Comments on: The Logline: Your New Best Friend http://the-story-spot.com/2008/logline-your-new-best-friend/ Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:52:30 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: dianejwright http://the-story-spot.com/2008/logline-your-new-best-friend/comment-page-1/#comment-20 dianejwright Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:13:11 +0000 http://dianejwright.com/2008/the-logline-your-new-best-friend/#comment-20 Absolutely!..and not so much. The logline is a tool, not a rule. Some writers set theirs in stone right off the top, refusing to expend time and energy if the concept won't play out in one paragraph. Others use it as a springboard to gel a diaphanous concept then chuck it as they dive in. It's up to you and what works for your writing style.<br /><br />Personally, when I get the inkling of an idea, I immediately start trying to form a complete logline for it. That helps me gauge the strength of the idea. Then, as I write the piece, I check back often to see if I'm on track OR to refine that paragraph if I've strayed (if I have, it's definitely time for a new logline). When I've finished writing, the logline becomes verification that the larger work holds up at a conceptual level as well as becomes the words I'll use to answer the question: "So, what's your story about?" Absolutely!..and not so much. The logline is a tool, not a rule. Some writers set theirs in stone right off the top, refusing to expend time and energy if the concept won't play out in one paragraph. Others use it as a springboard to gel a diaphanous concept then chuck it as they dive in. It's up to you and what works for your writing style.

Personally, when I get the inkling of an idea, I immediately start trying to form a complete logline for it. That helps me gauge the strength of the idea. Then, as I write the piece, I check back often to see if I'm on track OR to refine that paragraph if I've strayed (if I have, it's definitely time for a new logline). When I've finished writing, the logline becomes verification that the larger work holds up at a conceptual level as well as becomes the words I'll use to answer the question: "So, what's your story about?"

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