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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/10916
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

A _logline_ is a one to three sentence summary of a story, used to pitch a script to producers and other buyers.

It should contain:

- the protagonist
- the goal of the protagonist
- the antagonist
- the stakes of failure

Obviously the logline must hook the audience of prospective buyers by

- irony
- evoking a compelling mental picture
- etc.

As an example, here's the logline for the movie _Jaws_:

> A police chief, with a phobia for open water, battles a gigantic shark with an appetite for swimmers and boat captains, in spite of a greedy town council who demands that the beach stay open.

There are numerous descriptions of the purpose and structure of a logline, and many examples from real films, published in books and on websites. There are even some exercises explaining how to distill a script or novel plot into a logline, but I find they don't yield good results. Maybe my plot is not good, but maybe I don't really understand how to get from my plot to a logline, despite the vague hints in those hyped screenwriting books. So:

## How do you distill a plot into a logline?

**Please provide a cookbook step-by-step that even an idiot like me can follow.**

* * *

Despite having provided my own "answer" below, I am still interested in this last aspect of my question: the step-by-step how-to. Most texts on the logline are very general, and don't help you much with how to make your logline _hook_. I'm still hoping to read **_your answer_** , so please give it a shot.

Original score: 10