The formulas, and why they work
Nearly every logline that sells reduces to the same skeleton — Blake Snyder wrote it as: "On the verge of a stasis-death moment, a flawed protagonist has a catalyst and must break into act two, or else." In practice, three arrangements dominate pitch materials:
- Classic: "When [incident], [protagonist] must [goal] before [clock] — or [stakes]." The workhorse; hard to get wrong.
- Character-first: "[Protagonist] must [goal] after [incident], but [obstacle]." Best when the protagonist's irony is the hook.
- Stakes-first: "[Stakes] — unless [protagonist] can [goal]." An attention-grab for query letters and festival copy.
Generate all three above, read them aloud, and keep the one that makes a stranger ask "then what happens?" That question is the entire job of a logline.
The most common logline mistakes
Naming the character ("Sarah must…") — names carry zero information; traits carry everything. Vague stakes ("…or lose everything") — name the actual loss. Two protagonists, three subplots — a logline sells one spine. And describing theme instead of story ("a moving exploration of grief") — save it for the director's statement.
Logline locked? Structure the story with the beat sheet calculator, then size the draft with the screenplay length calculator.
FAQ
What is a logline?
A logline is your entire story in one or two sentences: who the protagonist is, what they must do, what stands in their way, and what happens if they fail. It is the sentence producers read before deciding whether to read anything else — and the sentence writers should be able to say before writing page one.
What makes a good logline?
Four things: a specific protagonist described by an ironic or vivid trait (not a name), an active goal, a concrete antagonist or obstacle, and visible stakes. The classic test: does the sentence contain conflict you can picture? "A chef opens a restaurant" is a situation; "A disgraced chef must win back three Michelin stars in the restaurant his rival now owns" is a story.
Should a logline mention the ending?
No. A logline sells the dramatic question, not the answer. Stop at the stakes — "…or lose the family farm forever" — and let the reader need to know what happens.
How long should a logline be?
One sentence is the discipline, two is acceptable, 25–45 words is the sweet spot. If yours runs longer, you are usually describing plot instead of premise — cut subplots and secondary characters ruthlessly.
Is this generator AI-powered?
No — and that is deliberate. It assembles your inputs into the proven logline formulas used in pitch rooms, entirely in your browser. Your story idea never leaves your device, which matters when the idea is the asset.