I’ve been thinking a lot about my mission with this community. At its core, I want to help you write visceral, primal characters — people with real human needs, real internal fractures, and stories that hit the audience in the gut. But before we dive into wounds, meaning, and transformation, every writer needs one simple tool to ground the work: The logline. This is where the path from good scripts to holy shit scripts start. Most people think of a logline as something you need at the END of the process, for a pitch. But a precise logline can be invaluable during the writing. And while I’ll critique the formulaic nature of Save The Cat now and then, STC has a pretty clean definition of a logline. We’ll go deeper in future posts, but let’s steelman this one first. According to Save the Cat, a strong logline needs four things: 1. A clear protagonist 2. A clear goal 3. A clear obstacle or antagonist 4. The irony — the hook That last piece is the part most writers skip — and it’s the reason many loglines fall flat. Example: Groundhog Day Protagonist: Phil Connors (cynical weatherman) Goal: Escape the time loop Obstacle: Himself — his selfishness keeps him in prison Irony: A man who never appreciates the moment is forced to relive the same one forever Logline: “A man who can’t appreciate the moment is forced to live the same day over and over until he learns that meaning isn’t found in the next thing, but in showing up fully for what’s right in front of him.” Three More Famous Examples 1. Toy Story 2 Protagonist: Woody Goal: Get back to Andy Obstacle: A collector who offers eternal preservation in a museum Irony: To return home, he must choose a love that will eventually break his heart Logline: “A cowboy doll must escape a toy collector and return to his owner, even though it means choosing a love he knows will one day leave him behind.” 2. Signs Protagonist: A grieving former priest Goal: Protect his children Obstacle: A global alien invasion

This Reddit post could literally be an ad for my message in this community! Read this and drop your thoughts below!

I've modified member requirements to allow hot seats and guest for paying members only. This way we get fewer bots and spam accounts, which I have to constantly delete. However if you are one of the original 100 who joined, this might affect you and I want to remedy that. If you are on a free account, go see if you'll be able to join the upcoming Zoom with Phil Starks. If it says you have to upgrade, DM me and I'll upgrade your account, so you can access events like this. I want people to be able to come into the community and see what we are building here for free. Then if they want to fully participate, they'll be able to upgrade for a small fee. So if this affects your account, DM me and I think I have a remedy for that. Thx.