USING GRANTS FOR OTHERS AS WELL AS SELF

USING GRANTS FOR OTHERS AS WELL AS SELF A significant part of my income over the years came from grants, either ones I’ve written or projects I’ve been a part of. I’ve learned a few things about writing them, what grant committees look for and how to search out appropriate grants. I’ve also had proposals rejected. The competition, especially for grants in the creative arts, can be stiff, and sometimes there isn’t enough money to fund every project. The first major grant I won was a California artist-in-residency grant. For three years, it provided enough income for me to teach creative writing in a continuation school while allowing time for my own writing. I also wrote a Healthy Start grant for the school. It was accepted and they received $100,000 to set up an onsite nursery and offer healthy living classes for teen parents, a gratifying experience to see under-privileged students receive help to finish high school. I also spent seven years going into California state prisons teaching poetry and creative writing to inmates as part of the William James arts-in-corrections project. They were some of the best students I’ve ever worked with. I’ve written grants for organizations and arts groups, which have supported workshops and readings. A number of smaller grants allowed me time for writing that I might not have otherwise been able to. This past year, I received what, for me, was the creme de la creme. In March, 2011, I was awarded a Fulbright for a writing project, â€Å"The Language of Place† and spent six months in northeastern India on a creative writing project about environment. As part of it, I began a blog, Cloud and Mountain, which I have continued to maintain since returning to the U.S. The most important step of preparing a proposal is to study the organization and successful grants. Ask a granting agency to send you copies of grant proposals they’ve funded. Some make samples available online. This gives you a chance to see what types of projects have succeeded, but more importantly, you get an idea of the tone and language preferred. Some other tips: Keep your proposal within the stated limits. If it says proposals should be three to five pages, don’t send in two pages, don’t send in six. Keep your objective narrow and realistic. People who read proposals have a keen eye for projects that promise too much. Make your language positive. Focus on what you can do and show how your past experience will help you achieve your objectives with this grant. Do a very careful proofreading! Spelling or grammatical errors are a sure way to get your grant rejected. Even if you have a dynamite proposal, if the writing is sloppy it suggests you don’t care enough about it to bother with basic mechanics. An equally important step is to state how your project can benefit others. The Fulbright is a diplomacy program, so they seek projects that will contribute to a cross-cultural exchange with a host country. However, all grants will likely have a service component. Don’t just think about what you want to get out of your project, but what is its place in the bigger world? Will you be offering something that goes beyond yourself? In fact, this is not a bad philosophy for life! Here are few links that might be helpful: Getting a Fulbright Scholarship in Creative Writing Funds for Writers National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Writers:The Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Foundation Fulbright International Exchange of Scholars Grant Seekers Cafe:a blog with a lot of good information on applying for grants Grant Seekers Guide: This site from Penn State Extension has some good articles on applying for grants and information for both Pennsylvania and nation-wide funding sources

How to Write an Interesting Biography

How to Write an Interesting Biography A biography is a written account of the series of events that make up a persons life. Some of those events are going to be pretty boring, so youll need to try to make your account as interesting as possible! Every student will write a biography at some point, but the level of detail and sophistication will differ. A fourth grade biography will be much different from a middle school-level biography or a high school or college-level biography. However, each biography will include the basic details. The first information you should gather in your research will include biographical details and facts. You must use a trustworthy resource to ensure that your information is accurate. Using research note cards, collect the following data, carefully recording the source for each piece of information: Including Basic Details Date and place of birth and deathFamily informationLifetime accomplishmentsMajor events of lifeEffects/impact on society, historical significance While this information is necessary to your project, these dry facts, on their own, dont really make a very good biography. Once youve found these basics, youll want to dig a little deeper. You choose a certain person because you think he or she is interesting, so you certainly dont want to burden your paper with an inventory of boring facts. Your goal is to impress your reader! Start off with great first sentence. Its a good idea to begin with a really interesting statement, a little-known fact, or really intriguing event. You should avoid starting out with a standard but boring line like: Meriwether Lewis was born in Virginia in 1774. Instead, try starting with something like this: Late one afternoon in October, 1809, Meriwether Lewis arrived at a small log cabin nestled deep in the Tennessee Mountains. By sunrise on the following day, he was dead, having suffered gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Youll have to make sure your beginning is motivating, but it should also be relevant. The next sentence or two should lead into your thesis statement, or main message of your biography. It was a tragic end to a life that had so deeply affected the course of history in the United States. Meriwether Lewis, a driven and often tormented soul, led an expedition of discovery that expanded a young nations economic potential, increased its scientific understanding, and enhanced its worldwide reputation. Now that youve created an impressive beginning, youll want to continue the flow. Find more intriguing details about the man and his work, and weave them into the composition. Examples of Interesting Details: Some people believed that Lewis and Clark would encounter elephants in the western wilderness, having misunderstood the wooly mammoth bones discovered in the United States.The expedition resulted in the discovery and description of 122 new animal species and subspecies.Lewis was a hypochondriac.His death is still an unsolved mystery, although it was ruled a suicide. You can find interesting facts by consulting diverse sources. Fill the body of your biography with material that gives insight into your subjects personality. For instance, in a biography about Meriwether Lewis, you would ask what traits or events motivated him to embark on such a monumental exercise. Questions to Consider in Your Biography: Was there something in your subjects childhood that shaped his/her personality?Was there a personality trait that drove him/her to succeed or impeded his progress?What adjectives would you use to describe him/her?What were some turning points in this life?What was his/her impact on history? Be sure to use transitional phrases and words to link your paragraphs and make your composition paragraphs flow. It is normal for good writers to re-arrange their sentences to create a better paper. The final paragraph will summarize your main points and re-assert your main claim about your subject. It should point out your main points, re-name the person youre writing about, but it should not repeat specific examples. As always, proofread your paper and check for errors. Create a bibliography and title page according to your teachers instructions. Consult a style guide for proper documentation.