Thank you for joining us in The Writer’s Playground series!
Here we run through writing games to spark imagination and sharpen your craft.
Today’s Exercise is
Logline Challenge
- Objective: To practice distilling a story idea into its most compelling, one-sentence summary.
- How to Play:
- The facilitator provides a single, broad theme (e.g., “Betrayal,” “Discovery,” “Sacrifice”).
- Everyone has five minutes to write a complete story logline based on that theme. A good logline includes a protagonist, their goal, and the primary conflict.
- The group shares their loglines. This exercise reveals how a single theme can branch into countless unique stories and provides everyone with several new concepts to explore.
- Best for: Developing a story’s core conflict, practicing pitching ideas, and brainstorming.
This is an extensive, but by no means exhaustive, list of themes to get you started:
Revenge | Betrayal | Justice |
Loyalty | Honor | Sacrifice |
Redemption | Forgiveness | Greed |
Ambition | Jealousy | Courage |
Mercy | Duty | Conscience |
Freedom | Power | Corruption |
Revolution | Conformity | Prejudice |
Equality | Tradition | Progress |
Order vs. Chaos | Community | Utopia |
Dystopia | Propaganda | Legacy |
Destiny | Fate vs. Free Will | Faith |
Doubt | Mortality | Immortality |
Truth | Illusion | Identity |
Purpose | Meaning | Creation |
Destruction | Time | Memory |
Love | Hate | Fear |
Hope | Loss | Grief |
Obsession | Paranoia | Innocence |
Guilt | Loneliness | Belonging |
Madness | Desire | Nostalgia |
Survival | Discovery | Escape |
Conquest | Invention | Transformation |
Growth | Decay | Isolation |
Connection | Beginnings | Endings |
Secrets | Family | Home |
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