We had a GREAT time on Cayuga Lake last weekend, very relaxing, but now it’s back to work.
I’m working on applying for the Sustainable Arts Foundation Writing Award. They typically give out 5 awards of $6,000.00 and 5 “Promise” awards of $1,000.00.
You must have a child under the age of 18 (which I do) but there’s no application fee and it’s all done online. The application is due by 5 pm (Pacific Time) on August 31st, which is Saturday.
I’ve applied for other grants before, so I already had half the work done. They just want 4 samples of work so I’m submitting two short stories, an essay and a memoir piece.
I made the mistake of not paying enough attention to what they were requesting otherwise so learn from my mistake. I had combined my biography and letter of intent into one thing for another grant application and didn’t realize I need to write them separately for this one.
They want a biography, an artist statement that gives a “concise description of your work and goals as an artist,” a Curriculum Vitae (in other words, an artist’s resume that tells them where your work has been seen and what workshops you’ve attended) and a letter of intent that tells how you would use this award if you win one.
The thing that’s giving me the most trouble is the biography. A lot of what I write is biographical in nature so it’s hard to know where to stop. How much or how little should I say about myself, my life, my writing and my family? The only direction they give is to include how your family life inspires or challenges your writing, if it’s relevant. Well, yes, it is relevant, but what else do I include? My mind went one way, focusing on my writing throughout my life, but I’m trying to keep it concise. I mean, they didn’t even give me a word count maximum – I could ramble on for ages!
So I went through and edited the writing pieces I’m submitting, yet again, then edited the resume, artist statement and letter of intent. Then I realized I need to pull out a separate biography. I’m almost there.
(Just went and looked at last Spring’s winners. I’m glad I didn’t look before. It’s a little discouraging. Everybody who won seems to be very accomplished. Oh well, it’s worth a try.)
I’ve also been editing my entry for the Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Contest. Then I started getting this idea for a story about two angels and a demon that would be GREAT for the longer genre contest. Unfortunately, that’s only two weeks away so I don’t know if I can have it ready in time. It’s a good story so I’m pursuing it and if it’s not done, I’ll hold onto it. I’m a little loath to send something I just finished writing into a contest anyway. I prefer to let things set for a bit and edit again.
We had an unexpected day off on Wednesday because our power went out so I took myself down to the local coffee shop to write for a bit. It was incredibly loud and I was getting a little annoyed but I decided to just listen and found that I was sitting next to a group of people talking about their Catholic religion. My, how inspiring for my story since one of the characters is a priest!
So, I flagrantly eavesdropped and made a few notes. They were telling religious jokes and laughing uproariously but they also hit on a few more serious topics. Not sure if it has any relevance for what I’m writing but it did inspire me to think about my story and make some progress. I’ve got a good idea of who my characters are and why they are there. I also have the central question of the story, the theme and where it’s going, to guide the plot. Now I just have to make sure all my scenes reflect and build on that.
It just seems like there has been a lot of great creative energy in the air lately, for my whole writing group at least. Hopefully that is true for everyone out there.
Melora Johnson's Muse 