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   Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 20:08:28 JST Charlie Stross

   #WritersCoffeeClub 3/2 How accurately does the first line represent your style and voice?

   "Skuld's salad days as a suicide bomber came to an end after her eighth successful mission, when she awakened in the reincarnation tank with orders to pursue a career in academia."

   Current work-in-progress.

   It's both a hook … and an indicator that we're about to dive into a science fictional take on the academic novel. (With assassins disguised as faculty wives.)

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     Jacek Wesołowski (jzillw@mastodon.gamedev.place)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 20:08:27 JST Jacek Wesołowski

     in reply to

     @cstross So this first sentence is essentially an elevator pitch.

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     Jacek Wesołowski (jzillw@mastodon.gamedev.place)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 20:18:07 JST Jacek Wesołowski

     in reply to

     @cstross Sounds tough. In video games (specifically the PC/console segment) the rule of thumb is you have 15 minutes. The elevator pitch is just for the publisher. I guess it helps that video games have (moving) pictures.

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     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 20:18:08 JST Charlie Stross

     in reply to

     • Jacek Wesołowski

     @jzillw It's INCREASINGLY important to hook your reader's attention fast. Used to be you had a page to grab them, but current wisdom is that you do it in the first paragraph, or ideally the opening sentence. So I optimize my openings like crazy.