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Article: How the pros set the hook with their first words
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- November 10, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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In the days of my youth, most business offices had transoms. You
don't see them anymore. A transom was a narrow window over the top
of a door. It could be opened to let smoke out and air in.
In publishing, the term came to be applied to unsolicited
manuscripts. The offerings didn't come from an agent. They came
over the transom. Most of the manuscripts disappeared as
unceremoniously, but those with promise won a reading.
What quickly distinguishes a reject from a keeper? For the
writer who goes over the transom - the writer whose reputation is yet
to come - three factors are important. These are the first
impression, the first paragraph and the first whistle.
It is astonishing how ...