How to write a logline (without selling your soul)
The logline is not a marketing exercise. It's a structural test. If you can't write yours, the script has a hole.
A logline is a single sentence describing your screenplay. It's usually treated as a marketing exercise — what you put on the title page, what you put in the cover letter, what you tell a stranger at a bar. That framing is wrong. The logline is a structural test. If you can't write yours in one sentence, your script has a hole — and finding the hole is the only reason it matters.
What is a logline?
A logline is one or two sentences that describe a screenplay's premise — protagonist, situation, central conflict, and stakes. It's usually under 40 words. The form is borrowed from TV Guide one-liners and was codified into a contemporary craft tool by Blake Snyder in Save the Cat! The shape is simple. Writing one is hard.
What goes in a logline
Four ingredients, in some order:
- An adjective for the protagonist— not their name. The adjective tells you what makes them interesting and what state they're in. Not "Andrew" — "an obsessive young jazz drummer".
- The catalyst or premise — the inciting incident, in compressed form.
- The central conflict — the antagonist or the obstacle.
- The stakes — what happens if they fail. Often implicit.
Examples
Three loglines for produced films:
The structural test
Walk through your logline word by word and ask: does my script earn each piece?
- The adjective for the protagonist — does the script show this on the page, or just claim it?
- The catalyst — is it actually a single moment, or are you summarising the whole first act?
- The central conflict — is there one antagonist / obstacle, or three competing ones?
- The stakes — concrete, or vague?
If you can't answer cleanly, the script almost certainly has the corresponding structural problem. A logline you can't write is the script telling you where to dig.
Common logline mistakes
1. Naming the protagonist
"Andrew Neiman is a drummer at a music conservatory" is dead weight. The reader doesn't know who Andrew is and won't care. Use an adjective + role: "an obsessive young jazz drummer". The exception: a biopic of a famous person — "Mark Zuckerberg" in the Social Network logline carries weight.
2. Describing the world instead of the story
"In a small fishing town in coastal Maine, where everyone knows everyone's business…". Setting is not story. The story is what happens to a specific person in that setting. Cut the world-building.
3. The vague stakes
"…before it's too late." Too late for what? "…or risk losing everything." Lose what, specifically? Vague stakes are the tell that the writer hasn't decided yet. Decide.
4. The two-protagonist logline
"Two best friends decide to drive across the country". Two protagonists is allowed (Thelma and Louise, Brokeback Mountain), but you have to commit to both of their wants. Most two-protagonist loglines are actually one- protagonist scripts where the writer can't identify which one is leading.
5. The mystery-box logline
"A man wakes up in a strange room with no memory of how he got there." Sounds intriguing. Means nothing. The mystery box is what the audience is in for; the logline still needs to tell you what kind of story this is and what the stakes are.
Drafting your logline
Two-pass method:
- Write a long version. 60–100 words. Don't worry about elegance. Get every meaningful piece down.
- Cut to 40 words. Lose adjectives, qualifiers, scene- setting. Keep only what the script actually requires.
If the cut version still doesn't read well, you have a structural issue (see above). If it reads well at 40, try cutting to 30 — most working loglines are between 25 and 40 words.
Logline vs synopsis vs treatment
Three different documents.
- Logline: 1–2 sentences. The pitch.
- Synopsis: 1 page (sometimes called a one-sheet). Beat-by-beat summary covering all three acts.
- Treatment: 5–25 pages. A prose version of the entire screenplay. Used internally by writers and during studio development.
See Screenplay outline templates for the full set of pre-script documents and where each one fits.
When to write your logline
Twice. Once before you start drafting (as a structural compass — does this story have a logline-shaped engine?). Once after the second draft (as a diagnostic — does the script you wrote match the logline you set out to write?). If the after-logline reads differently from the before- logline, decide which version is actually the movie.
Most-asked questions
How long should a logline be?
25–40 words. One sentence is ideal; two acceptable. Past 40 words you're drifting into synopsis territory.
Should the logline include the ending?
Generally no — the logline is a hook, not a spoiler. The exception is when the ending is the premise (Memento, The Sixth Sense): the structural promise is the twist itself. For most scripts, end the logline with stakes, not resolution.
Is the logline the same as a tagline?
No. A tagline is the marketing line on the poster ("In space, no one can hear you scream"). A logline describes the story. The two are easy to confuse; a tagline often distils the tone of a logline.