Awarding oneself - WA Premier's Book Awards
The argy-bargy that sometimes accompanies the gratuitous use of the terminology 'awards' on social media profiles is entertainment I often find chuckle worthy.
Colour me mission brown and call me Splinters if you like, but as a habitual fence sitter, I appreciate both sides' argument: stating you are an award winning author having amassed nothing more than a feeble handful of competition placings compared with someone whose work has gained notable international or national recognition is a bit of a stretch of artistic license and one we have all indulged in from time to time, yours truly included. It does not seem to matter that those very competitions you so diligently entered and conquered no less touted themselves as 'Awards' in the first place. The causal observer may not distinguish the semantics of the situation so easily as they can the sublime subterfuge of it.
Nonetheless, if you enter something and are rewarded in some fashion for it, the fact of the matter is that you deserve to bask in the winners' spot light no matter how fleeting or feeble. You have achieved something others for that moment have not. That is the significant thing to remember not how people perceive your moment of glory based on how you chose to proclaim it.
I am lucky. I can sit on my fence now with even more awareness of the views on both sides. The tab title 'Awards' that I'll use on my web page will not only reflect my most recent glorious achievement...a Shortlisting by the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards (a bona fide big deal award) but continue to pay homage to all those writing competitions and children's writing awards I collected along the way. Why? Because without all the fining tuning and feedback submitting to them provided, I would not have been able to identify a great opportunity as easily as I did. I would not have had the confidence in my writing to throw it out there for such strenuous judgement and I would not possess the pluck of the courageous to 'give it a go'.
It is a war cry worth remembering; if someone opens a door or a window or even provides a tiny rent in the fly screen of you life, don't be afraid to dive on through it. You never know what may be on the other side. A shiny gold award like this one to stick everywhere perhaps.
My humble story may not win the digital category. But for now it has achieved far more than I ever envisaged and has earned a rightful place under the banner 'awards'. And I still can't help chuckling about it.
The Chapel of Unlove is a digital narrative penned as part of the innovative Story City app project.
Here is what the judges had to say about it as a locative digital narrative:
Powell, Dimity The Chapel of Unlove This narrative employs the Story City platform and is therefore primarily designed to be enjoyed as part of a walking tour. Normally the narrative would be driven by the choice of direction the reader takes for their walk, although it is also possible to make direction choices without physically moving around the space. Engaging and amusing, the story has a number of twists and turns only apparent when one works through the narrative more than once, altering choices made. Alternative endings mean this story walk could be taken a number of times, and suggestions for bonus activities and links to external web-based content add further interest.
To experience my story, The Chapel of Unlove, simply download the FREE Story City app, here. It's buckets of fun. You'll find dozens of other terrific stories to play in and around Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Adelaide, too with more and more coming on line all the time. Follow Story City and The Chapel of Unlove updates on line, here.
To win a chance to rub shoulders with Australia’s famous authors and publishers at the prestigious 2016 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards ceremony on Monday 3 October 2016, vote for your favourite fiction book from those shortlisted at https://competitions.thewest.com.au/print-comps/the-west-australian/2006-premiers-book-awards-2016/ in the People's Choice Awards. Voting is open now and closes on Friday 19 August 2016.
Good luck and may you have reason to congratulate yourself some day soon.
Colour me mission brown and call me Splinters if you like, but as a habitual fence sitter, I appreciate both sides' argument: stating you are an award winning author having amassed nothing more than a feeble handful of competition placings compared with someone whose work has gained notable international or national recognition is a bit of a stretch of artistic license and one we have all indulged in from time to time, yours truly included. It does not seem to matter that those very competitions you so diligently entered and conquered no less touted themselves as 'Awards' in the first place. The causal observer may not distinguish the semantics of the situation so easily as they can the sublime subterfuge of it.Nonetheless, if you enter something and are rewarded in some fashion for it, the fact of the matter is that you deserve to bask in the winners' spot light no matter how fleeting or feeble. You have achieved something others for that moment have not. That is the significant thing to remember not how people perceive your moment of glory based on how you chose to proclaim it.
I am lucky. I can sit on my fence now with even more awareness of the views on both sides. The tab title 'Awards' that I'll use on my web page will not only reflect my most recent glorious achievement...a Shortlisting by the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards (a bona fide big deal award) but continue to pay homage to all those writing competitions and children's writing awards I collected along the way. Why? Because without all the fining tuning and feedback submitting to them provided, I would not have been able to identify a great opportunity as easily as I did. I would not have had the confidence in my writing to throw it out there for such strenuous judgement and I would not possess the pluck of the courageous to 'give it a go'.
It is a war cry worth remembering; if someone opens a door or a window or even provides a tiny rent in the fly screen of you life, don't be afraid to dive on through it. You never know what may be on the other side. A shiny gold award like this one to stick everywhere perhaps.
My humble story may not win the digital category. But for now it has achieved far more than I ever envisaged and has earned a rightful place under the banner 'awards'. And I still can't help chuckling about it.
The Chapel of Unlove is a digital narrative penned as part of the innovative Story City app project.
Here is what the judges had to say about it as a locative digital narrative:
Powell, Dimity The Chapel of Unlove This narrative employs the Story City platform and is therefore primarily designed to be enjoyed as part of a walking tour. Normally the narrative would be driven by the choice of direction the reader takes for their walk, although it is also possible to make direction choices without physically moving around the space. Engaging and amusing, the story has a number of twists and turns only apparent when one works through the narrative more than once, altering choices made. Alternative endings mean this story walk could be taken a number of times, and suggestions for bonus activities and links to external web-based content add further interest.
To win a chance to rub shoulders with Australia’s famous authors and publishers at the prestigious 2016 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards ceremony on Monday 3 October 2016, vote for your favourite fiction book from those shortlisted at https://competitions.thewest.com.au/print-comps/the-west-australian/2006-premiers-book-awards-2016/ in the People's Choice Awards. Voting is open now and closes on Friday 19 August 2016.
Good luck and may you have reason to congratulate yourself some day soon.
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