No, really, where have they been? I've known about synopsis and outlines for decades, but when did writers begin loglining? Err, probably from the beginning, right?
I guess I've just been oblivious to them until recently, when I entered myself in Authoress' Baker's Dozen Agent Contest at Miss Snark's First Victim. This contest was so competitive and the number of entrants so vast, I doubt that I made it into one of the forty available spots. Good experience though since I learned about loglines.
Authoress is so gracious and lovely, and she provides so many wonderful opportunities for writers to receive feedback and information. If you aren't acquainted with Authoress, you really should introduce yourself.
Back to loglines-- those pithy, one or two sentence, show-the-heart-of-your-story wonders! Below is my first attempt at loglining for The Second Life.
Logline: The lone survivor of a horrifying accident, Maggie Hathaway lives a half-life riddled with scars, chronic pain, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. With the help of her childhood friend, Ben O’Connor, Maggie must risk facing her fears in the hope of future happiness and redemption or remain crippled by her memories forever.
Well, there it is. How are your loglines going? Heard of any great contests or blogfests lately?
i'm not crazy about loglines. Mostly because i'm not very good at them
ReplyDeleteI've worked up a fairly workable logline. I still have a ways to go before the revisions are done though, so I can't really use it yet.
ReplyDeleteI have never attempted to write one. Now I have a new challenge for this weekend.
ReplyDeleteBlagh. Writing anything short about my novel is nightmarish. But I like yours!
ReplyDeleteI think loglines are just the movie name for catchy book descriptions. They always use them for the PW announcements and on the inside cover with the ISBN information. It's hard to write a good one, at least for me!
ReplyDeleteRoxy, that's a fantastic logline. I can't write one to save my soul.
ReplyDeleteOooh fabulous logline!! Yay!!! I'm hooked!!! There's so much going on - a whole saga in two lines - that's just amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteI did one for mine a few weeks back!!! I found it very hard to do - many re-writes later, many, many and I'm happy with mine now! Phew!!
Have a lovely Wednesday! Take care
x
I entered the contest as well! I hope we both make the cut. :-) I'm with you on the loglines. It's hard enough to summarize tens of thousands of words for a synopsis or query. 1 or 2 sentences? That's just ridiculous. I wrote my logline 45 times before I settled on one. Geeze. Anyway, I'm hooked by your logline. It sounds like a great story. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteLoglines can be hard to write because you have to boil the whole story down to one sentence, but it's worth it. And if you write it towards the beginning then you'll have a deeper understanding of what your story is about as your write it.
ReplyDeleteJai
Ahhh--how was I not following your blog??? I thought I was. I know I've been here before. *looks around*
ReplyDeleteAnyway...hi! Glad I've fixed the problem. And while I'm no expert on loglines (I can't tell you how much I hate them) I think yours sounds really good. Well done you!
Looking forward to cyberstalking you in the future. :)
Loglines are tough, like synopsis tough. Yours is quite good! I love to work on coming up with my logline while I'm writing the first draft. It helps me discover the true focus of the story. As Nathan Bransford (ex uber agent) said, a logline should have the problem, stakes, and solution all within it!
ReplyDeleteI think it's important to be able to describe your book succinctly and with emotion. That's what a good logline does.
ReplyDeleteAnd isn't Authoress the best? YES.
Great logline! I suppose a logline is the same thing as "the hook."
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good logline. I'm terrified to try and write one myself! I'm awful at summarizing anything and everything
ReplyDeleteI love your logline! They are SO hard to do, aren't they? But I find them fun - maybe because I used to work in marketing.
ReplyDelete