Laura Thomas's Blog: Self-Publishing: A Mean Old Dog (who loves to cuddle) (and might just make you rich) - Posts Tagged "summary"
Log Line – the most important sentence you’ll ever write
At the recent Writers’ Conference, I went to a workshop on writing a one-sentence synopsis, or log line. This sentence will be used to sell and promote your book, and it is incredibly important. I am certainly no log line guru, but I’ll share with you what I learned (and feel free to send tips back to me!).
Writing a good log line is incredibly hard and equally crucial. In general, it should mention the main character (but NOT by name – that’s TMI for a log line), the conflict, the setting, the action that’ll take place, and what makes the book distinctive. Ohmahgod, that’s a lot for one sentence. If you can’t figure out how to get started on your one-sentence, you can start out with a word like “while” or “when,” as in:
When Ruby, a brilliant misanthrope, falls in love with a young woman living in the subway tunnels under New York City, she learns that beauty and adventure can be found amidst violence and destitution
That’s my log line for Shadow Swans. It’s not great – let me know if you can help me make it better! “Beauty” and “adventure” are kind of nebulous words for a log line, but I just can’t seem to get more specific without going into detail. Also, the only reason I used a first name (“Ruby”) in my log line is that a same-sex love story makes a log line more difficult to write. If I’d said, “When a brilliant young misanthrope falls in love with a young woman…,” you’d assume that I was talking about a male misanthrope. But it would be repetitive to say that a brilliant and misanthropic young woman falls in love with a young woman living in the subway, so I just used the name Ruby. In this case, I think it’s ok to use the first name. But if you can avoid first names in your log line, that’s best.
Here’s my log line for my new novel:
In the face of worldwide drought, a teenage girl kidnapped by neo-Mayan extremists struggles to escape before she’s sacrificed rain gods.
I think that log line is probably better than the one for Shadow Swans, because it’s more specific. It mentions the main character, her conflict, the setting, and the action.
Here’s a good website on writing a log line:
http://www.archetypewriting.com/artic...
If you have suggestions on how I can improve my one-line synopses, please let me know!!
Writing a good log line is incredibly hard and equally crucial. In general, it should mention the main character (but NOT by name – that’s TMI for a log line), the conflict, the setting, the action that’ll take place, and what makes the book distinctive. Ohmahgod, that’s a lot for one sentence. If you can’t figure out how to get started on your one-sentence, you can start out with a word like “while” or “when,” as in:
When Ruby, a brilliant misanthrope, falls in love with a young woman living in the subway tunnels under New York City, she learns that beauty and adventure can be found amidst violence and destitution
That’s my log line for Shadow Swans. It’s not great – let me know if you can help me make it better! “Beauty” and “adventure” are kind of nebulous words for a log line, but I just can’t seem to get more specific without going into detail. Also, the only reason I used a first name (“Ruby”) in my log line is that a same-sex love story makes a log line more difficult to write. If I’d said, “When a brilliant young misanthrope falls in love with a young woman…,” you’d assume that I was talking about a male misanthrope. But it would be repetitive to say that a brilliant and misanthropic young woman falls in love with a young woman living in the subway, so I just used the name Ruby. In this case, I think it’s ok to use the first name. But if you can avoid first names in your log line, that’s best.
Here’s my log line for my new novel:
In the face of worldwide drought, a teenage girl kidnapped by neo-Mayan extremists struggles to escape before she’s sacrificed rain gods.
I think that log line is probably better than the one for Shadow Swans, because it’s more specific. It mentions the main character, her conflict, the setting, and the action.
Here’s a good website on writing a log line:
http://www.archetypewriting.com/artic...
If you have suggestions on how I can improve my one-line synopses, please let me know!!
Self-Publishing: A Mean Old Dog (who loves to cuddle) (and might just make you rich)
Self-publishing allows an author ultimate independence and total control. It also allows ultimate invisibility to mainstream media, and a total lack of support from traditional publishing resources. I
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