A promising young writer finds her perfect story in a guy who struggles to find some sense in his own life, she will have to decide who gets the happy ending: her career or herself.

When an ambitious young journalist is tasked to investigate a reluctant hero, she discovers secrets that could destroy his new fame. Having fallen in love with him, she struggles between saving her career and destroy him, or losing her dream job and keeping him.

>>She doesn?t really have a flaw...

If she's human, then by definition, she is flawed.

A protagonist encumbered with a character flaw is well-nigh a requirement in modern dramaturgy. If there is no flaw, then there is no base line for a meaningful and interesting character arc.

In modern dramatic theory, character flaws are supposed to enable the audience to identify and sympathize with the protagonist. The idea being: how can real people, riddled with flaws, identify with a fictional character who doesn't really have a flaw?

Just saying.

"A budding journalist intern finds her breakout story in a lonely yet compassionate waiter but when she develops real feelings for him, she?ll have to choose between the story of a lifetime or their budding romance.? I thought of this earlier.
She doesn't really have a flaw, she's just human. She can't have both and must decide.

So what is her character flaw?

No, he knows about the article! They met rather coincidentally and she follows him for a while trying to convince him to help her. He eventually say yes. Of course he struggled because he didn't want to make his life problems public and when he enters this school he asks her to change the name in the story. That's a drama that "easily" is resolved, the bigger problem comes when the co-worker blackmails her.

>>not a dirty secret that he has, it?s about his depression and suicide attempts,

Okay, but they are still private details that most people so afflicted would never, NEVER want made public. That she would even consider making them public without his full knowledge and consent is not just an act of rank opportunism and exploitation for the sake of her own career aspirations, but also symptomatic of a profound failure of understanding and compassion-- a serious character flaw. (And therein is a story, perhaps different from the one you originally intended to tell.)

The writing thing is secondary! It works has the obstacle for the relationship. It is not a dirty secret that he has, it's about his depression and suicide attempts, the thing is: She has to choose between getting the job or the guy. She becomes involved with him and when a co-worker (who's after the job too) finds it, she has to end it. Hence the job vs guy dilemma.

Thanks Claude that may have been the most helping answer yet! You got what I wanted with the story.

1. Get the job, lose the guy
2. Lose the job, get the guy

I wasn't looking for story ideas like people have been giving me (not that I don't appreciate them), I just need help figuring out what to put in the logline. I want this to be her journey into realizing that maybe being a journalist at that specifically place isn?t what she really wants (even though she dreamed of it her whole life), there?s more to life than a job. The writing thing may be secondary here and it works like the set back between their relationship.

dpg, oddly enough that could work for the story line.

The Subject could have been burnt by a reporter in the past, thus his reluctance. The Lead gains his trust and promises to do right by him.

Therefore if she releases the devastating secret. (Or someone else does) she is breaking his trust.

Just some thoughts.

Uh, has he given his legal consent to have dirty linen in his private life exposed for public amusement and scrutiny?

How about this:

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"After falling for the subject of her breakout story, an ambitions reporter discovers a devastating secret which could win her a Pulitzer but destroy their growing love."
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I did leave out the co-worker angle leaving the conflict between her desire for success and her desire for love.

Hope that helped, good luck with this!

That's a lot better, great work! I would take out as many adjectives and you can. Tell us who specifically. "Bright yet fragile" would be a good description in the script itself, but for a logline, we need more wow factor. Especially since he is the subject of a story that is going to change our heroine's life.

I think mentioning the co-worker throws off the focus. Think of movies similar to your idea, which have 2 romantic leads and a third, antagonist character, and consider if that character would be mentioned in the logline. If their impact on the story is big enough, definitely include it, otherwise don't.

Hope my 2 cents helps ;)

It seems like you are saying if she pursues the assignment and turns in the story, the intern will tell the bosses and she will be discredited since she has a personal relationship with the guy/subject. Doesn't that mean she won't get her dream job then? It seems like her only viable choice is to not go after the dream job and take the guy.

"She has the choice of not be involved with the guy and write the story. Or to be and don?t write it."

Her dilemma should be:
1. Get the job, lose the guy
2. Lose the job, get the guy

It seems to me you'd most likely need her to start the story and start the relationship, assuming the relationship is what gives her the upper hand on the story over the intern who is also doing the assignment to get the dream job. If this is a typical rom com scenario, she will get the guy in the end after sacrificing the job. But not before she choose her career by turning in the assignment, causing some end of act 2 drama/conflict. (Though it'd be interesting if you are going in a novel direction, and have her choose her career over the guy and honestly be happy and content)

A suggestion would be to have the situation: if she turns in the assignment and pursues the dream job, she will have to LIE about her relationship with the subject and say it never happened so she DOESN'T lose credibility. That way you have a stronger symmetry between the two outcomes, the job or the guy, dishonesty and honesty. This would also go along with your theme. Is bending her moral compass, denying the relationship ever happened something she is willing to do for the dream job? Or should she be honest at the expense of the job, but she getting the guy.

This is what I've come up with;

A promising young journalist finds her breakout story in a bright yet fragile guy but when she starts developing feelings for him she is forced by a co-worker to choose between a relationship with the source or publishing the story."

Because there's this intern guy who also wants the job and he discovers the relationship between them and blackmails her. She can't be involved with her sources, it's unethical. So if she decides to publish the story in the journal (I forgot to mention she was a journalist and they both wanted the spot in the journal), the other intern will reveal the relationship to the bosses and she would lose credibility and possibly the job. She has the choice of not be involved with the guy and write the story. Or to be and don't write it.

Why not have her sneak it past him (and under the radar of the legal department of the publication) by writing and getting it published as a roman ? clef?

fwiw.

It's a non-fiction story. In the start, yes, her objective goal is to earn that job, which will be clear in the beginning of the script, but as we move further she will want another goal (to be with the guy). The theme of the story is something like: Is getting this job worth enough to make you miserable?

Is the story fiction or non-fiction? And is this dream job her objective goal, the reason for writing the story?

Thank you Claude!

A promising young writer finds her breakout story in a bright yet fragile guy but when the success of her career implies exposing his past troubles, threatening the happiness of her dazzling love, she must make the decision between a relationship with him and getting her dream job.?

I've added more info on the guy and how one thing conditions the other!

Yeah you should emphasize the irony more.

What kind of writer is she? It could be an interesting angle if she is a biographer, or trying to break in, and scores an assignment to write the biography of, say, the Mark Zuckerberg of that world. it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, as something specific about her makes him choose her for the assignment over more seasoned biographers. As she is spending time with him and researching his life, she falls in love with him. But finds out a secret or other obstacle that means she will have to chose between her career (honestly reporting his life, and the juicy secret) or the guy.

As far as your logline as written:

I don't know what "struggles to find some sense in his own life" means. That's very vague. Sense of what? Also, the word find sticks out with overuse.

Here's what I would try:

"A promising writer's career hangs in the balance when she meets the man of her dreams and discovers a secret that could ruin his life."

I think it's a pretty good premise for a rom com. I can't think of any where the lead female was a writer, though maybe I'm just blanking on something obvious.

Too spice up the logline, I'd figure out something interesting and specific to say about the male lead.

Good luck!

What about this one?

A promising young writer finds her perfect story in a guy who struggles to find some sense in his own life, she will have to decide which ending happens: the job she always wanted or the guy she will forever want.

Hmm point well made. I wanted to say that if she releases the story she will lose the guy (maybe just romantically, maybe he'll be a bit more dramatic). Thanks!

>>her career or herself

Same person, isn't it, the writer? What is her objective goal? What's her problem, her dilemma? Who or what opposes her?

The logline (as I understand it) reminds me of the movie "Stranger than Fiction" where the author's objective goal is to kill off the main character in her latest crime book, an ending that will make her work a masterpiece of its genre. Then she's confronted with a dilemma: If she kills off her character, she kills off a man in real life, too. But if she wants the man to live, she must let her character live also-- she must sacrifice her art for the sake of real life.