Those of you who have participated in--or happily watched the unfolding of--The Baker's Dozen Agent Auction over the past 5 years will remember that there was always a lot of hoopla over the loglines, including instructional posts and three separate rounds of logline critique here on the blog.
We're not doing any critique rounds this time. On The Block is a more streamlined, less time-intensive contest, and I'm going to put the onus on you to get your logline crafted and edited before our September 10 submission date.
Here's a little help:
WRITING YOUR LOGLINE
CRAFTING YOUR LOGLINE
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM OUR LOGLINE GURU
MORE LOGLINE WISDOM FROM HOLLIY BODGER
AND A FINAL CHUNK OF LOGLINE WISDOM FROM HOLLY BODGER
Hopefully you will find the above links helpful. Remember that a well-crafted logline is like a tiny, high-impact synopsis of your story. It is NOT a blurb, a summary, or an actual synopsis. For the context of this contest, think of your logline as a micro-query. It's going to grab my attention so that I eagerly read the words that follow.
Please ask your ON THE BLOCK questions below. I'm already getting excited to read your submissions!
Miss Snark's First Victim
Showing posts with label loglines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label loglines. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Logline Critique, Round 1
The submission window will be open from 9 am to 5 pm EDT today. This is a lottery, which means the bot will randomly choose 40 entries at the close of the window. These entries will post tomorrow morning for critique.
EMAIL SUBMISSIONS:
As always, send your submission to authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com. Format as follows:
SCREEN NAME: (type it here)
TITLE: (type it here)
GENRE: (type it here)
(type your 150-word logline here)
WEB FORM SUBMISSIONS:
GO HERE. Follow the instructions on the web form.
That's it! Post your questions below.
EMAIL SUBMISSIONS:
As always, send your submission to authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com. Format as follows:
SCREEN NAME: (type it here)
TITLE: (type it here)
GENRE: (type it here)
(type your 150-word logline here)
WEB FORM SUBMISSIONS:
GO HERE. Follow the instructions on the web form.
That's it! Post your questions below.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Crafting Your Logline
Call it a "hook" or a "pitch" or whatever you'd like, but make sure you nail it in time for the Baker's Dozen Auction submissions!
First, READ THIS POST about writing loglines.
Next, read these helpful tidbits:
From Blake Snyder's Save the Cat:
"A logline is the one- or two-sentence description of your [novel] that tells us what it is. It must contain a type of hero (that means a type of person plus an adjective that describes him), the antagonist (ditto), and the hero's primal goal. It must have irony, and it must bloom in our brains with potential."
From author Holly Bodger, the logline queen:
"When [MAIN CHARACTER] [INCITING INCIDENT], he [CONFLICT]. And if he doesn't [GOAL] he will [CONSEQUENCES]."
Please remember that there is no perfect formula for a logline. There are components that a strong logline needs, and this will flesh out in whatever way best portrays your story and its inherent conflict.
We will be having three logline critique sessions on the blog. Submissions for the first one will be this coming Tuesday, September 27. It will be a lottery with a large submission window, so you won't have to hover over your mouse. Forty loglines will be chosen at random and posted on the blog on Wednesday the 28th.
Questions below!
First, READ THIS POST about writing loglines.
Next, read these helpful tidbits:
From Blake Snyder's Save the Cat:
"A logline is the one- or two-sentence description of your [novel] that tells us what it is. It must contain a type of hero (that means a type of person plus an adjective that describes him), the antagonist (ditto), and the hero's primal goal. It must have irony, and it must bloom in our brains with potential."
From author Holly Bodger, the logline queen:
"When [MAIN CHARACTER] [INCITING INCIDENT], he [CONFLICT]. And if he doesn't [GOAL] he will [CONSEQUENCES]."
Please remember that there is no perfect formula for a logline. There are components that a strong logline needs, and this will flesh out in whatever way best portrays your story and its inherent conflict.
We will be having three logline critique sessions on the blog. Submissions for the first one will be this coming Tuesday, September 27. It will be a lottery with a large submission window, so you won't have to hover over your mouse. Forty loglines will be chosen at random and posted on the blog on Wednesday the 28th.
Questions below!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Submit Your Logline For Session One
Now that you know why I've been pushing the logline thing, let's jump right in and start getting some feedback on our loglines-in-progress.
Submissions are open RIGHT NOW for the first 25 log lines. Send to authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com, as always.
Format:
SCREEN NAME: (type it here)
TITLE: (type it here)
GENRE: (type it here)
(Type your logline here)
Word count is set at 100. SCREEN NAME, TITLE, and GENRE are NOT included in the word count, so if you get a rejection that claims you're over word count, it's because your word processor has added invisible junk to your document. Make sure you've typed it in PLAIN TEXT and sent it in a PLAIN TEXT email to avoid this problem.
Best way to avoid the trouble? Type your logline directly into a plain text email. No copy-pasting at all.
The loglines will begin posting at 1:00 pm Eastern. Readers, please leave your feedback! Namely, DOES THE LOGLINE MAKE ME WANT TO READ THE BOOK?
A few helpful tidbits:
From Blake Snyder's Save the Cat:
"A logline is the one- or two-sentence description of your [novel] that tells us what it is. It must contain a type of hero (that means a type of person plus an adjective that describes him), the antagonist (ditto), and the hero's primal goal. It must have irony, and it must bloom in our brains with potential."
From author Holly Bodger, the logline queen:
"When [MAIN CHARACTER] [INCITING INCIDENT], he [CONFLICT]. And if he doesn't [GOAL] he will [CONSEQUENCES]."
Please remember that there is no perfect formula for a logline. There are components that a strong logline needs, and this will flesh out in whatever way best portrays your story and its inherent conflict.
Okay, have at it! You may submit at any time. Submissions will close as soon as we've got 25 entries.
Submissions are open RIGHT NOW for the first 25 log lines. Send to authoress.submissions(at)gmail.com, as always.
Format:
SCREEN NAME: (type it here)
TITLE: (type it here)
GENRE: (type it here)
(Type your logline here)
Word count is set at 100. SCREEN NAME, TITLE, and GENRE are NOT included in the word count, so if you get a rejection that claims you're over word count, it's because your word processor has added invisible junk to your document. Make sure you've typed it in PLAIN TEXT and sent it in a PLAIN TEXT email to avoid this problem.
Best way to avoid the trouble? Type your logline directly into a plain text email. No copy-pasting at all.
The loglines will begin posting at 1:00 pm Eastern. Readers, please leave your feedback! Namely, DOES THE LOGLINE MAKE ME WANT TO READ THE BOOK?
A few helpful tidbits:
From Blake Snyder's Save the Cat:
"A logline is the one- or two-sentence description of your [novel] that tells us what it is. It must contain a type of hero (that means a type of person plus an adjective that describes him), the antagonist (ditto), and the hero's primal goal. It must have irony, and it must bloom in our brains with potential."
From author Holly Bodger, the logline queen:
"When [MAIN CHARACTER] [INCITING INCIDENT], he [CONFLICT]. And if he doesn't [GOAL] he will [CONSEQUENCES]."
Please remember that there is no perfect formula for a logline. There are components that a strong logline needs, and this will flesh out in whatever way best portrays your story and its inherent conflict.
Okay, have at it! You may submit at any time. Submissions will close as soon as we've got 25 entries.
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