The first step in the Snowflake method is to zero in and summarize your storyline in one sentence.

Although Snowflake as a whole is only one method out of thousands for story plotting, and obviously not for everyone, this makes sense. It forces you to ask yourself what the story is really about. It allows no room for sub-pots or rabbit trails, however important. It goes so far as to ask you to do so in a relatively short sentence.

Here's mine:

'A twelve-year-old girl must retrieve her brother from a warped reality, or else lose him forever.'

I'd like to know who else is crazy enough to try this.

- Terra

Oh wow, that's cool! I've read about the snowflake method in a book once, and it's pretty much the way I write. Here's two of my novels-in-a-sentence:

A young woman must defy all odds to fulfill her destiny of becoming a knight with unexpected results.

Two lives are dramatically changed when a Christian young woman sends a letter to a disturbed young actor.

A store owner, professor, and a thirteen year old pickpocket race to unearth a cursed idol from Atlantis before the Nazis find it.

An honorable mercenary battles an ancient Egyptian cult after a comrade's niece goes missing.

A steam-bot assassin must choose between being human and hated or being a killing machine and unalive while the agents of the government hunt him down as a renegade agent.

Wow, those sound cool Varon!

I love the Snowflake Method! The author of the method is right when he says loglines (one-sentences summaries) are a vital art. If you want to pitch your work to a publisher, you'll likely as not have to write a logline.

Some of the loglines I've written this month...

(Alaidia/Peter's Angel): A passionate vassal wages war in an attempt to restore the prince of his motherland.

(Faded): Diagnosed with aggressive lymphoma, a frustrated freshman stumbles into a fantasy world where everything fades as it ages – except himself.

(My Pet Dragon): An Eragon-wannabe finds the Communists’ lost dragon egg in 21st century America.

hm... got quite a few here....I seem to be missing 4... I'll get back to you on that.....
These could really use some work *winces*


These are only the ones related to Ashta (my main world)

1. Sanah is chosen to lead her people to victory and it costs her everything.
2. The sea calls him to another land and the people there who need his help.
3. His uncle raised him to avenge his father, but his father isn't dead.
4. Atanair and Alveena fell in love, but their choice to free their people takes over.
5. She's forgotten who she is and her people need her to remember.
6. Two long lost brothers; sent to lead a race to freedom.
7. Valrick is the only one who knows the way out of a dying land.
8. A despised crossbreed, Jenick-Hoth must chose his race.
9. A crazed outcast with unnatural powers choses flight instead of fight for his nation.
10. Tenoss faces an new enemy, one that holds a power beyond anything anyone has ever seen.
11. Kelementar's father left him a kingdom, but the council is trying to keep it from him.
12. Anaeo-Vale has lived in the shadow of fear all her life, but something makes her take a stand.
13. Slaved to the vicious Izang, Talelick finds friends in a forgotten race.
14. What will happen when Sareth falls in love with the daughter of his family's murderer?

I thought I'd give this a try. Here it goes!

A young woman learns about true courage when she must step behind enemy lines where there is no mercy and the only light comes from a place deep in your heart – a place where your darkest secrets struggle to remain hidden.

All Chayton wanted was the honor the quest would bring, but now he finds that the foundation of his world has been shaken by the presence of the one he seeks - the one called Evenstar.

If her father discovered her secret, Kattie Wells would be disinherited and endanger her fiance, but if she doesn't tell her father, she'll be protecting her enemy and endangering herself.

Oooh, I love the last one, Celestria!

This is more of a tagline - a catchphrase, a marketing tool - but it is a really effective one!

Awesome, guys!

Ok, this is mine:

Torn in Two:

Elanhil is torn from everything he knows and is planted in a whole new life, and the fate of the world may hang in his hands.

It sounds a bit cliche, but it's really not. If you look at its topic in the Fireside you'll see.

Hilly, if your story isn't cliche, show us that in the logline! I know you, and I've read a bit of your story, but a publisher or a random reader off the web won't. What makes your story unique and Hilly-like? Put that in the logline instead of the stuff that sounds cliche. Put your personality in there!