Sell Your Story in A Single Sentence: Advice from the Front Lines of Hollywood

by Lane Shefter Bishop

Every writing project has one thing in common―they all start with a single sentence. Writers constantly struggle to answer this What is your story about? Finally, a guide by a leading Hollywood insider who actually knows the answer―and now she shows you how to do it yourself! Lane Shefter Bishop, CEO of Vast Entertainment, explains the key to selling your screenplay, novel, or script. This comprehensive guide to opening career doors is the first of its kind, highlighting the tips and techniques for making your story stand out.    From tips on character development to hints on points to avoid, Bishop covers all your bases when selling your story. 

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Business

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2016

Reviews

[Claire Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect companion for any serious writer. This book shows your how to condense a synopsis of your work into one sentence which could really help sell your story and get it published. Valuable advise for any serious writer

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that as a writer my marketing is what I tend to feel least confident about, and that appears to be a common problem for writers and not something that I struggle with alone.  What that means is that this particular book offers a great deal of intrigue when it comes to getting at the core of what a given work is about.  To be sure, this ability to distill a work in a single sentence can take a lot of work in refinement to the point where one can sell it to others, but the author does derive a considerable amount of insight by creating a compelling logline, as it allows someone to know who the real protagonist of the story is whose decisions move the plot along and who has the most stakes, and it can help to keep a work on track when it comes to providing compelling action for the future readers and/or viewers of the project.  One can curse the way that such concise summaries work, where each word is judged as costing $10 apiece and so none of them can be wasted, but one can't argue with the results of creating a compelling way of describing a book to those who might be persuaded to fund its adaptation.

This book is a bit more than 200 pages and is divided into more than twenty short chapters as well as a great many workbooks where the author provides sample loglines and the reader can practice making them more compelling, with answers to help out the reader with their own projects.  The author begins by pointing out the value of a logline as well as a discussion of beginnings before defining the logline (1), asking who the protagonist of a given story is (2), and addressing the possibility of two (3) or more protagonists (4).  After that the author discusses what the protagonist wants (5), dealing with indecision (6), defining what's at stake (7), and dealing with what happens with the stakes are already implicitly known (8).  After that the author discusses the need for a logline to be only a sentence (9) as well as issues of names (10), ageism (11), and adjectives (12), as well as the need for a logline to be specific (13), with a strong voice (14), properly finessed (15), and with good word usage (16).  There are discussions of the difference between fiction and nonfiction (17) in loglines as well as the importance of preserving the drama (18), understanding the process (19), expanding the logline into a pitch (20), making sure everything works (21), and concluding (22), after which there are acknowledgements and some information about the author.

Among the more enjoyable aspects of this book is the way that the author provides a great deal of advice into how to revise a logline in an iterative fashion, seeking to strike the balance between providing telling details that make a story more compelling while at the same time avoiding the sorts of details that may cause people to express disinterest in a given story.  The author is also shrewd to note that while the end goal of making a compelling logline remains constant in terms of desiring a compelling way of selling a given project, what makes a given product marketable will vary based on what the market is looking for at a given time, and this requires some flexibility of approach, unless the details provided are sufficiently compelling to sell the story itself by providing the sort of ticking clock that makes for obvious dramatic tension.  Creating a compelling logline is something I plan on doing for my future NoWriNaMo novels and future plays, and I can think of no higher praise than in seeking to implement this book's advice when it comes to understanding and explaining my writing projects to others.

[Dana Nield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was SO HELPFUL for literally breaking your book down into a single sentence pitch. Oh my goodness! It explains so practically the advantages of having a logline so that, when people ask you what your project is about, you can recite your sentence rather than stumbling through a rambling plot summary. In crafting a logline you clarify your protagonist's goal and what's at stake. I wish I encountered this book two years ago so I could have formed my logline then . . . and probably avoided some heartache with the editing! (This whole project has been like raveling out a tangled skein of yarn and trying to roll it into the perfect ball.) Definitely recommend to writers!

[Deborah Makarios · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful advice, but as the title suggests, is very focussed on the single sentence as a selling tool, not as a development tool. The primacy of the sale is even extended to the point of claiming it's a good thing to sell the story before you write it so you can tailor it to the studio's preferences. In the example given, the author was told to sideline the female main character in favour of a male mercenary.

Which I guess at least raises the question - important for every writer to ask themselves, whether they're trying to sell to a studio, a publisher, or a reader - at what point is the sale more important than the story?

[Mihaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

great ideas

I give 5 stars for books that have great stories and keep my up all night reading… but this is something else: a class in how to help your creativity to be sold. I liked all the examples and the clear steps to fallow for having your long line. It amazing how few works and twists can change the whole dynamic and make you curious to read more.
I made gray nots and I have my skeleton for my book.
Thank you!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. I really appreciated a) the author's sense of humor and b) the way she candidly explained how hard and time-consuming it can be to get your logline right. I loved the practice exercises. I will be using the technique presented in this book not to pitch screenplays to producers, but to pitch articles to editors.

[Jin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book. Helped distill meaning into one sentence.

[Karim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Great way to figure out a longline and give your story a great leg up. I used her tactics to really improve my story.