This is why the logline is so important: because in the real world of publishing, it's your foot in the door. The editors were good enough to sit there and explain why, and when I talk about the seven mistakes that people make with loglines, these are all the things they talked about. If you got three gongs, you were out: you would be rejected by the editor. Everybody in the audience got to write their pitch, like they were doing a query letter, and the moderator then read the pitch. Everybody gathers in the ballroom, five or six publishing company editors come up on stage, and each of them has a gong in front of them. (I presented my Anatomy of a Premise Line class there.) At the end of every conference, they have this tradition they call ‘The Gong Show’. Last summer I attended the Dallas-Fort Worth Writers Conference, which is one of the largest writing conferences in the United States - hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people come. But before we do, I want to illustrate why it’s important with a little true story.

It is an extremely important tool, and we’re going to talk about why that’s the case in a little bit. To find out more about what Jeff can do for your story, head to his profile on Reedsy.īefore we start, I want to explain a little bit about what a logline is, because if you’re a screenwriter you’ve probably heard the term before (it’s a very common term of art in the screenwriting world), but if you’re a novelist, not necessarily. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. He also edits through his profile on Reedsy.

Jeff has written on the craft of storytelling for Writer’s Digest Magazine, Script Magazine, The Writer Magazine, and Writing Magazine (UK), among others. Jeff Lyons is a traditionally published author, screenwriter, and story development consultant with more than 25 years of experience in the publishing, film, and television industries.

Writing a good logline