Winners and Losers

I loved reading, hated choosing.

I feel for those astonishing imaginations whose works can't win, not because of any lack of quality but because their craft has a way to go before it catches up with their vision. Some truly original minds here.

It makes me question this whole project. For me at a certain age not winning would have felt like rejection, and I might even have turned away from writing. Suppose this happens here? We have no way of telling each entrant what we found that was so special about their creation. They all get certificates, but that's cold. R suggested that each entrant should get some unique little message saying what we found especially interesting about their work, a thank you note if nothing else, but the group has said it's too late for that, given the number of entries.

The contest should encourage everybody. I'm worried it may actively deter some. We are trying not to use the word 'win' instead saying 'the one that stood out,' which I hope changes things but am not convinced. Still, must try not to make perfect the enemy of the good.

If we are ever so mad as to run something like this again, we need much more money. This year our prizes are book vouchers, but if this is to be really useful, we start earlier, have a cut-off date much earlier, and every single entrant gets a voucher for books/art/ supplies /music /photography/whatever their preferred art form. The winners in each group get tickets to a Fringe play or exhibition and the outright winner gets flown down south to the Harry Potter Experience, or something of equivalent value. Boom.

Because yes, we want them taking notice of their locale and the stories of the area. But on a deeper level surely, the bedrock is reading, writing, the arts, the tools not only of self expression, but of understanding how others express themselves. Finding the joy in these things, developing rich minds at once more open to new ideas and less likely to be convinced by unsound ones, this is where such an initiative should be going. Remind me of these words if I ever win the lottery.