People in the writing business talk about how important it is to grab a reader’s attention at the start of a story. Yet, the beginning, middle, and end all make the story. The catchy beginning is only remembered by what followed. As an example, Moby-Dick’s opening line, “Call me Ishmael,” is considered a memorable beginning.[…]
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Begin to write the grant request
A grant request should be personal, unemotional, and informative. The request should read as if the grant writer faced foundation people who already heard others ask for money. The writer should make something of the request that is unique to the nonprofit. As the saying goes: easier said than done. Yet, it is easier if[…]
It takes time to create
In my attempt at being a published short story writer, I try to spend more time being creative and less time finding a home for my stories. Finding a magazine to send my short stories to can take a lot of time. Over the years, I used sources such as Duotrope (costs to subscribe, but[…]
Relationships (again)
I wrote an earlier blog post about the relationship between a grant writer and a nonprofit. This time I’m writing about the relationship between a nonprofit and a foundation. Whenever money is involved, relationships become more important than the money. Foundations want confidence nonprofits can spend money efficiently and effectively. Nonprofits need money to do[…]
Books on Writing
Like many writers, I read Strunk and White’s Elements of Style several times (it’s a short book). Nowadays, books on writing have more imaginative titles like Sin and Syntax, Eats Shoots and Leaves, and The Transitive Vampire. The current books with their creative themes are good because they generate interest in writing readable English. But,[…]
Getting Organized to Tell a Story
Telling a Nonprofit’s Story Before submitting for grants, nonprofits need to be organized and ready to tell their story. Like querying a magazine to publish a short story, the story has to be ready for submission. One of the most important places to be organized is the nonprofit’s online presence. Many times, what a nonprofit[…]
The Length of the Story
Several decades ago, a viable market existed for stories at 5,000 words or more. Now, the market for short stories drops off quickly after 4,000 words. This creates more competition for lengthy stories and leaves writers with reduced chances for publication. I try to keep my short stories to no more than 3,500 words, usually[…]
What I learn from creative writing that I use for grant writing
Writing short stories has helped me a lot to write grants. Not the part about making stuff up, but how to think creatively and find places to send my stories (or grants). Creative writing develops characters, introduces conflict, and presents a solution (mostly). A grant writer develops the story behind a community’s need and finds[…]
Small Notebooks
I always carry a small notebook and a pen with me whenever I leave the house, the place where I have a lot of pens and papers. If I take my wallet and car key, I take my notebook and pen. There are a lot of things I write in my notebook. Like how much[…]
How to find a grant
Most grants come from three places: U.S. Federal Government, State Governments, and Foundations. Everything else could be called donations. I recommend that nonprofits stay away from Federal grants. Many times, the reporting and management exceeds the nonprofit’s resources. More importantly, Federal grants can mandate requirements on how the nonprofit should operate. State grants are usually[…]
Keeping Track of Things
This blog entry will be dull for most people. I’ll explain how I track my short stories when I send them out to magazines for publication. I have two methods – one using a spreadsheet and the other writing in the folders I keep for each story. I’ve been maintaining a spreadsheet for many years[…]
We’ll Meet Again
I recently finished a Saturday morning, six week grant writing class at the local community college. The teacher had a good, outgoing personality and was informative, being a professional grant writer for several years. Not the teacher’s fault, but I didn’t learn a lot since I’ve been writing grants for a while. It was a[…]