• If your story gets nominated in more than one category, send in different excerpts for each. That way your story gets more exposure.



• Have a reader or a friend help you pick them out. Friends often have a good outside perspective, and a second opinion is always helpful.



• Double-check to make sure that, outside of links to your profile and the story, the excerpt is only 800 words, or it could be cut off mid-sentence.



• Give an excerpt that goes well with the category. If you have an action nomination, send in a fight scene. If you have a character nomination, make sure that character is the main part of the excerpt.



• Think of the excerpt as a movie trailer, something that will grab attention. You want people to look at your story and give it a read, then possibly a vote.



• Remember that not everyone knows the entire context of a story so look for things that don't require a deep understanding of the plot. Choose an excerpt that gets to the heart of what your story is about.



• Listen to your reader reviews when picking what to use. Parts of the story they loved will remind them of why they should vote for you.



• Always make sure that you keep it organized and not just throw a bunch of scenes together.



• Instead of using what you as a writer consider the best scene for that particular category, try to pick a scene that best illustrates your skill as a writer to those who aren't familiar with the scene's context. Vader's reveal to Luke in ESB might be the best scene of the movie, but only if you've watched everything up until that point and know who they are. Don't pick a section just because it shows off your luminescent prose. Pick a section that's at the heart of what your story is about. Consider what parts of your fic just wrote themselves.



• Though it takes up a few words of the excerpt length, using a small summary at the beginning of an excerpt can really lead a reader into the story and help to flesh the story out. Make a good note if you need to. Don't phrase it like a reader reply.



• A scene that is dramatic and vivid is best. If you are excerpting for a category such as best short story or best epic, often your first post is a good place to start. You've probably worked very hard on the opening, so that's some strong writing right there. Look for an excerpt that is not just well written but will tempt the reader into wanting to know more about your work.



• Make sure that the grammar and spelling are correct. Bad grammar and spelling are turn-offs to a lot of people. You might want to have someone double-check before you send them in. Get a beta to look over your excerpt(s). After cutting a scene down to 800 words, you'd be amazed how many silly mistakes you might have added to the text. A lot of times, you end up shortening sentences, using one word where there were three before, just to get your point across under the world limit. Unfortunately, when you read through it later, you might be seeing what should be there rather than what is, not realizing that certain sentences are missing connecting words and verbs are not conjugated incorrectly. Best to get an outside opinion and save yourself some possible embarrassment.



• If you know that you qualify before nominations are over, work on your excerpts early. It gives you more time and means that you can send them in at the beginning of the excerpt period, which makes it easier on the volunteers.



• Some readers, maybe most, will vote based on the excerpt. But you've also got to encourage them to go looking for the rest of the story. So - use the 400-word scene with a beautiful cliffhanger rather than trying to use all your 800 allowed words. If the best scene to use is the last one, try arranging it so it's not obvious how the story got there. 600 words is better than trying to fit it together with 200 more less-than-desirable words



• Genre categories: Obviously, pick a scene or part of a scene that best showcases the genre in question. The All-Around category is trickiest for this, as you've only got 800 words to represent what is really only achievable over the course of an entire story. There are four individually awarded genres (humour, action, drama, romance) plus others, the notable absence being horror. It's unlikely you'll have a single scene that does justice to all of them. So pick one that's a nice blend of maybe two or three, or perhaps two consecutive scenes that are very different in tone.



• Character categories: Show the character doing their stuff. Reader comments are invaluable here. Find out what people who already know the story remember and like about your characters, and pick a scene that shows those attributes off.



• Best Villain: Pick a scene that gets to the heart of what makes them so horrific. To take an example, imagine you were having to take excerpts from ROTS. Palpatine's a subtle, clever villain, so you'd choose something like the scene where he tells the story of Darth Plagueis. Vader, on the other hand, is a lot more emotional and made worse by the contrast with his ex-self - so perhaps the scene where he goes to the Council Chamber to murder the younglings would be the best one to pick.



• Avoid dialogue-driven sections or nothing but narrative. Find a balance.

Summary: Mara Jade comes to Vader for advice but receives a lesson instead.


The Emperor's Hand and the Dark Lord of the Sith stood before each other in silence with the hums of their sabers in anticipation.

Mara interjected, "Just tell me when it-"

The slash from Vader came instantly as he threw it wide at her midriff
and she barely registered it in time to block it rather clumsily. She
cursed herself at her own inattentiveness.

Vader called her on it. "Proof that banter is not as important as focus."

"I'll give you that one." She moved her feet around him in a defensive
stance and watching his every move now. "The next time won't be as easy."

"Don't be too sure," he boasted.

They circled around each other for a few moments before Vader launched
a series of swings and thrusts in quick succession. Mara greeted them
with blocks and parries of her own. Vader kept this up for several
moments and Mara met each of his blows with highly timed precision. He
finally ceased the attacks and they went back to circling.

Mara quipped, "If you plan to tire me out first I have to tell you I
have a lot of energy."

"I have no doubt, Jade. Although, that was not an exercise to test how
fast you are fatigued."

"What was it an exercise in?"

Vader only answered with, "That is the point. You will not recognize
every challenge given to you. The ability to trust your instinct will
be tested."

"No kidding? In that case, Vader, test this!" She quickly began her
own series of low thrusts mixed with high swings that Vader countered.
All through the moment Mara wore a confident grin as she continued to
throw thrusts at Vader from unique points so as to catch him off
guard. He countered those as well as if they were anticipated. As far
as she could hear, his breathing mechanism stayed at the same pace as
it would if he were standing still. She decided to try something
different.

She began a quarter spin move that usually threw off her opponents.
She was too fast and agile for the few she had faced with lightsabers.
This opponent, however, was not like any she had faced before. She
found this out as she half completed her spin and was suddenly faced
with a blood red blade. If she had not felt Vader's sudden excitement
at that same moment, her body would have been severed at the
shoulders. In a quick reaction, she ducked under the blade as if she
were playing a game of limbo. Her spin's momentum combined with her
sudden stop made her lower body slower to react and it sent her
ungracefully to the floor. She could almost hear Vader's gloating
under his mechanical thunderous voice.

"Your acrobatics are impressive, young Jade...for a traveling
sideshow. You do not need fancy moves that are wasted. I do not know
of any move in swordplay that is effective when your back is to your
opponent."

"I'll remember that when your back it to me the next time." She sprang
up to physically and mentally brush herself off. She reset herself
into battle mode and said bitterly, "Let's try that again."

"You cannot beat me, Jade. You will try, but you will fail. You do not
yet know how to control your emotions. One can easily see your rage on
the surface. Some may even be intimidated by it. Deep beneath you,
Jade, is merely a scared little girl."

She gritted her teeth and flew at him with her saber raised high.
"I'll show you scared!" She attacked this time with fury in the form
of high strikes which he quickly parried. She then tried the same
thrusts from various points again but this time with a faster pace
than before. Vader met each one with the same manner as he had when
the duel started. And though she finally did hear his breathing
quicken, she did not realize how close she was inside of his immediate
range. She thought of it too late.

All of a sudden, she felt as if a gigantic hook had grabbed a hold of
her from behind and pulled hard. She was catapulted through the air
and slammed onto the hard floor meters away. She lost control of her
lightsaber, which extinguished and landed nearby. She stayed in a
crawl position so as to recuperate from her immediate pain from
landing. She felt Vader's elation as he came forward to stand at her
fallen form. He had used the Force to push her back. Was that cheating
in a lightsaber duel? Apparently, not for a member of the Sith. How
could she compete with that?

dianethx posted:

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Thanks, Idrelle. I liked that scene myself. Is there anything I could have done to make it more noteworthy as an excerpt? Or as a trailer for my story? Either one would be fine.

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dianethx posted:

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A couple of things - I would make sure that your grammar is correct. I think you meant "Your" not "You're". And I would have liked to have one more sentence from Jaina at the end, some piece of dialogue to keep the reader coming back and wondering what was going to happen next.

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One thing I'd take note of - try not to use Earthisms (game of limbo) - unless it takes place on Earth.