"Worst Storyline Ever" Contest

"Worst Storyline Ever" Contest
Chuck Sambuchino is sponsoring the third "Worst Storyline Ever" on his blog for really bad loglines. There is no entry fee.

A logline is a one-sentence line that explains what your story is about and shows the "hook"--the unique idea that makes people want to see more. Some examples of good loglines for famous movies:

• "Three middle-aged men defeat their midlife crises by starting a college fraternity." (Old School)
• "When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an evil prince, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge." (Gladiator)

• "In a future where criminals are arrested before the crime occurs, a cop struggles on the lam to prove his innocence for a murder he has not yet committed." (Minoriity Report)

But Chuck is looking for bad examples, the kind that will make you groan. Some bad loglines:

• "After an unidentified cow swallows an armed nuclear device in a botched Homeland Security raid, Agent Tom Anderson is thrust into an unlikely partnership with buxom organic farmer Daisy Jones to sift through three hundred cows and 10 barns full of manure as the clock runs down in a desperate quest to save Kansas City from a moo-clear disaster." (past contest winner from Livia Blackburne)
• "After losing badly in the Kentucky Derby, a horse is sold to the glue factory where he is processed and bottled, and we follow the stories of everyone who uses the glue, from a nose-picking pre-schooler to a dyslexic kidnapper who glues cut-out letters on a ransom note, until the last drop is gone." (past ontest winner Chris Whigham)

THE RULES:
Stick to the format, but have fun with the idea. You want your logline to be one sentence only and 60 words or fewer. The logline should explain what the story is about. It's what you put in the one sentence that will win you the competition. So the trick is to make your logline a terribly creative idea that's pitched in a professional manner.

Deadline is 11:59 p.m., EDT, Sunday, March 28, 2010.

To participate, post your logline in the "Comments" section at the end of the blog post.  You must include your real name and email. If you are super paranoid about leaving your name (Google!), use "L. Martin Smith" instead of "Leonard Smith."

You can submit up to two (2) bad loglines. You can include both in the same comment if you wish.

The contest is open to everyone of all ages, save those employees, officers and directors of GLA's publisher, F&W Media.

By posting a terrible logline for consideration in this contest, you agree to the terms written on the blog.

Please note: To be eligible to submit, Chuck asks that you do one of two things:

1. Mention and link to this contest twice through your social media--blogs, Twitter, Facebook
2. Just mention this contest once and add the Guide to Literary Agents Blog (www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog) to your blogroll.Please provide links so eligibility can be verified.

THE PRIZES:

First Prize: 1) A query letter critique from Chuck Sambuchino. 2) A follow-up phone call to discuss the query critique and a plan of action for seeing your work published. 3) A one-year subscription to Writersmarket.com, and 4) Praise on Chuck's blog.

Two runner-up prizes: 1) A one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com (value $50)