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Set against the backdrop of rainy Portland, Oregon, a young man finds himself falling in love for the first time – only to receive a letter from his future self, warning him of impending heartbreak.
The premise touches upon a universal experience. Therefore, for the purposes of a logline, where it takes place ("Set against the backdrop of rainy Portland, Oregon") is extraneous, nothing special. The selling point is a story about love, not about the weather in Portland. Bad: "finds himself falliRead more
The premise touches upon a universal experience. Therefore, for the purposes of a logline, where it takes place (“Set against the backdrop of rainy Portland, Oregon”) is extraneous, nothing special. The selling point is a story about love, not about the weather in Portland.
Bad: “finds himself falling in love…” Better: “falls in love…”
“his future self” How far into the future? A few weeks, months, years, decades?
“warning him of impending heartbreak”. In real life, as intoxicating as it is, “falling in love for the first time” doesn’t last, doesn’t work out, for most people. So what’s the big deal about a “I-told-you-so” letter from the future forecasting what is likely to happen anyway? What’s really unique, what’s the twist?
See lessA self-centered play critic struggles to re-build his life when a scathing review he writes drives a playwright to suicide, by becoming a playwright himself.
Your premise sets the stage to explore some interesting ideas and profound moral issues. Best wishes.
Your premise sets the stage to explore some interesting ideas and profound moral issues. Best wishes.
See lessA self-centered play critic struggles to re-build his life when a scathing review he writes drives a playwright to suicide, by becoming a playwright himself.
My 1st reaction to the logline was to recall the epigram of George Bernard Shaw in the appendix to his play "Man and Superman": "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches". Which has been adapted to literature as "He who can, writes. He who cannot, criticizes." (BTW, Shaw was a theater critic -- andRead more
My 1st reaction to the logline was to recall the epigram of George Bernard Shaw in the appendix to his play “Man and Superman”: “He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches”. Which has been adapted to literature as “He who can, writes. He who cannot, criticizes.” (BTW, Shaw was a theater critic — and a very good one — before he turned his hand to writing plays himself.)
My gist of the logline was: “When a self-centered critic’s scathing review drives a playwright to show up at his doorstep and commit suicide, he struggles to recover by becoming a playwright himself.”
I modified because it seems to me that in order to shock the critic out of his self-centeredness, he should witness the suicide — not just read or hear about it. And that much should be in the logline to understand why the suicide would be the LCE (Live Changing Event) that triggers the LCD (Life Changing Decision) to be become a playwright himself.
I think the story has a rich deposit of ironic ore. For example:
The suicide makes him realize he always wanted to write plays rather than criticize, but didn’t have the guts to take the risky plunge.
And when he does, his initial efforts are rejected. When he finally gets one produced, it is savaged in return. Which, in turn, drives him to the verge of suicide (ultimate ironic punishment).
FWIW
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