How to Win at What You Love (i.e., The Art of Diligence)

How to Win at What You Love (i.e., The Art of Diligence) I’ve always majored in the â€Å"make lemonade† school of surviving hard knocks, with a minor in â€Å"follow your bliss,† so after I was laid off from my job producing special projects for a local public radio station, I decided to go for it – writing books. A friend who’d heard my last big radio project – a series of three half-hours about climate change – told me I should turn it into a nonfiction book. In fact, I’d been working on a novel for about two years very slowly but the idea of doing a nonfiction book was new. The day after my last day at work I attended a local writing conference, pitched my concept to three agents, and used their feedback to reshape my idea. And I discovered an amazing array of possibilities on the web for grants, fellowships and residencies: -Poets and Writers: pw.org/toolsforwriters -Mira’s List:miraslist.com/ Alliance of Artists Communitiesartistcommunities.org/ -Res Artis:resartis.org/en/ -Writers Editors: writersandeditors.com/awards__grants__fellowships_57698.htm But it wasn’t until I found Hope Clark’s newsletters that her positive energy inspired me to start applying. My book is set in the eight states where I’ve lived, so I’ll need to travel back to each of them. I was born in Michigan, where I found ISLAND’s Hill House artist residency http://artmeetsearth.org/artistresidency.html which has an environmental focus that’s a great fit for my project. Still, I was amazed to be accepted on my first try. Next, I applied for a grant from my local arts agency, the Regional Arts Culture Consortium http://racc.org . The proposal was daunting – everything from drawing up a budget to planning for a public event, so I went to RACC’s Open House and took advantage of the agency’s offer to review grant proposals turned in a couple of weeks early. I got terrific input, and had time to strengthen my application enough that I was awarded $5,000, some of which will fund a travel blog. So far, so good. My â€Å"platform† as an environmental journalist, and years of writing on deadline doubtlessly helped me submit polished applications. But could I make the leap to winning funding on the basis of my fiction?    This year, I took the plunge – and was accepted as a Hawthorne Fellow at The Attic Institute in Portland. It’s not free, but it’s competitive. I was also accepted to the Tin House writing conference, and won another residency http://springcreek.oregonstate.edu/residencies.html where I’ll go to write up what I learn doing my RACC funded research. Here’s what I’ve learned: -target your proposal to funders and residencies that mesh with your project; -start with agencies that are local, or at least local to the setting   of your book; -apply for the least attractive times -do your homework; -take any coaching you’re offered; -be willing to invest some money in yourself; -find a day job while you’re writing. I admit I’ve been lucky. After my layoff, I was offered a chance to produce television projects on a contract basis. When I’m at leisure (unemployed), I look for work and collect unemployment. And I write on two books!