My Novel’s Plot in One Sentence

This evening I crafted the log-line of my novel. The log-line is the seed idea, or what your novel is about in one sentence. It’s the pitch. I want to thank Kristen Lamb for her outstanding post about Keeping Focused & Nailing the Pitch – Understand the “Seed Idea”.

Also, Nathan Bradsford, with his meaty advice: Do You Have a Plot?

Kristen says, “Solid novel log-lines will have 1) your protagonist 2) active verb 3) active goal 4) antagonist 5) stakes.” She gives an example from Michael Crichton’s Prey.

An out-of-work computer programmer (protagonist) must uncover (active verb) the secrets his wife is keeping in order to destroy (active goal) the nano-robotic threat (antagonist) to human-kind’s existence (stakes).

According to Kristen, a powerful log-line would be ironic, and emotionally intriguing.

Nathan Bradsford says, “A good plot starts with an interesting premise and an interesting door-block. A great plot also implies a quest and a resolution, which is what makes the reader want to read more. We don’t like chaos, we want to see order restored, we want an interesting journey along the way, and we want to see the ways a character changes after facing these obstacles.”

So here is my proposed log-line, or plot in one sentence:

A naive young woman on an isolated island in the Philippines doing a research project she needs to get into grad school, struggles against difficulties and dangers and uncovers family secrets which make her want to give up, and perhaps lose an unexpected chance at love.

Here’s how it looks with the parts Kristen suggests inserted:

A naive young woman on an isolated island in the Philippines (protagonist) doing a research project she needs to get into grad school (active goal), struggles (active verb) against dangers and uncovers family secrets (antagonist) which make her want to give up, and perhaps lose an unexpected chance at love (stakes).

Well, it’s not perfect. But what a great exercise.

What do you think? Does this sound like an interesting story? Are you intrigued at all?

P.S. Continued the next morning. I slept on this one night, and am rethinking “naive”. My protagonist begins the story idealistic about socio-economic change issues, but jaded by romance. She ends the novel changed in both ways. Naive isn’t the right descriptor. I think I’m going to make her “idealistic” instead of “naive”.

An idealistic young woman on an isolated island working on a research project to get into grad school, struggles against dangers and uncovers family secrets making her want to quit, and perhaps lose an unexpected chance at love.

I left out some phases like “in the Philippines” and “difficulties” to tighten it up a bit. Hmmm. Any better?

Updated as per friend Anita’s suggestion below in the comments: An idealistic researcher on a remote Philippine island discovers shocking secrets, and encounters dangers that threaten her project and her chance at love. 23 words.

https://www.donnaamisdavis.com/novels-plot-one-sentence/2011-11-02T21:34:21-07:00Donna Amis DavisNovelPuerto Princesa & PalawanDonna Amis Davis,Palawan,Philippines,tourism,travel,Travel and TourismThis evening I crafted the log-line of my novel. The log-line is the seed idea, or what your novel is about in one sentence. It's the pitch. I want to thank Kristen Lamb for her outstanding post about Keeping Focused & Nailing the Pitch - Understand the 'Seed Idea'. Also,...Donna Amis DavisDonna Amis Davis[email protected]AdministratorDonna Amis Davis