Right before Christmas, a successful young Hollywood agent is fired from his job. Shame filled and arrogant, he is forced to spend the holiday with his family in New York City where he meets Melissa, a kind and beautiful young woman who unexpectedly pulls him out of his funk, helps him move on from his old job, and becomes the greatest Christmas miracle of the season.

4 reviews

thedarkhorse Mentor · 4,338 pts

Hi Youngwriter1547,

I'll give this a go. There's a lot of ornamental here - lets try to lean it out a bit.

INTENTION: ?? character doesn't seem to have a strong goal/intention. There's no real story until character has some kind of strong goal.
OBSTACLE: ?? there's nothing really standing in his way. Without an obstacle - there's no conflict. No drama.

How about...

When he is forced to spend Christmas with his family, - the inciting incident.
a recently fired Hollywood agent,
must - - - ???? (goal/intention comes here.)
or else - - - ??? (what happens if he doesn't? where's the stakes?)

"Melissa, a kind and beautiful young woman who unexpectedly... " - all this is ornamental. Not necessarily to the logline.

Notes -
- Perhaps make it "estranged" family. That will suggest he has some distance to travel. Some kind of arc.

Hope this helps.

Richiev Singularity · 82,714 pts

One thing that I noticed is you put the end of the story in the logline. You should leave a little mystery as to the story's ending.

You should tell the reader who the lead character is (Which you did)
What sets the story into motion ( Being fired)
and finally should should give us the lead characters' dramatic goal.
What does the lead want? What are the stakes if they don't succeed?

However, I wouldn't tell the reader how it ends, or whether the lead character succeeds or fails in their goal. So I would leave that part out of the logline

Hopefully, this was a helpful tip.

dpg Singularity · 112,231 pts

Alas, the story relies on an all-too-old female role; that is, a good woman is type cast in the supporting role rather than the leading role, It's her job to rescue, reform, redeem a bad man, or at least a failing one. She does all the emotional labor -- he gets the dramatic payoff.

We're in the age of #MeToo now. I suggest an overhaul and upgrade of her role.