I've written log lines for five published stories in the past eight months. Here they are:
He can make gold, but can he
understand women?
The virgin huntress stalks her prey.
The Minotaur will arouse your secret
yearnings.
The Fire Genie will make
you burn.
Bull leapers at a secret
resort risk their lives for glory, riches, and love.
Are there some you like better than
others? Why? My favorite is the first on the list. It says more about the
story's main character than the others, and it asks a question that neatly
describes the theme of the story.
Can you match my log lines to the
story titles? (Hint—three of the five should not be hard.) The titles, in the
order in which they have been published by eXtasy Books, are:
Mandi
Clytie
Minotaur
The Huntress
Midas
There's no way to tell which log line
belongs to Mandi and which belongs to
Clytie. I think that's a flaw. If I
had it to do over, I'd change the title of Mandi
to The Fire Genie. The log line for Clytie describes the plot fairly well,
but it's too long and it doesn't catch the special flavor of the title
character, who might be my favorite among all the characters I've ever put on a
page. If I had the Clytie log line to
do over, I'd probably suggest Can Clytie
the bull leaper live with a free heart? Shorter, but maybe a little
puzzling.
I like to get the log line written, or
at least take a stab at it, before I'm done working on the story. Writing the
log line can sometimes give you a more concise idea of what your story is
about, which might help you sharpen the final draft.
I hope this helps you, or at least
makes a bit of sense. If I had to write a log line for this piece, it would be Can the log line writer explain his craft?
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