So in the interest of improving my storytelling craft, I’ve started reading Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. It’s the bestselling screenwriting guide out there and for better or worse, it has dominated Hollywood spec script writing for years.
The first chapter introduces the idea of a “logline” — a one sentence description of what your story is about. Snyder’s assertion is that if you can’t do a one sentence logline that describes your story in a way that grabs the attention, you don’t have your story idea yet and you need to keep working. He gives some examples:
A cop comes to LA to visit his estranged wife and her office building is taken over by terrorists — Die Hard.
A wealthy businessman falls in love with a hooker he hires to be his date for the weekend — Pretty Woman.
Now fanfic is all about you do you — it doesn’t need a logline or even a coherent story. But I tried to come up with a logline for each of my Stranger Things fics just to see if I could.
When She Was Special: A teenager tries to get back together with his ex-girlfriend but keeps getting interrupted by Lovecraftian monsters.
When He Was Special: Angsty teenage romance drama meets The Call of Cthulhu.
And All The Days Were Special: Teenage “losin’ it”/first time story… but it’s at Area 51.
As Black As My Love’s Heart: Two teenagers who hate each other fall in love as they cross a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
I’m wondering if a Hollywood producer would pause at any of these and say, “Interesting, tell me more.” 😊
