1. Posted: April 6, 2017In:

    First re-write-Aspiring writer is forced to choose between his private and professional life when he has to decide if he is willing to expose his mentor for stealing his breakthrough idea after he discovers that his wife is involved as well

    dpg Singularity

    What Richiev said about constructing a genuine dilemma is correct.But loglines are about actions and goals, not about dilemmas. ?Specifically, a logline should be about a goal decided upon, a choice actually made, at the end of the 1st Act. ?The choice may lead to a 2nd or 3rd Act dilemma, but thatRead more

    What Richiev said about constructing a genuine dilemma is correct.

    But loglines are about actions and goals, not about dilemmas. ?Specifically, a logline should be about a goal decided upon, a choice actually made, at the end of the 1st Act. ?The choice may lead to a 2nd or 3rd Act dilemma, but that is beyond the scope of a logline.

    So what does the writer do after making the discoveries about his wife and his mentor?

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  2. Posted: April 5, 2017In:

    When his breakthrough idea got stolen,an aspiring TV writer must fight to keep both his job and sanity

    Best Answer
    dpg Singularity

    >>>discovers that nobody is who they seems to beLoglines are about what the protagonist does, not what he discovers. The sole exception?being ?a discovery in the 1st Act that constitutes the inciting incident. ?As in "When a wife discovers her husband is cheating on him, she...."In this verRead more

    >>>discovers that nobody is who they seems to be

    Loglines are about what the protagonist does, not what he discovers. The sole exception?being ?a discovery in the 1st Act that constitutes the inciting incident. ?As in “When a wife discovers her husband is cheating on him, she….”

    In this version logline, the discovery comes in the 2nd and/or 3rd Acts.

    Also, nobody is who they seem to be in showbiz. ?That’s not a story hook, that’s standard operating procedure. ?Another reason it’s extraneous to a ?logline.

    And legally, it’s not necessarily intellectual theft to run with someone else’s idea. ?A story based upon that idea, a script, an outline or treatment that develops? or clones that idea — yes, you can sue for that. ?But the ?raw , undeveloped idea itself that has no documented development and copyright beyond a logline has little or no legal protection. ?If it can’t pass the threshhold requirements for the Copyright Office of the United States to accept as qualifying for copyright protection, it’s darn well near impossible to sue in U.S. courts.

    Your logline plays on a ?nightmare that every writer?has . ?But it also has to pass the credibility test, what every writer would know — or should know — ?about limits of legal protection for intellectual property.

    Just saying, refine your phrasing?to make it legally credible.

    Finally, it’s all too common for writers sue over the theft of intellectual property. (Every successful movie gets sued for intellectual theft.) ?So your character’s plight is common — not unique. ?What might be unique is what he does about the theft. ?Of which there is no clue in the logline. ?

    IOW: ?what’s the story hook? ?What makes this story different from all the other woeful tales about writers having their ideas stolen?

    fwiw

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  3. Posted: April 4, 2017In:

    Twenty something Sherlock Holmes and Jame Moriarty hatch a plan to start a war and profit, only to be undone by a secret government agency headed by Mycroft Holmes.

    dpg Singularity

    Agree with Nir Shelter. ?I can only see this as marketable if framed as a redemption narrative; how a young Sherlock starts off on the wrong track, abuses his powers of observation and deduction, finally gets on the right track, on the right side of the law.Or as a sci-fi story of a Sherlock charactRead more

    Agree with Nir Shelter. ?I can only see this as marketable if framed as a redemption narrative; how a young Sherlock starts off on the wrong track, abuses his powers of observation and deduction, finally gets on the right track, on the right side of the law.

    Or as a sci-fi story of a Sherlock character played out in two parallel worlds, one in which he’s a good guy, the other in which he’s the opposite. ?Inevitably, the two characters’s lives must converge and collide over the same dramatic issue. ?Which one will survive?

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