How to Write a Logline (Formula + Examples)

The working formula, five original examples across genres, and a pressure test for your one-sentence pitch.

A logline is your whole story in one or two sentences: who wants what, what stands in the way, and what happens if they fail. It's the first thing anyone reads, the only thing a busy executive remembers, and the fastest way to find out whether your idea is actually a story. Here's how to write a logline that does its job.

What a logline is — and what it isn't

A logline states the dramatic engine of your story in plain language: a specific protagonist, a concrete goal, formidable opposition, and real stakes. It's a working tool, not poetry — if a stranger can't repeat your story back after hearing it once, the logline isn't done. Two other documents get confused with it constantly:

A tagline teases. A synopsis tells all. The logline sits between them: it tells just enough story to prove there is one, then stops at the question an audience would pay to see answered.

The logline formula

You won't keep that exact word order every time, but every strong logline contains those five parts, plus one multiplier:

• A flawed, specific protagonist. Skip names. An adjective plus a role — "a disgraced prosecutor," "a germophobic efficiency consultant" — delivers character, conflict, and tone in three words.
• The inciting incident. The "when" clause is the day everything changes. It tells the reader your story starts with an event, not a situation.
• A concrete goal. Something you could film: win, steal, escape, expose, deliver. "Find herself" is a theme, not a goal.
• Formidable opposition. A force with teeth, ideally with a face. The stronger the opposition sounds, the better your protagonist looks.
• Stakes, ideally on a clock. What is lost if they fail — and by when. A deadline turns a problem into a story.
• Irony, the multiplier. The best loglines make the protagonist the worst possible person for the job: the germophobe inherits the moldering hotel, the prosecutor's only ally is a criminal she put away. Irony is what makes a stranger lean in.

5 logline examples (original, across genres)

These five loglines were written for this guide. The first three show the formula at full strength; the last two start weak on purpose, so you can see exactly what fixing one looks like.

1. Thriller

When her star witness vanishes the night before trial, a disgraced prosecutor must team up with the con artist she once put away to prove a sitting judge ordered the cover-up — before the case that could restore her career buries it for good.

Every part is present: flaw (disgraced), incident (the witness vanishes), goal (prove the judge did it), opposition with institutional power, stakes on a clock — and the irony that her only ally is a criminal she created.

2. Science fiction

A burned-out asteroid miner hauling his final cargo discovers a stowaway in the hold: the last living plant in the solar system. Now he must outrun the agribusiness fleet that holds the patent on every seed — with eleven days of oxygen and nowhere legal to land.

Notice how the specifics do the world-building. "The patent on every seed" implies an entire dystopia without a word of exposition.

3. Family adventure

After a flood wipes out the family orchard, a twelve-year-old rodeo dropout enters her late father's unrideable horse in the cross-country endurance race that killed him — because the prize money is the only thing standing between her mother and foreclosure.

The opposition here isn't a villain; it's the race itself, weighted with grief. Stakes don't have to be global — they have to be everything to the protagonist.

4. Comedy — weak version, then improved

Weak: A man inherits a hotel full of strange guests and has to figure out what to do with it.

Improved: When a germophobic efficiency consultant inherits his estranged mother's crumbling seaside hotel, he must keep its eccentric lifelong residents happy for ninety days — or a clause in her will hands the building to the developer he secretly works for.

What changed: "a man" became a flaw that collides with the premise, "figure out what to do" became a measurable goal with a ninety-day clock, and the opposition got a face — plus a second layer of irony, since the hero works for the enemy.

5. Horror — weak version, then improved

Weak: A family moves into an old farmhouse and discovers it's haunted.

Improved: A grieving sign-language interpreter moves her deaf son to an isolated farmhouse for a fresh start — then realizes the "imaginary friend" he signs with at night is counting down the days to the anniversary of the previous family's death, and it will not let them leave.

What changed: "a family" became one specific protagonist whose profession — understanding language — becomes the source of dread, a vague situation became a countdown, and "it will not let them leave" supplies opposition and stakes in seven words.

Common logline mistakes

• Pitching theme instead of plot. "A powerful story about grief and forgiveness" tells nobody what happens.
• Vague verbs. "Deals with," "navigates," "comes to terms with" — replace them with verbs a camera could see.
• Character names. Names eat words that should be doing work. "A disgraced prosecutor" beats "Sarah" every time.
• Cramming in the subplot. One protagonist, one goal, one opposition. The B-story belongs in the treatment.
• Hiding the genre. A reader should know within one sentence whether to laugh or shiver.
• No stakes. If nothing is lost when the hero fails, there's no reason to keep reading.
• Being mysterious. Withholding the hook to seem intriguing is a tagline move. Loglines earn interest by being specific.

How to pressure-test your logline

1. The repeat-back test. Read it aloud once to someone who knows nothing about the project. If they can't repeat the story back, simplify until they can.
2. The genre test. Ask them what kind of movie it is. If they guess wrong, your word choices are sending the wrong tonal signals.
3. The "so what" test. Cover the last clause. If the logline still feels complete without the stakes, your stakes were decorative — make them load-bearing.
4. The swap test. Replace your protagonist with "a person." If the logline barely changes, you haven't found the ironic match between character and predicament yet.
5. The word-count cut. Trim to under 40 words, then add back only what you genuinely missed. Most loglines get stronger from the surgery.

From logline to treatment

A logline isn't just a sales tool — it's the spine of everything you write next. In a story treatment, the logline sits at the top of page one, and the three acts beneath it are the logline expanded: Act I dramatizes the inciting incident, Act II escalates the opposition, and Act III pays off the stakes. When you're drafting and a scene doesn't serve the goal, the opposition, or the stakes, the logline is what tells you to cut it. Once yours passes the pressure test, the next step is our guide to how to write a film treatment — and when you're ready to take it into a room, how to pitch a movie idea.

FAQ

How long should a logline be?

One or two sentences, roughly 25 to 50 words. If yours runs longer, you are probably describing subplots or backstory instead of the central conflict. Cut until only the protagonist, goal, opposition, and stakes remain.

Should a logline reveal the ending?

No. A logline sells the dramatic question; a synopsis or treatment answers it. End your logline at the point of maximum tension — what the protagonist must do and what happens if they fail — and let the reader ask to see the rest.

Should I use character names in a logline?

Usually not. A name like 'Maya' tells the reader nothing, while a description like 'a disgraced prosecutor' carries flaw, occupation, and conflict in three words. Use a name only when the title or premise depends on it.

What's the difference between a logline and a tagline?

A tagline is marketing copy written to set a mood on a poster, and it rarely mentions the plot. A logline is a working story tool: it states the protagonist, the goal, the opposition, and the stakes so a reader can judge whether the story works.

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