technique - How to distill a plot into a logline?

A logline is a one to three sentence summary of a story, used to pitch a script to producers and other buyers.

It should contain:

• the protagonist


• the goal of the protagonist


• the antagonist



• the stakes of failure

Obviously the logline must hook the audience of prospective buyers by

• irony


• evoking a compelling mental picture


• etc.

As an example, here's the logline for the movie Jaws:

A police chief, with a phobia for open water, battles a gigantic shark with an appetite for swimmers and boat captains, in spite of a greedy town council who demands that the beach stay open.

There are numerous descriptions of the purpose and structure of a logline, and many examples from real films, published in books and on websites. There are even some exercises explaining how to distill a script or novel plot into a logline, but I find they don't yield good results. Maybe my plot is not good, but maybe I don't really understand how to get from my plot to a logline, despite the vague hints in those hyped screenwriting books. So:

How do you distill a plot into a logline?

Please provide a cookbook step-by-step that even an idiot like me can follow.

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Despite having provided my own "answer" below, I am still interested in this last aspect of my question: the step-by-step how-to. Most texts on the logline are very general, and don't help you much with how to make your logline hook. I'm still hoping to read your answer, so please give it a shot.

Answer

If you can't boil down your novel into a logline (or "elevator pitch," which is how I learned it), then you may actually have a problem with your novel.

You've provided the structure of your answer in your own question. An elevator pitch must have:

• the protagonist


• the goal of the protagonist


• the antagonist


• the stakes of failure

So pick those out of your book.

Quick example: Lord of the Rings:

• Protagonists: Nine Walkers



• Their Goals: Get the One Ring to Mordor under Sauron's nose


• The Antagonist: Sauron and his cronies (Saruman and orcs)


• The Stakes: the end of Middle-Earth, the dominion of Sauron

Once you have them, then the main job is to reword the sentence until it's a hook.

Nine people from disparate cultures must join together to destroy the magical artifact which will allow the ultimate evil to rule the realm. Meh.

A mighty wizard leads a reluctant band of men, hobbits, a dwarf, and an elf on a terrifying quest to destroy the One Ring before an ancient evil god becomes manifest and destroys all Middle-Earth. Now we're getting somewhere.