From Logline to Story Spine

Review and Reiteration

Writing is an iterative exercise. A script is never nailed in one draft. A script is honed through repetition, sculpting away what’s not needed until all that remains is story we want to tell.

We’ve discussed everything from Plot and Story to Dialogue, Narrative, Themes and Metaphors.

With all that in mind, let’s do a little reviewing and see how we can apply what we’ve learned as we go forward.

It Starts with a Strong Logline

In Blake Snyder’s “Save the Cat,” the author lays out what he believes to be the components of a good logline, and he’s pretty close to a workable formula. The components are:

1. Irony

Irony is humor. Humor surprises and engages us. It’s what hooks our interest.

2. A Compelling Picture.

Snyder argues that a good logline is able to succinctly capture the whole movie in the telling. In other words, upon hearing or reading a logline, we should know what kind of movie to expect.

3. Audience and Cost

Snyder makes the case that a logline should give us a sense of who this movie is for and what it’s going to cost. In other words, it should tell us what genre the movie falls into and what kind of budget the…