you hear someone say, “I hate loglines,” you will hear, “I hate concise, easily communicable ideas that generate excitement from others.” and you will then feel bad for them.

The next mistake people make is that they think the language or the format of the logline is what is important. The template! And yes, good language is better than bad language, but all of that is secondary.

What is important about the logline is the idea. Because that is all a logline is. A forward-facing description of an idea. And what do people want to know about your idea? “Can I make money off it?” That’s it.

And the best way current Hollywood knows how to make money off an idea is for that idea to be concise, easily communicable, and that it generates excitement from others.

You can write a bad logine for a great idea, but you can’t write a great logline for a bad idea. So make sure you don’t put the cart before the horse. The idea is what matters.

"Just read it, it's good!" is not enough. There is a direct correlation between someone who does not know what makes a good movie yet and that person being unable to write a good movie yet. We allocate our time accordingly.

That all being said, what makes a good idea or a good logline? I focus on five things. Others may have more, and I would love to hear them. Some will sound familiar, others maybe not.

1) Your logline needs something unique, a twist or a surprise that makes us think we haven't quite seen this before.. Blake Snyder called it irony, which I guess I am fine with. Even if everything else is familiar, you're okay if that unique twist is at the center.

Always ask yourself, “What is the unique thing about this idea that separates it from other ideas?”

Does the answer sound satisfying, or are you kind of forcing an answer just to have an answer?

2) It must promise conflict. This is the want of the protagonist. Who are they? What do they want? What problem are they trying to solve? Why is it difficult? High stakes are great, but not necessary. A character caring deeply is more important (high stakes to THEM.)

3) It needs a market. This is usually dictated by the genre, but people will want to know how many people will be willing to pay to see this or what network/streamer will pay for it. Remember, “Can I make money off of this?”

4) The logline should generate EMOTION. People forget this one. If it’s a comedy, it should make us laugh, horror should creep us out, a drama should make us think, “Oh, no,” or words to that effect. No one cares about the details of your plot if it doesn’t generate emotion.

5) The unique thing in (1) should be the primary source of your fun. This is HUGE. This is a big test of your idea. Can't stress this one enough. Does the unique idea generate great scenes? Can we picture the potential of all the awesomeness?

The unique idea cannot be incidental. It is a pattern you will rinse, repeat and heighten for the whole movie. This is true whether it’s a comedy, horror, action, or even a character drama.

In CODA, the source of all the tension and drama was that the daughter could hear and her parents couldn’t. In MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, the source of tension and drama was that this man was DEAD inside and wanted nothing to do with people, but he now had to deal with them.

It works the same in comedies and horror. The source of the fun in ELM STREET was that Freddy was in their dreams. The source of fun for A QUIET PLACE was that you could not make any sound.

Again, the unique thing about your screenplay should be the thing that generates the great scenes. (In improv parlance, this is often referred to as the “game.”)

People forget 1), 4) and 5) A LOT, so make sure you don’t. That's it. Others on Twitter have covered format and the template just fine, so I will skip that.

I hope this was helpful. If you like this perspective on screenwriting, consider RTing the thread, following me, and even joining my email list, where I write about all kinds of screenwriting stuff

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