Almost done with Jane’s Wild Weekend!

This past Saturday (after the cemetary field trip), my sister and I taught a short class on developing pitches. I thought the information might be helpful to other writers, so I’m repeating it here with samples!

When I’m developing a project to pitch at an editor or agent, I find it helpful to put together two short descriptions. Let’s start with the logline. I’ll talk about developing the premise/high concept later!

1) LOGLINE

The logline should accurately convey the essence of your story as well as a sense of why the public should rush to buy your project. Think of the “one-sheets” (giant posters) that advertise movies, or the Readers Digest summations of movies and TV shows. Loglines are great when you’re pitching to an editor. A good one will catch her interest and make her want to look at more!

Examples:

NATIONAL TREASURE
Logline: An adventurer teams with a curator at the National Archives to stop a group of fortune hunters from stealing the Declaration of Independence, which may have a map to a hidden treasure encoded on it

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE
Logline: A young boy’s call to a radio psychologist sets into motion a series of events which could unite his widowed father with a magazine writer. Only a couple of things stand in the way – the boy and his father live in Seattle and the writer is already engaged and lives in Baltimore.