sheribombA logline is a one-sentence hook or pitch for a story. People usually write them for movies or TV shows. An example is this logline for Jaws:
After a series of grisly shark attacks, a sheriff struggles to protect his small beach community against the bloodthirsty monster, in spite of the greedy chamber of commerce. [from TwoAdverbs.com]
Recently, a writing blog I read issued a challenge to write a logline for one’s novel. At first, I didn’t think it was worth it. Then, I started thinking of how I would write one. I finally thought out a few contenders and decided to go ahead and jot them down. Here’s my favorite of the four different loglines I came up with for my current urban-fantasy manuscript, which I refer to as ITTL:
A young magical inspector is grounded in Baltimore as punishment, where he gets wrapped up with an enterprising fortune teller, a predatory bartender, and a mysterious mind-control factory that threatens everything he has to live for.
It might be a little long. And, of course, I’ve left out so much of the story. But it was really fun to figure out what might work as an elevator pitch for my novel. What do you think? Would you ask for more?
Personally, I like the idea of “Banished in Baltimore”. Nice!