I’ve lost count of the number of writing competitions I’ve entered. With a couple of exceptions I’ve got nowhere. Even though writing is something I love, the number of hours I’ve clocked up, not to mention the so-called opportunity cost, can feel pretty dispiriting without a readership (beyond my wonderful writing group). Which is why I decided I wouldn’t bother checking the latest ‘longlist’. If I was on it, the organisers would let me know. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have to go through that heartsink scanning-to-no-avail thing. Liberation! On Valentine’s Day I woke up to an email: one of my lovely writing pals thought she recognised my novel on the Exeter Novel longlist but she wasn’t sure; there were no authors’ names. I jumped out of bed and got checking. Feverishly. And …
… she was right!
Whoop! I felt so encouraged I got working on a short story to enter into another competition. But if my friend hadn’t told me, I’d still be in the dark. I was wrong about the organisers being in touch.
So in future I’ll be checking longlists, however much my poor old heart has to sink!
This is the great joy of belonging to a writing group: the success of one member brings happiness to all of us. There’s also the thoughtful sympathy in times of disappointment. A parallel sense of goodwill and unselfish sharing comes with some of the writing and reading blogs I follow – a recent post over at dovegreyreader scribbles said something about it being a place for friendship with people commenting who may never meet but feel they are friends.
You’re so right, Tanya.