Charlotte Wood
No results were found
Case study summary
Recipient
Artform
Charlotte WoodGrant category
Amount
Year
State
-
My name's Charlotte Wood and I’m a writer. The last grant I got was for a novel I’m working on at the moment - I have been working on it for a couple of years.
I’ve sent five applications in over ten years. The first one I didn’t really think about too much and I think I just kind of fluked it. The next time I applied I wasn’t successful. After that I got a bit more strategic about it and I actually did call up the Australia Council and ask for my scores and then I had a meeting with one of the staff who was really fantastic. A couple of the questions she said to always keep in mind that were really useful and I have done that since are why this project, why now and why you.
I kind of approach it in the way that I’m writing this book anyway. My writing it doesn’t depend on the grant. I think in the early stages you really need to just work, and do it, and apply for things here and there, but don’t depend on them to make you finish the project.
I think what the assessors partly respond to is your passion for the project.
Because I write fiction the way that I would normally set out my project description is a brief overview but mostly I don’t know a lot about what the story is because it's not written yet, so I just talk about what I’m getting a feel for in the story and I usually set out the main characters and describe them fairly briefly. Then I would talk about the technical challenges for me as a writer that are involved or that I can foresee and work out what makes this book different to books that I’ve done before. So I usually try and talk about how this is going to help develop me as an artist.
Again I would say every bit of writing in the application - in the formal project description itself, but very importantly in the supporting material - just write as well as you can. And in the support material choose your best stuff. I’ve never chosen it to make sense in terms of the storyline, or set up information as you would in a book but I just choose the best writing that I've done. I would choose bits that are surprising, maybe a bit funny, or if there is something with a bit of colour and movement in it. If there’s something you feel is important to the development of the story but it's not immediately so engaging, I wouldn’t put that material in.
The second time I applied for a grant and didn’t get it I went back again and asked them how I went in the process and I found out that I had only just missed out. That was great as it gave me a lot more confidence. If you don’t get one I would suggest people don’t get too disheartened. I know people who applied for a grant once and didn’t get it and so they are all huffy about the process and I think it is important for all artists who need cash to apply for things all the time.
I’ve sent five applications in over ten years. The first one I didn’t really think about too much and I think I just kind of fluked it. The next time I applied I wasn’t successful. After that I got a bit more strategic about it and I actually did call up the Australia Council and ask for my scores and then I had a meeting with one of the staff who was really fantastic. A couple of the questions she said to always keep in mind that were really useful and I have done that since are why this project, why now and why you.
I kind of approach it in the way that I’m writing this book anyway. My writing it doesn’t depend on the grant. I think in the early stages you really need to just work, and do it, and apply for things here and there, but don’t depend on them to make you finish the project.
I think what the assessors partly respond to is your passion for the project.
Because I write fiction the way that I would normally set out my project description is a brief overview but mostly I don’t know a lot about what the story is because it's not written yet, so I just talk about what I’m getting a feel for in the story and I usually set out the main characters and describe them fairly briefly. Then I would talk about the technical challenges for me as a writer that are involved or that I can foresee and work out what makes this book different to books that I’ve done before. So I usually try and talk about how this is going to help develop me as an artist.
Again I would say every bit of writing in the application - in the formal project description itself, but very importantly in the supporting material - just write as well as you can. And in the support material choose your best stuff. I’ve never chosen it to make sense in terms of the storyline, or set up information as you would in a book but I just choose the best writing that I've done. I would choose bits that are surprising, maybe a bit funny, or if there is something with a bit of colour and movement in it. If there’s something you feel is important to the development of the story but it's not immediately so engaging, I wouldn’t put that material in.
The second time I applied for a grant and didn’t get it I went back again and asked them how I went in the process and I found out that I had only just missed out. That was great as it gave me a lot more confidence. If you don’t get one I would suggest people don’t get too disheartened. I know people who applied for a grant once and didn’t get it and so they are all huffy about the process and I think it is important for all artists who need cash to apply for things all the time.
Social media