A trailer script is not a summary. It is a short sequence of lines that creates a question the reader wants answered by reading the book. Most trailers need between four and eight lines, and each line has one job.
The five beats
Open with the hook: the situation or question that starts the story. Follow with the world or the people, then the stakes, then a turn that raises the question, and end on a line plus the title.
Write it as a list of shots, with one line of narration or on-screen text for each.
- Hook: the situation that starts the story, in one line.
- World: one image or phrase that places the reader.
- Stakes: what could be lost, and by whom.
- Turn: the moment the question gets harder.
- Closing line: a line that stays with the reader, then the title and one action.
A worked example, invented for this guide
This example is made up to show the structure. It is not taken from a client.
- Hook: a lighthouse keeper receives a letter from a sister she buried.
- World: a storm-bound island and a lamp that has never gone out.
- Stakes: someone is signalling from the sea.
- Turn: the signal is answering her lamp.
- Closing line: some lights are not meant for ships. Then the title.
What to leave out
Leave out the ending, the twist and most names. A reader needs one name to follow and one reason to care.
Do
- One name, at most two.
- A question the reader can feel.
- A closing line that echoes the hook.
- Text that works with the sound off.
Avoid
- Starting with the author's biography.
- Explaining the world before the hook.
- Ending on a review quote instead of a question.
- Telling the plot in order.
Write for muted viewing
Many viewers watch without sound. Put the key lines on screen, so the trailer works with or without narration.
How long the words should be
A short trailer carries only a handful of lines. Read each one aloud: if you stumble, a viewer will too. Cut every adjective that does not change what the viewer imagines.
- Every line has one job.
- No line needs the book to make sense.
- The key lines are also on screen.
- The last line leaves a question or an image.
- The title and one action close the trailer.
When a studio helps
In our process you approve the script and the storyboard before anything is produced, so you can change a line before any shot is made.