What is a logline? #
A logline is a short pitch, usually one or two sentences, that makes the central dramatic situation understandable. It names a protagonist, a difficult pursuit and a reason the outcome matters. A tagline advertises a mood or hook; a synopsis recounts more of the story. A logline gives someone a reason to ask for that longer account.
You can start here without learning the MythOS framework. For an existing work, describe what it actually establishes. For a new story, use the logline to state a promise you still need to develop.
A flexible logline formula #
Use this sentence as a starting point, then rewrite it in natural language:
When [a disruption] occurs, [a particular protagonist] must [pursue a concrete goal] despite [opposition or pressure].
- Protagonist: choose a role or trait that makes this pursuit distinctive, rather than listing a biography.
- Goal: say what the person tries to accomplish. “Find the missing witness” is easier to picture than “discover who she is.”
- Pressure: identify resistance, conflicting duties or conditions that make the goal difficult. A deadline helps only when the story actually has one.
- Stakes: make clear what could be lost if the pursuit fails.
Change the order, omit an unnecessary setup clause or use two sentences. This is an aid to clarity, not a requirement that every story follow the same plot. Express the promise without retelling every event or resolving every question.
Separate stakes from cost #
Stakes are what is at risk. Cost is the sacrifice or exposure involved in pursuing the goal. If a captain must evacuate an island, the residents’ lives are at stake; taking the crew through a dangerous channel is a cost of the rescue attempt.
A logline need not name both separately, but knowing the difference helps you find the meaningful choice. An impressive goal alone does not explain why the decision is difficult.
An annotated example from The Hobbit #
One reading of J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel (spoiler alert!):
Bilbo, a home-loving traveler, joins Thorin’s quest to recover stolen treasure, then risks their friendship to prevent a fight over its possession.
- Protagonist: Bilbo’s preference for home makes joining the quest a meaningful departure.
- Pursuit and pressure: recovering the treasure develops into a dispute over its possession. Thorin leads the company; Bard represents people seeking a settlement.
- Stakes and cost: preventing a fight matters beyond ownership, while acting against Thorin’s wishes exposes Bilbo’s friendship to damage.
This formulation emphasizes one strand, rather than summarizing every adventure. Check it against the novel before making broader claims about Bilbo’s motives. The mercy-focused teaching Seed examines a smaller excerpt, so its starting promise is different.
Six original logline examples by genre #
These are original teaching premises, not descriptions of existing films or recorded AI results. Each explanation identifies the dramatic work done by the sentence.
Drama: the village school
After her village school is marked for closure, a retired teacher must persuade her estranged daughter to lead a campaign to save it, risking their fragile reconciliation.
Why this works: saving the school is concrete, but the necessary collaboration also tests a personal relationship. The final phrase names the cost of pursuing the public goal.
Thriller: the island evacuation
When a storm cuts off an island, a cautious ferry captain must cross a mined channel to evacuate its residents before the flood arrives, risking the crew who trusted her.
Why this works: place, obstacle and deadline make the task visible. Responsibility to the residents conflicts with responsibility to the crew.
Comedy: the community kitchen
To keep his community kitchen open, a painfully shy cook must win a televised talent contest with the town’s loudest gossip as his partner, exposing the secret recipe he promised to protect.
Why this works: the unlikely partnership creates a repeatable comic pressure. Public success demands the exposure the cook wants to avoid.
Mystery: the hidden room
When an earthquake exposes a hidden room, a disgraced surveyor must identify its missing owner before the building is demolished, even if the evidence implicates her own father in the disappearance.
Why this works: an investigation has a deadline and a personal complication. “Implicates” leaves the conclusion open rather than announcing the solution.
Romance: the bookshop readings
With their shared bookshop facing closure, two estranged spouses must stage a month of love-story readings to find a buyer, risking the comfortable separation that keeps them from admitting what they want.
Why this works: a shared practical task repeatedly brings the pair together. Progress threatens the emotional arrangement that has protected them.
Adventure: the glacier crossing
When a mountain pass collapses, an apprentice courier must guide a rival expedition across an unmapped glacier to deliver medicine to a stranded settlement, surrendering the prize that could have bought her freedom.
Why this works: the terrain creates visible action, while helping rivals demands a sacrifice. The medicine makes the journey matter to someone beyond the courier.
Two weak pitches, revised #
Replace a general event with a difficult pursuit
Weak: A captain faces danger and learns to be brave.
Stronger: When a storm cuts off an island, a cautious ferry captain must cross a mined channel to evacuate its residents before the flood arrives, risking the crew who trusted her.
The revision names a task, a source of danger and a conflicting responsibility. It gives you story decisions to develop instead of claiming an emotional transformation without evidence.
Connect a worthy goal to a personal cost
Weak: A woman fights to save a school and discovers the importance of family.
Stronger: After her village school is marked for closure, a retired teacher must persuade her estranged daughter to lead a campaign to save it, risking their fragile reconciliation.
The revision connects the school campaign to an actual relationship under pressure. It does not announce that reconciliation succeeds. More adjectives alone would not make the original pitch clearer.
Review your logline #
Read the sentence without the background notes. Ask:
- Can a reader identify who pursues what?
- Is the resistance specific enough to imagine?
- Is there a reason the outcome matters?
- Does the pursuit demand a meaningful choice, sacrifice or exposure?
- Does the sentence suggest a particular story rather than a list of topics?
- Have you avoided explaining every subplot or giving away an unnecessary resolution?
For an existing work, check agency, stakes and resistance against the source. Do not turn an interpretation into an unsupported motive. For a new story, generated variants are options to review rather than established facts. A polished pitch does not prove that the scenes, motivations and consequences work.
Try the logline generator #
Take one premise to the logline generator and compare alternatives. Once you can state its difficult pursuit, inspect how intention connects to dramatic evidence in the built-in walkthrough. If you are still choosing a workflow, read Choosing the right tool.