How to Write a Logline for Your Novel
2026-09-01 · 5 min read
A logline is your entire novel in one or two sentences. It is the answer to "what is your book about?" delivered with enough hook that the listener wants to read it. Loglines come from screenwriting, but novelists who learn to write one gain a superpower: a sharp, portable distillation of their story that focuses the writing, anchors the pitch, and reveals structural problems before they cost you a draft.
This guide gives you a working formula, examples, and the ways a logline earns its keep.
What a logline is (and is not)
A logline is a single compelling sentence (occasionally two) that captures your protagonist, their goal, the central conflict, and the stakes. It is not a synopsis, which summarizes the whole plot including the ending, and it is not back-cover copy, which is longer marketing prose. The logline is the irreducible core: if you can nail it, you understand your story; if you cannot, you may not yet know what your story is really about.
The formula
A reliable logline structure:
When [inciting incident], a [protagonist with a defining trait] must [goal/action] before [stakes/consequence].
Each element does a job:
- The inciting incident — what kicks the story off and signals the genre.
- The protagonist — described by the trait that matters to this story, not their whole biography.
- The goal — what they are trying to do, the engine of the plot.
- The stakes — what happens if they fail, the reason we care.
You will not always use this exact shape, but it guarantees you include the load-bearing pieces. Once you have a draft, you can rephrase it to flow.
Examples of the shape
To see it in action (using generic examples):
- "When a young farmhand discovers his family murdered, he must master an ancient power and join a rebellion before a tyrannical empire crushes the last free worlds."
- "When a burned-out detective is forced to partner with the con artist she once arrested, she must solve a high-society murder before the real killer pins it on her."
Notice each names a specific protagonist, a clear goal, and concrete stakes, and each signals genre and tone in a breath. That is the whole job.
What makes a logline strong
- Specificity. "A woman goes on a journey" is nothing. "A grieving widow hikes a thousand miles alone to outrun her past" is a story. Specific nouns and verbs do the work.
- A clear protagonist and goal. The listener should immediately know who to root for and what they want.
- Real stakes. The consequence of failure must matter. No stakes, no story.
- Irony or hook. The best loglines contain a tension or contradiction that makes you lean in — the detective forced to work with her nemesis, the pacifist who must take up arms.
- Brevity. One sentence is the target. If it sprawls, you are including too much plot.
What to leave out
Loglines fail by including too much. Leave out: subplots, secondary characters, twists, the ending, worldbuilding detail, and backstory. The logline is the spine, not the skeleton. If you find yourself writing "and then," stop — you have drifted into synopsis territory.
Use the logline to diagnose your story
Here is the logline's secret value: it is a structural test. If you cannot write a clear logline for your novel, it usually means one of these is fuzzy — your protagonist, their goal, the central conflict, or the stakes. That fuzziness will show up as a saggy middle or a story that readers find hard to describe. Writing the logline early, during outlining, forces you to clarify the core before you build on it. Many writers tape their logline above their desk as a north star for every scene: does this scene serve the story in that sentence?
Use the logline to pitch
The logline is also your everyday pitch. When an agent, a reader, or a stranger at a party asks what your book is about, the logline is your answer — confident, hooky, and short. It is the seed your query letter and back-cover copy grow from. A writer who can deliver a great logline on demand is a writer who sounds like they know exactly what they have written.
Writing yours
- Identify your protagonist's defining trait (the one relevant to this story).
- Name their central goal.
- Name the inciting incident that sets them after it.
- Name the stakes if they fail.
- Assemble with the formula, then rewrite for flow and punch.
- Test it on someone: do they want to read the book?
If the test falls flat, the problem is usually weak stakes or a vague goal — fix those in the logline and you will often find the fix your whole story needed. WriteLoom's Plan studio is a good place to capture your logline and keep it visible as the through-line for everything you draft.
Frequently asked questions
What is a logline?
A logline is a one- or two-sentence distillation of your novel that captures the protagonist, their goal, the central conflict, and the stakes, delivered with enough hook to make someone want to read it. It is shorter and punchier than a synopsis or back-cover copy.
How long should a logline be?
Aim for a single sentence; two at most. If it grows beyond that, you are likely including subplots or plot beats that belong in a synopsis. The logline is the story's spine, not a summary of events.
What is the difference between a logline and a synopsis?
A logline is one compelling sentence capturing the core hook, with no ending revealed. A synopsis is a full summary of the plot, including the ending, used to show agents and editors that the story holds together. They serve different purposes.
Why can't I write a logline for my novel?
Usually because one core element is unclear — your protagonist, their goal, the central conflict, or the stakes. That same fuzziness tends to produce a saggy middle or a hard-to-describe book, so writing the logline early is a useful structural test.