POST-MORTEM, DAY FOUR

Don’t be embarrassed.

Seriously. If there are 100 entries in a contest with five winners, 95% of the contestants won’t win. I think there were closer to 200 entries, so that means that 97% of the contestants won’t win. Losing, in other words, is the default position; despite this society’s emphasis on winning, there’s no shame in that.

Early on, I pointed out that, win or lose, you should look upon the Inkshares/Nerdist contest as only one part of your artistic/life’s journey. As Richard Bach once said, “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” As I used to tell my students when I was a university lecturer, a career in the arts involves 30, 40 or more years of work with no guarantee of success. If you can see yourself doing something else with your life, save yourself the heartache and do it. On the other hand, if you can’t imagine doing anything else with your life, you won’t let a setback like not winning this contest stop you.

You did your best. If that wasn’t enough to win, do your own post-mortem and learn the lessons you need to learn from the experience so that you’ll do better next time. Another quote I like to bandy about in situations like this comes from the great 20th century playwright Samuel Beckett: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Failing better may not be all that inspirational. But it is a realistic goal.