"What's the big idea?"

How to determine if your idea is script-worthy

In last week’s paid subscriber post, I went through some of the notes I gave to my screenwriter clients during their 1:1 script sessions and explained how they could be applicable to any script. One such note was that “A world is not an idea,” (check out the post if you want a longer explanation on that.)

It got me thinking about the very real difference between an IDEA NUGGET and an actual IDEA for a script.

An IDEA NUGGET is where all great ideas spurn from. Maybe it’s a world you’re interested in exploring—physically, like another planet, or figuratively, like the “world” of corporate America. Maybe it’s a character you can’t get out of your head. Maybe it’s a single image or a line of dialogue.

But a lot of people confuse an idea nugget for a script premise. Trust me, the life of a professional screenwriter is constantly having friends and relatives tell you about something they think would make a great movie… but in reality, it’s just, like, an interaction that happened in the grocery store parking lot.

It’s an idea nugget, and an idea nugget is just inspiration… for an actual IDEA. An idea for a script has conflict. It has character. It has plot.

So, how do you know if you have an idea nugget or a full-fledged idea?

Try and turn it into an logline.

What is a logline, you ask?

A logline is a short (1-2 sentence) premise of your story.

Here are some examples:

When a groom goes missing at his Vegas bachelor party, his buddies must retrace the steps of their debaucherous night to find him before the wedding. (The Hangover)

The billionaire head of a media conglomerate must decide which one of his incompetent children will take over the family business. (Succession)

Thanks to his son’s birthday wish, a slick, high-powered lawyer finds himself unable to lie for 24 hours on the most important day of his career. (Liar, Liar)

A child psychologist, haunted by his failure with a former patient, meets a troubled boy who is haunted by something else—dead people. (The Sixth Sense)

But what makes a good logline? Here are some quick tips.

• In my USC screenwriting classes, I learned that the perfect length of a logline was 26 words. (Why 26? I have no idea. I'm sure 24 or 28 words work equally well. The point is not to get too lengthy)

• Unless it's a biopic and the protagonists/villains are well-known people, don't include character names in your logline.

• Give us the concept, aka the PROMISE OF THE PREMISE! (More on that in a future post.) Don’t give us the plot points.

• Intriguing, but vague is good. Convoluted is not.
  

So, how do you write a standard logline?

I usually start by plugging my story into a generic template like this:

“A [DESCRIPTIVE ADJ] [MAIN CHARACTER(S)' PROFESSION] must [DO SOMETHING ANTITHETICAL TO THEIR NATURE] in order to [SOLVE A BIG PROBLEM]."

You're probably like, "huh?" But plug in the premise of a movie you know.

"A [young, female] [F.B.I. agent] must [rely on the help of an incarcerated and manipulative murderer] to [catch a like-minded serial killer before he strikes again]." (Silence of the Lambs)

If my story centers around a BIG EVENT, I'll use a "When/Then" template, like this one:

"When [A BIG EVENT HAPPENS] in [OUR SETTING], our [DESCRIPTIVE ADJ] [MAIN CHARACTER(S)' PROFESSION] must [SOLVE THE PROBLEM]."

"When [a killer shark unleashes terror] [on a small beach town], it's up to [a local sheriff], [a marine biologist], and [an old seafarer] to [stop the beast]." (Jaws)

Personally, my work has a lot of world-building, so the majority of my loglines follow the "IN A WORLD WHERE" template:

"In a world where [RULE OF THE WORLD], our [DESCRIPTIVE ADJ] [MAIN CHARACTER(S)' PROFESSION] has do [DO SOMETHING THAT GOES AGAINST THAT RULE]."

"In a world [that is overrun with deadly extraterrestrials with ultra-sensitive hearing], a [pregnant woman and her family] are forced to [live in silence]." (A Quiet Place)

A fun exercise is to pick a couple of movies or TV shows you like and come up with a logline for each. Try a few on your own!

Once you’ve gotten the hang of writing a logline, you can try to plug your own idea into the template. If you don’t have enough story drivers to plug your idea into a logline, it’s probably not an idea… yet!