When his wife is kidnapped, a modern-day sorcerer (and NYC detective) hunts down her sadistic captor; but when the trail goes cold and even his supernatural friends can't help him, he must learn that love is the most powerful magic of all, before his wife is lost forever.

This logline needs your insight! Too wordy, I know. And are the stakes high enough??

8 reviews

Neer Shelter Singularity · 55,464 pts

Simplicity is key in a logline but never let it get confusing due to lack of critical detail.

I think that New York cops have a stigma of being pragmatic, tough and cynical more than others, perhaps thats just me. I also think if the story is placed on the streets of New York it makes for a more interesting setting for a super natural fantasy story as appose to the cliche setting of "in the woods" or "in a remote village".

As previously mentioned best to describe a single goal at the end of a logline so; finding the wife, stopping the bad guy and preventing her being killed should all be described as a single goal. In my mind saving her life is the best and most economic way of doing this, as both finding her and stopping the bad guy are then implicit.

My suggestion for a re draft with a minor tweak:
After his wife is kidnapped by a sadistic sorcerer a sceptic New York detective must work with a clairvoyant wizard to save her life.

FFF Mentor · 7,850 pts

I like a lot this rewriting.

Nathan Phillips 0 pts

I'm pretty new at this, but I think leaving the 'before' clause gives an urgency to the line, which adds credibility to the idea that a cynic/weary character would turn to an unlikely source of assistance. However, I'm not sure you need 'New York City' in the detective part. Like I said, I'm new, but I think simplicity works. Adding a location takes up time and space without giving much in return. Compare the two, see if you think it adds much (I'm also Australian, so not sure if there is a critical difference between NYPD, LAPD, GCPD and the rest):

After his wife is kidnapped, a world-weary New York City detective must rely on a clairvoyant sorceress and an assortment of fantastical creatures to help him find her and stop the sadistic abductor?before she is murdered.?

After his wife is kidnapped, a world-weary detective must rely on a clairvoyant sorceress and an assortment of fantastical creatures to help him find her and stop the sadistic abductor?before she is murdered.?

I think the same simplicity principle applies to the "clairvoyant sorceress and an assortment of fantastical creatures" line. If there enough irony in the fact that the detective is relying on the supernatural world, then the specifics of the characters on whom he is relying become details, and are not valuable parts of the logline.

Otherwise, sounds interesting!