Being on a Longlist: Misha Herwin
The
first is “Vladimir the Vampire’s Cat” a children’s book which I entered some
months ago for Writing Magazine’s Chapter Book Prize. “Vladimir” is something
I’ve been working on literally for decades. I began in the 1980s and it has
gone through endless incarnations since then. Last year however I decided that
I was going to work on the final version. Whatever shape it ended up in,
whether as a short story, a picture book, or something longer that was going to
be it. The decision having been made, it didn’t take long to do. Years of
reading to grandchildren gave me a feel of how it should be, plus constructive
feedback from Renegade Writers, and I finally could type THE END.
When
it was done, I had to make up my mind what to do with it. After sending off the
first chapter an agent wanted to see the full ms. When that came back with a “Thanks
but no thanks” I was mulling over the next step when I found the Writer’s
Magazine competition and decided in a random moment, of what later felt like
madness, to enter.
To
my surprise I was asked for the full ms and then told I had been longlisted.
I
was just as surprised, when on another whim, I entered “Freecycling for
Beginners” for the Arnold Bennett Prize. This is an award open to any writer
living in, with connections to, or writing about Staffordshire. Since I live in
Staffordshire and as Arnold Bennett is one of my favourite writers I flirted
with the idea of entering. It took me so long that I had to hand deliver two copies
to make sure I met the deadline.
Once
again I was surprised to be told that my novel had been longlisted.
It
may seem from this account that I’m not taking any of this seriously. I,
however, would argue that a certain casualness about this award business helps
to stave off potential disappointment. A “What will be, will be” attitude is more healthy than agonising over
the competition and trying to convince myself either that my book is so
brilliant it is bound to win, or despairing that the other writers are so much
better than me that I’m not in with the slightest chance.
To
take a more rational view, being longlisted is an achievement in itself. It’s
good for the ego, useful for future publicity and/or approaching agents or
publishers and perhaps most importantly of all it’s a validation of what I do.
By
the very nature of writing, writers work alone and no one sees what we do, or
the effort that goes into it until the book/story or play is finished and even
then it can sink into obscurity. Being on a list of potential winners makes me
feel that I must be doing something right and there are people out there who
value and appreciate my work. So whatever happens I’m not going to fret. I’m
not going to think about it too much. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed and
wait.
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