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’
I’m notorious for using the wrong word, so glad you didn’t ask us to make the decision for you!
Can’t say I ever pondered that dilemma, Jenn. ‘I’ll read a passage from my book,’ was about as technical as I’ve attempted 🙂
I read short passages at most of the library visits I do, but that did start by accident… I had no expectation that I would read anything and at one of the early visits the librarian announced in her intro that I’d be reading from my latest book. It took me several attempts to find what I thought were suitable passages, but I now have a selection that I tailor to the audience. The response has always been great and I’ve had several older people come and thank me at the end as they’d forgotten the joy of having a story read to them.
And as to which passage? Something with a hook is always good!
LOL So Helene Young, pilot and author, likes to ‘wing it’. Why am I not surprised;) I am way too organized for my own good. I think J calls it obsessive beyond belief. Your comment about older people being read to made me feel sad, but happy. I now look forward to boring the pants of the oldies in seniors week. I may do a practice run at my mums nursing home though!!!!!!!
I’ve sat in on poets reading their own work then midway through their interview together would swap and read each others work, that was fun. Some were planned verses, but others were ‘random style’ choices.
I’ve also listened to an author read planned, specific attention grabbing passages, another had audience participation and yet another used actors who learnt then presented (in character) the chosen extract or excerpt.
I am happy to be fortunate enough to be entertained by, and celebrating, someone’s hard work and inspiration. I think whatever/however you choose to present will be perfect for you and therefore comfortable and perfect for us as an audience:)
Go with your gut feeling and enjoy the ride!
OOOh an actor! Maybe I can rustle up Russell LOL Or maybe Simmone Jade-McKinnon would come and do a reading at my launch. She inspired one of my characters. Perhaps I could tell her that in a Tweet!!!! 🙂 That’s great. Thank you.
Well Jenn, something to think about. I suppose when you remove a passage you are extracting therefore the except can be read after the extraction but not before. Can you excerpt before you extract? Now that is the question.
I think I’ll call them sneak peeks. Less confusion for my little old brain.
Smiles,
Efthalia
I heard Tom Keneally a while ago and he did a mix up. He told the story of how he came to write Daughters of Mars, and then as he was telling us that, he’d then open the book at some piece that went with what he was telling us. eg he said how he’d read nurses diaries from the war, then he read a peice from the book where the girls were talking of exactly what he’d read in the diary (blending fact and fiction).
I don’t know if you can work something like that when it’s fiction… but it made an interesting talk.
Good luck!
Cath xo
Hi Jenn
I’d go with excerpt… only because the idea of “removing something forcibly” sounded way too painful.
Good luck with whatever you choose. If I had to pick a part of my book to read aloud, I think I’d choose the part which dealt with/related to, the title of my book as I feel like that’s the essence of the book. But House sounds a bit different with the four separate character stories etc. That might not work for you.
And I thought Cath’s comment made brilliant sense too!
Lily M.
xx