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It’s summer and time to lighten up.

I’ve been thinking about Post-its lately. Frankly, I can’t live without them. But I just glanced at the mass of Post-its stuck on top of my calendar and I have to face the facts: I’ve got a Post-it problem.

First, the basics. I recommend Post-its to improve organization and keep important items top of mind. Here’s how I use them:

• Each day I put a new Post-it in my calendar with the day’s priorities.
• A neat and tidy list on a Post-it has a calming influence at the start of my day.
• As I accomplish tasks, I cross them off the list and then toss (recycle) the Post-it at the end of the day. It’s so satisfying.

There are drawbacks.

• Post-its can delay action. I should just do the task at hand rather than add the extra step of making yet another list. I might have more time to write.
• Before you know it, Post-its multiply. Avoid overuse and save paper.

I tried an alternative. I bought a notebook to write down ideas for future Short Takes that appear out of nowhere. I keep it on my desk. I started using it, and then reverted back to Post-its. Arrrggh.

What’s this got to do with writing?

More than you might think. The author of a recent New Yorker article about deadlines, Rachel Syme, describes using a Post-it to remind her to stay on track. In this case, the Post-it is a motivator and organizing tool. (Fyi this fabulous article will inform a future Short Takes article.)

Post-its can improve quality. Good writing requires focus. Yet when I’m writing, inspiration about any number of things can appear at any moment, and disappear just as quickly. I have to grab it fast, so I reach for a Post-it.

You might think this would disrupt my writing. On the contrary, the peace of mind that comes with capturing my thought improves my effectiveness by immediately addressing what might otherwise be a continuing distraction. I return to my project with focus and satisfaction that my next great idea is intact.

For me, writing and organization go hand-in-hand. Removing clutter from my mind, even with a silly Post-it, improves the quality of my writing.

Finally, Post-its motivated me to write this article. I hope you find it useful…or at least amusing!

From a young age, I studied piano and sang in various groups. Now, as a writer, I realize that when a proposal, report, or other document – or even just a sentence – has a lyrical quality, it’s enjoyable to read and gets attention. It can simplify and strengthen your case for support.

However, I couldn’t figure out how to talk about lyricism in writing. 

Then I heard Scott Simon interview the poet Yusef Komunyakaa. Simon asked him, “What makes two words go together?” Komunyakaa responded, “Well, an idea about musicology – how those two words fit into the mouth with a natural tonality that goes for the heart and the mind.”

I thought, now I get it. Then I re-read the interview and realized I still didn’t understand how listening to music translates into words that fit together.

More help from the experts
I started searching for answers.

Consider this from Barak Obama: “We come from everywhere and contain multitudes.”¹

Or this from Isabelle Allende: “Write what should not be forgotten.”

These two lines are powerful and lyrical. They linger.

I read Verlyn Klinkenborg. He writes succinctly and persuasively about writing. Here’s what he says about rhythm and writing:

“If you don’t know what I mean by rhythm, imagine a singer’s phrasing of the lyric in a song. In prose it’s subtler, the beat and the music quieter.”²

Serendipity took me to Quntos KunQuest, author of the recently released book This Life, about his 25 years, so far, in Angola for a carjacking he committed when he was 19. In a recent New Yorker article, he discussed the influence of hip-hop on his writing.

“I began to see how writing prose was different from rhyme, in the sense that you got away from the metronome. But there’s still a metronome in writing. There’s still a beat to it.”

From hip-hop to grant writing
You might say this is all very good, but how does one achieve lyricism when, for example, writing grants? Here are a few ideas.

• Try deleting words you don’t need that may get in the way of lyricism in your writing.
• Rearrange what’s there. What’s first might sound better last, or vice versa.
• Learn from Isabelle Allende. What do you want the reader to remember? Then say it in as few words as possible.
• Klinkenborg suggests reading your writing aloud. “This is how you’ll begin to understand rhythm and its absence.”¹

I don’t know if playing music while writing helps. I don’t usually, but I’m going to try it. So, crank up some summer music and see what happens!

¹ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/books/barack-obama-promised-land-reading-writing.html
² Verlyn Klinkenborg. Several short sentences about writing. New York: Vintage Books. 2012.
³ Ibid

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.