A promising young writer finds her perfect story in a guy who struggles to find some sense in his own life, she will have to decide who gets the happy ending: her career or herself.

When an ambitious young journalist is tasked to investigate a reluctant hero, she discovers secrets that could destroy his new fame. Having fallen in love with him, she struggles between saving her career and destroy him, or losing her dream job and keeping him.

>>She doesn't really have a flaw...

If she's human, then by definition, she is flawed.

A protagonist encumbered with a character flaw is well-nigh a requirement in modern dramaturgy. If there is no flaw, then there is no base line for a meaningful and interesting character arc.

In modern dramatic theory, character flaws are supposed to enable the audience to identify and sympathize with the protagonist. The idea being: how can real people, riddled with flaws, identify with a fictional character who doesn't really have a flaw?

Just saying.

"A budding journalist intern finds her breakout story in a lonely yet compassionate waiter but when she develops real feelings for him, she'll have to choose between the story of a lifetime or their budding romance.? I thought of this earlier.
She doesn't really have a flaw, she's just human. She can't have both and must decide.

So what is her character flaw?

No, he knows about the article! They met rather coincidentally and she follows him for a while trying to convince him to help her. He eventually say yes. Of course he struggled because he didn't want to make his life problems public and when he enters this school he asks her to change the name in the story. That's a drama that "easily" is resolved, the bigger problem comes when the co-worker blackmails her.

>>not a dirty secret that he has, it's about his depression and suicide attempts,

Okay, but they are still private details that most people so afflicted would never, NEVER want made public. That she would even consider making them public without his full knowledge and consent is not just an act of rank opportunism and exploitation for the sake of her own career aspirations, but also symptomatic of a profound failure of understanding and compassion-- a serious character flaw. (And therein is a story, perhaps different from the one you originally intended to tell.)

The writing thing is secondary! It works has the obstacle for the relationship. It is not a dirty secret that he has, it's about his depression and suicide attempts, the thing is: She has to choose between getting the job or the guy. She becomes involved with him and when a co-worker (who's after the job too) finds it, she has to end it. Hence the job vs guy dilemma.

Thanks Claude that may have been the most helping answer yet! You got what I wanted with the story.

1. Get the job, lose the guy
2. Lose the job, get the guy

I wasn't looking for story ideas like people have been giving me (not that I don't appreciate them), I just need help figuring out what to put in the logline. I want this to be her journey into realizing that maybe being a journalist at that specifically place isn't what she really wants (even though she dreamed of it her whole life), there's more to life than a job. The writing thing may be secondary here and it works like the set back between their relationship.

dpg, oddly enough that could work for the story line.

The Subject could have been burnt by a reporter in the past, thus his reluctance. The Lead gains his trust and promises to do right by him.

Therefore if she releases the devastating secret. (Or someone else does) she is breaking his trust.

Just some thoughts.