The Creative Project
6
Crafting Your Story
Overview
In this chapter, you learn how to…
- Develop a clear, concise, and compelling narrative that articulates your proposed project
- Connect your work as an artist and any collaborators with your proposed project
- Articulate your project in an authentic and cohesive statement that includes the what, why, who, and how
Within every grant application, you will be asked to articulate your project in detail. Granting organizations may refer to this information in different ways. Here are a few examples you may encounter: project description, statement of grant purpose, executive summary, or project summary. Regardless of the nomenclature, your goal for this section of the proposal is the same. Your statement should meet the following criteria:
- Outline the overarching goal(s) of the project.
- Create a compelling argument as to why your idea is worthy of funding support.
- Describe the role(s) of any collaborators, if applicable.
- Connect you and your mission with the project.
- Provide an overview of proposed outcomes and impact of the project.
When done effectively, the project description clearly communicates your project to the reader and encourages further interest in you, your project, and what is possible. More importantly, with every step of this process, you want to consider how this project aligns with who you are as an artist, how it connects directly with where you are headed in your creative process, and how these points of intersection support the mission and vision of the grantor. Not only will this level of thought and creativity in your proposal engage the reader, it will also resonate with the funder.
Just as every project you develop is unique, so are the requirements of each grant. You need to understand what the specific requirements are for the application you are considering. While some grant applications measure by word or character count and others by page length, part of your job in any grant application is to understand those constraints and deliver prose that is engaging no matter the length.
As you develop your project description, keep these two questions in mind:
- If you can say it convincingly in 750 words, can you find a way to state it in 250 words?
- If you can outline your project in a sentence, where can you take the reader over the course of a page?
This is your challenge—to find a variety of methods that allow you to persuade the reader to be curious about your project and you.
Artists in Action
I think the hardest part for me is still the fine detailed craftsmanship of the project description. I’m a person who always says too much. The hardest part for me is actually paring it down anytime there’s a character limit or a word limit or a page limit. I mean, there always is because, you know, a panel doesn’t have time to read 10 pages of description for every proposal.
– Adam Rosenblatt
Describing the Project: Four Essential Elements (What, Why, Who and How)
To be