Small Grant

By taking the courses listed above, I will gain skills that will support the revision of my manuscript over the course of the following one to two years. These skills include restructuring the manuscript for better flow, improving dialogue, setting, and character development, and trimming the superfluous from the manuscript to ensure that every single word on the page has it's purpose. The workshop and coaching opportunities will help me understand how readers experience the manuscript, and will help me address specific parts of the manuscript that I am struggling with. I plan to have a revised manuscript ready to either self-publish or query an agent within approximately two years, and these courses will help me get to that point. In addition, the skills I develop now will benefit me throughout my career as a writer, beyond just this memoir project. I will know if I have been successful based on my learning outcomes. The Loft course will teach me tangible and useful skills in writing creative nonfiction, including writing character descriptions and dialogue, establishing a story's place and atmosphere, building tension, and harnessing the power of point of view. In addition it will address how to strengthen the ending of the manuscript to leave readers changed by the story. The second Writing Workshops course will help me improve the craft of writing about fallible and fluid memories. I will know I am successful if: 1. I am exposed to new authors and writing that expand my own craft. 2. I receive feedback from the instructor and from 5-10 classmate on a sample of my manuscript. 3. I am able to identify the heart of my current draft, which is currently far too long at 360 pages, and trim it down to a reasonable length of less than 200 pages. 4. My manuscript is improved based on the skills I develop through this course.