Rockin’ New Year’s Eve Premise Line Competition

Hi everyone! I hope this (very) rainy season is finding everyone in cozy, reflective and creative spirits! I know I have promised myself I’d do a lot of writing during the holidays and have not q-u-i-t-e followed through on that. I’m working on my non-fiction book, a travel/memoir called Israel: The Musical. Well, “working” on it meaning thinking about it a lot. Arrrgh! Baby steps.

So I had a fun idea. We’ve had short scene competitions, we’ve had a haiku competition, we’ve had short essay competitions and now I thought I’d introduce a premise line competition. But of course, I’ll give you some key words to play with.

Now, let’s start by refreshing ourselves: A LOGLINE is a very (very) brief and generally unfun description of a movie like “A huge shark terrorizes a seaside town” which sums up JAWS but doesn’t give it any dramatic panache. A PREMISE LINE is a longer description, usually more for the writer’s use that might be anywhere from 25 words to 100 words and describes the first act (set-up) second act (meat of the story) and third act (resolution) along with the main character, antagonist and the crux of the conflict.

So we might have something more like:

When a huge great white shark terrorizes a seaside town, the new police chief must convince the townsfolk to go after it in order to save the summer season; then the town hires a professional shark hunter and three men go to sea to battle the ferocious shark until only one man is left: the police chief, who has a fear of water and must face the monster alone.

Eh, that was okay, but you get the point.

Okay so while Hollywood sleeps, here’s what we’re gonna do here on good ol’ Just Effing.

Guidelines:

Write a 100-word premise line (word count strictly enforced), of any genre, which includes:

*Main Character: A hippy
*Antagonist: An optometrist
*Key phrase: Italian restaurant

Stuff you can play with:

Gender of M.C. and antagonist, genre, world, main character’s flaw

Make sure you:

Show the main character’s arc of change, the main crux of conflict, the stakes and the exciting outcome (i.e., the main character must choose between this and THIS).

Use the key phrase somewhere (anywhere) in the premise line.

Deadline:

December 31, 2010.

Prizes:

We’ll break the winners down into categories since it’s nigh impossible to compare a hilarious comedy to a bone-chilling thriller.

Best comedy
Best thriller/horror
Best drama
Best sci-fi/fantasy
Best uncategorizable/Julie loved it

Winners in each category will receive a free phone consult with Yours Truly to discuss a logline you are working on, to brainstorm your way through something that is getting you stuck, new ideas or career decisions and strategy.

Now, we’ll see how many of youse can get motivated during the holidays; the winner(s) may not fall into every category, depending on how many entries we get. I want you to keep those writing juices flowing even during times when it feels like you have too much other stuff to do. It’s 100 words, guys, and it’ll light up your brain like a Lite Brite. Keep those writing synapses firing!

Enter by December 31, 11:59pm, 2010. Send to: Julie at Justeffing dot com. (ha ha spammers! You can’t fool Julie Gray 859 times, oh no, you can’t!)

Winners announced on January 7, 2011.