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Writing benefits from good feedback. It’s something I had to learn earlier in my career.

A big lesson
The first grant I wrote, long before I started my business, was to the MA Department of Public Health for funds to start a program for survivors of domestic violence at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. I wrote the draft with a colleague and sent it to my boss for review. He returned it, covered in red ink.

At first, I was flustered, even a little insulted: What does he think he’s doing, especially after all that hard work? Mostly, though, I was abashed. I could quickly see that his comments improved the document considerably. I got the message that writing grants is a multi-stage, drafting and editing process.

What I learned
As time went by and I wrote more grants, I learned:

• Editing can take almost as much time as drafting your document in the first place. It’s well worth the effort.
• The more editors you have, the longer it takes. Their perspectives, and buy-in, can be invaluable.
• When the stakes are high, allow even more time.
• Know your editor’s style. One client gives my first draft a quick read with few edits. Later, she generally has detailed comments. I plan accordingly.

Back to my story
I hunkered down and made my boss’s edits. We submitted the grant and didn’t get funded. However, there was another lesson in this experience. The project team was by then invested and motivated to move ahead. We formalized the group and started meeting. Eventually, we launched the program, with hospital funds, that continues today.

In other words, editing can help build commitment to finding new ways to achieve your goals.

From then to now
Nowadays, I integrate feedback throughout my projects, especially when they’re complicated. At the outset, my clients review, edit, and approve detailed project plans. Often, they send me material they want to use in the draft before I write it, and we agree on vision, strategy, and style. Then they read and edit drafts, sometimes quite a few of them. The result is a stronger document that’s responsive to donor priorities.

So plan ahead and value feedback. Most often it’s helpful.

Things have been hard lately.

We might feel good one day and down the next. Happy in the morning, despairing in the afternoon. Or the middle of the night.

Writing can help get what’s inside of you outside. And that can make you feel better. Even if it’s just a little bit. It can help you get to tomorrow. And the day after.

You can write about anything. It doesn’t have to be a novel. Or a bestseller.

You can write to help you make decisions, plan your life—or decide what you’re going to do tomorrow.

It doesn’t have to be good, great, or even ok.

You might think it’s terrible and others might think it’s outstanding. Or you might think it’s fantastic and it doesn’t matter what others think.

It can be one sentence, one phrase, or pages and pages. Or even one word. Or a list, a chart, or random words inside or outside of boxes or circles. It can have pictures, or doodles.

It can be typed on your phone, or handwritten in pen, pencil, or pink magic marker. In a notebook or on post-its. Lined paper or unlined. Every day or every now and then.

Whatever works for you.

Whatever it is, it’s yours.

What you write is private, unless you decide to show it to someone else. You can say anything you want. Nobody will care because nobody needs to know. Unless you show it to them, which could be helpful. If you want to.

A new model
Starting this month, I’ll invite occasional guest editors with relevant expertise to help me write some of my Short Takes articles. Today, Elizabeth Powell, Administrative Director of the Mass General Hospital Substance Use Disorders Initiative, joins me to discuss writing federal grants and others like it.

Today’s topic
There’s no getting around it: If you’re writing a federal grant you can count on a huge, unwieldy grant writing process. The same is true with state or foundation grants, or any large proposal requiring lots of information that is due soon.

Elizabeth and I have been through several such experiences together. Here’s what we’ve learned.

Assemble the team. These grants have lots of moving parts (narrative, budget, bios, other attachments). Make sure your team—and your boss—knows what’s involved. Agree on a schedule with clearly defined tasks, deadlines, and who’s doing what. Check to see if anyone will be out of the office when you need them.

Get going. Don’t risk a last minute rush, with impact on quality and your competitive edge.

Prepare for institutional review. Understand your organization’s internal review process before you start. Identify appropriate contacts and find out the required review period. It might be weeks ahead of the actual grant deadline.

Pay attention to the details. Federal grants have many intricate requirements that can be easily missed and can, if unaddressed, cause problems before or after submission. Examples are the applicant institution’s indirect rate or the federal salary cap. Be sure to read the notice of award and application guide in detail.

Keep it manageable. Break a big grant into doable parts. Use as much content as possible from past grants so you’re not starting from scratch.

Tell a story. Keep the big picture front and center when you’re mired in the details. Your reviewers will want to hear your story and vision for your program.

Guide review. You can facilitate review of your draft in a cover email to the team with bulleted questions and considerations—and a deadline for their edits and other follow-up.

Anticipate last minute hurdles. Your internal reviewers may identify budget issues or missing grant requirements. Build in time before the deadline to address last minute glitches.

Hunker down. It’s the reality. There may be long days and nights. Build in incentives, like taking off the day after.

The payoff. Take heart! These tips – and the experience of making it through a federal grant – may be useful for other big tasks on or off the job—like organizing an event, buying a car, or even doing your taxes.

Of the many writing skills available to us, concentration is one of the most important. It can also be quite challenging. It’s worth considering what helps us focus. Concentration boosts quality.

Getting ready
I’ve tightened my routine to help me get and stay focused.

• Make lists. I keep a project list (everything I need to do), along with lists of daily and weekly goals. I check off completed steps so I can see progress and benefit from the energy this generates.
• Clear your desk. Removing items that take up physical and mental space helps me concentrate on the task at hand.
• Make a plan. A plan with a timetable that includes interim steps keeps me on track to complete complex projects on time.
• Write things down. When something I need to do pops into my mind, I write it down so I can forget about it, knowing I’ll be reminded later.
• Turn off your phone and email. This is very important because it will save you time and help you focus. You’ll be amazed by what you can accomplish in an hour or even 30 uninterrupted minutes.

When you still can’t focus
This scenario may be familiar: You’re working away when, imperceptibly at first, your mind strays and soon you realize you’re on a different course altogether. Here’s what I do:

• Make up incentives. If I double down and work for another 30 minutes I can take a break.
• Face the consequences. If I don’t get a project done before dinner, I’ll have to do it after dinner.
• Get inspired. I briefly redirect. Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem wasn’t just a show stopper. It’s reinvigorating.
• Let it go. This is when I accept reality and temporarily move on to something else. Productive time takes less time.

Distractions can be helpful
The day after the Inauguration I was busy writing when a stray image appeared in my mind of our new president, President Biden, working at his desk. I felt relieved and relaxed and quickly re-engaged with my work.

Your suggestions
Many of you sent creative ideas following my last article, Writer’s Block, that help you stay on track: meditation, yoga, classical music, physical activity, and nature. Art can be meditative, and music, dance, cooking, or in my case, Spanish lessons can help us plan our time and stay focused when we’re back at our desks.

 

It would be terrific if we could always finish a proposal, report, or other writing project in the time we set aside for it. It doesn’t always work that way.

Writer’s block has happened to me. I’m not talking about the protracted kind of writer’s block that full-time authors may face, but the temporary “stuck” experience this audience may sometimes contend with.

For one assignment, I was asked to assemble information from multiple sources into a coherent report. It’s the kind of project I’ve done many times before, but instead of putting what I thought were well-honed skills to work I found myself twisted in circles. After the report was finally finished, an analysis was called for.

Here’s what I found out.

• It was a hard project and I was overly confident.
• As the deadline neared, I became increasingly distracted, leaving less mental real estate for the actual writing.
• I forgot tricks of the trade, like marking progress by breaking a big project into accomplishable steps.
• I felt stuck writing at my desk when a change of scenery might have been reinvigorating.

Here’s what helps.

• Take action sooner rather than later. Stewing about a writing deadline doesn’t help.
• Create an outline. Building structure can help you generate content.
• Know your best writing time and use it. I’m most productive in the morning.
• Mark milestones. Translating just one complex paragraph into a simpler, polished one can be a huge motivator.
• Move around. I can be productive at my dining room table or even the kitchen counter.
• Listen to music. I rarely do this when I work, but during the holidays I played music nonstop. I found out it can remove distractions and build energy.
• Restart. Take a break, get coffee, or finish another project. Then apply the lift you get to the original challenge.

Use the strategies that work best for you to get results. You’ll be surprised at how easily one small change can rejuvenate the entire process.