Uh-oh! I have to admit to Googling extract vs excerpt today and still being no clearer. So, rightly or wrongly, I am making a decision and going with … excerpt – if the passage is to be read, and extract – if the passage is to be written or included in another document.
There!
Decision made.
Well, that one at least.
I’m not so reckless with all my decisions, and certainly not when it comes to deciding, out of the 140,000 words that is House for all Seasons, which part I should extract for a reading excerpt (and I definitely don’t want to bore people to death with one that’s all wrong or too long).
So… Readers? Authors? I need your help.
Authors: What advice do you have?
Readers: Who have you seen do readings and how did they do it? Do you enjoy them?
Should authors do the reading themselves, or use someone else? How long should the reading be – time wise – and from which part of the novel?
- The beginning?
- Something to tease (leaving them wondering)?
- Something thought-provoking?
- Something that defines a character perhaps?
I suppose one might need a couple of different excerpts to cover different situations when, for example, the audience is mostly writers, or, as is the case for me come March, it is a group of seniors. (Seniors Week at Coffs Harbour library.)
Any thoughts or previous experiences appreciated.
By the way –
It seems not even Merriam Webster Online can decide which one I should be using.
1ex·tract
a: to draw forth (as by research) <extract data>
b: to pull or take out forcibly <extracted a wisdom tooth> Ouch!
c: to obtain by much effort from someone unwilling <extracted a confession>
2ex·cerpt
: a passage (as from a book or musical composition) selected, performed, or copied : also ‘extract’