I was tempted to use that final shot from Blackadder Goes Forth, from just before they all go over the top, in this blogpost, but as I don't own the copyright I won't. Besides, while waiting for tonight's British Fantasy Award winners to be announced is a little tense, it isn't really in the same ballpark and charging across No Man's Land at a trench full of machine-guns.
I've never won a writing award in my life, and don't expect to tonight. And when I don't win, I'll probably spend the next few weeks telling myself that they're pointless anyway, make no difference in the grand scheme of things, and that all things being equal I'd much rather have another book deal or sell the movie rights to a novel.
Which is all kind of true. But still, it would be nice. (And sometimes, winning an award can get publishers and producers interested, and lead on to those other things. Just as often, of course, they don't. And plenty of times those things happen without awards being involved at all. But anyway.)
It would be nice. And it is nice, to make the shortlist. To be noticed. To get recognition from peers and readers and fans.
But only nice. No more than that. It's not the be-all or the end-all. If I've learned one thing, it's that writing is a marathon and not a sprint. Or rather, it's a process: the process of producing a body of work, honing your skills, learning what you have to say. There's no freeze-frame like in the movies, no final victory. But, by the same token, no final defeat.
You just put your head down and you keep on going, and you try to do better each time.
Which is what I try to do, and will continue trying to do, after tonight, whichever way things go.
Anyway, I wish the best of luck to all the other nominees in the British Fantasy Awards. It's been nice to get this far. I just wish I could make it to Fantasycon itself!
So:
Good luck, everyone.
Daniel :)
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