In recent months, I have gotten extremely frustrated with the number of people who seem to have no problem the way things are going UNTIL they lose. I am not someone who is a big sports fan, but on the way to the stables this weekend, I heard on the radio about a call that was (or was not) made during the recent Final 4 Tournament. This got me thinking about that call that was not made during the NFL season last year. A team loses and only after, those not on the winning side begin to rant and rave about how that single call (or lack thereof) was the only reason that person did not make it to the next round.
And I am hearing the same thing now in the publishing industry, especially with those that are "upset" by the final decisions of the RITA awards for the Romance Writers of America.
Look, you lost! Get over it!
If we look at those sporting events, if the team that lost was "so good" then it should not have come down to a single play. Let's say that the foul was called. Does that mean that the losing team would have made that foul shot? Absolutely not!
We have all heard the expression, "Hindsight is 20/20." I get it. This is much of the same thing when we can make our horoscope be correct when we read it at the end of the day. But with that said, you cannot now go back and look at a decision and claim that was the single reason why you did not win. The authors who are now complaining about all of the reasons why their books were not selected, or a specific genre was not represented, or a particular trope did not win cannot make these claims. All that these authors can claim is that their book or books) did not win.
Had their book won, there would have never been an issue. But think of it this way. Let's really take it to an extreme level here with this hyperbole.
Let's say that next year's RITA roles around and the ONLY stories that make it to the finals are stories with those "diverse" plot lines. Nothing straight up the middle. The only criteria for getting into the finals is that the author wrote a story that highlighted "diversity." Does this make it better? My bet is that a lot of people would be screaming.
Now, if there is clear proof that people judging those preliminary rounds openly said things such as, "I am not voting for that story because it has a mixed race relationship in it." or "I refuse to give someone a high score for a LGBTQ story," then these people have grounds to complain. So again, I say...
Look, you lost! Get over it!
Are there issues with how many of these competitions are being judged? Yes! The lack of a clear criteria and leaving it only up to subjectivity is an issue. But we have to be cautious making claims that cannot be proven.
I personally like to take the approach that William Blake made regarding this idea. "Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but foresight is better." Plan to write a great story with quality writing, quality characters, a quality plot and a purpose. Look forward and not backward.
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