This is an article I wrote over ten years ago.  Since I applied, the Arts Lottery program has been rolled into the Arts Coalition in Massachusetts, but programs remain out there for writers to apply for grants to fund their writing or to teach creative writing.  The basic process remains the same — finding a program, applying, and accounting for the money spent through the grant.  Check for the most up-to-date info in your state/area and then go for it.  What’s the worst that can happen?  They say no.  We’re authors.  We’re accustomed to getting no for an answer in our search for that Yes!

If someone told you that you could get money from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to help you with your writing career, what would you say to that?  After you stopped laughing, I mean.  And what would you say if they told you that you’d never have to repay the money?
It does sound impossible in this day of budget cutbacks and belt tightening that there is money out there to be given away.  Although the Massachusetts Arts Lottery Council has had their budget cut back as well, there is still money out there for artists who can prove the projects they are working on deserve funding.  I received a grant this year to teach a “Writing the Popular Novel” course in the spring.  That course has evolved into an advanced course I have taught the rest of the year and an invitation from Brown University to teach a course on writing the romance this fall.  Great payback!
What is the Massachusetts Arts Lottery Council?  It is the group that oversees the money, which is, and this is mandated by law, to be taken from the profits of the various state lotteries and given to sponsor art programs throughout the Commonwealth.  Every municipality is required to have a local arts lottery council, which oversees how the money is distributed.  Although in the past, the money has been distributed on a twice annual basis, the “cycle” is now annual (and subject to change again with very little notice).
What can the Arts Lottery Council do for you?  They have thousands of dollars that they are eager to give out to artists, and, as a writer, you are included in that designation.  These grants are different from many grants on the federal level, which are reserved for fine arts and performance artists.
So how can you get your hands on some of this money?  It’s not as complicated as it sounds.  Yes, you have to write a grant application, but these applications are geared toward someone who has not had training in writing grants.  The form is a single sheet, printed on both sides, and the most difficult question may be the name of your state representative.  You don’t need to know the “buzz” words that are necessary to apply for most grants.  My local arts lottery council held a grant writing workshop, but they spent more time answering specific questions on projects than teaching anything about filling out the form.  Not to worry — it’s easy enough.
First you must determine if your project is fundable.  The five requirements are:
1)  You must show the quality of your previous work — clips of printed work and/or letters of recommendation.  If your local paper has done an article on you, definitely include this.  Don’t assume you have to be published.  This is to help artists who are still working toward their goals.
2)  You must show that you can objectively administer the grant.  This is where you put your timetable — when you plan to begin, when you plan to be done, and a budget (again a very simple one).
3)  You must show this hasn’t been done before.  I had taught a writing class through the local library, and I was applying to teach another course, but this time through the art museum, which never had offered such a course in the past.
4)  Financial need must be outlined.  As “starving artists”, that usually isn’t a problem for us.
5)  Lastly, and probably most importantly, is that the project you are asking to be funded must benefit the community and be available to everyone in the community.  In my case, the course, once funded, would be free to Attleboro residents, but open to residents of other communities at a fee set by the museum.
They will ask for information on your racial and other minority background.  I got “brownie” points for being a Vietnam era veteran and a woman.
As you can see, this is not to fund your living expenses while you wait to sell your book.  This is geared toward bringing arts to the community, but use your imagination to give yourself some writing credits for your resumé.  I had considered doing an oral history of Attleboro (which is about to celebrate its 300th anniversary), but another group was doing a similar project with video.  I decided to try with the writing course that the museum had invited me to teach.
So how do you go about getting this money?  Start by contacting your local arts lottery council.  You should be able to get their address and/or phone number from your local library or city hall.  Find out when they will be taking grants and ask for copies of the grant application form.  Make copies of the form before you fill it out.  The form must be typed, and you want room for revision.  Get the local council to help you with the forms, if you want to be sure you have it right.  Send the forms and supporting paperwork (clips, letter of recommendations, book covers, etc) to the council.  They will review it and decide if your project is worthy of the money they have been allotted by the Commonwealth.  If they approve you, and they make the decision very quickly, the paperwork goes to Boston.  That approval for me took about another 8 weeks.
Once your project is complete, you will need to file for reimbursement.  You can file along the way, but I didn’t because I knew it would take a long time for the money to come back.  And I mean a LONG time!  I filed my application in January, was approved locally in February, was approved by the Commonwealth in May (after I had finished teaching the course), filed reimbursement paperwork immediately, and expect to see my check in about November.
Consider this avenue if you want to teach a program on creative writing in a local school or library or if you want to work on a local history, or on any other project you might be able to devise.  There are other types of grants available at the local level and state and national levels, so check into those, too.  Just be aware that they may require very definite grant writing skills.  If you wish to pursue that route, you can take a course on how to write grants at most local colleges.
I would be glad to advise you about your paperwork when you decide to apply.  If you have any questions on getting a grant from the Massachusetts Arts Lottery Council, please feel free to call me.  I’m already thinking about what I’ll apply for next year.  Hmm. . .I wonder if they’d fund a project on sculpture made from the dust under my desk. . .

My hubby and I ran away last weekend.   We couldn’t stand the snow piled up outside our windows, so we decided to take advantage of a discount airfare and go to London.  Only a day or two after we bought our tickets, London got its biggest snowfall in 18 years.  Okay, it was only 3″, but it was enough to bring the city to a halt.  We weren’t sure how the situation would be when we arrived.

It was great fun to see snow in Greenwich in the park below the Royal Observatory.  Throughout the park, we saw huge snowballs that must have taken several people to create.  Someone obviously had a good time!

It was chilly and dark came early…but no earlier really than in New England.  It was great fun to see Westminster in the golden light of the sunset and to see the moon over Hyde Park Corner.

I think I’m going to run away more often…