In addition, the NEA offers a gift than cannot be quantified. The grant will allow me to take formal leave from the university, dedicating myself to my writing without stress. While I have always been good about "stealing" time, stolen time is not really quality time. This NEA grant is the gift of time and the gift of quiet. Now, as I work on my fourth, I shoulder the responsibilities of being a senior faculty member. As I wrote my third novel, I was working toward tenure - attending faculty meetings, writing syllabi, etc. I spent all my time working on applications, and cobbling together enough classroom experience. When I wrote my second novel, I was desperately trying to find a full time teaching position. Although I am working on my fourth novel, my efforts to carve out time to create have not become less intense than when I wrote my first novel hunched over a small desk wedged into my closet. Although I am sure that I am not unique in saying that the NEA grant will allow me to take time away from my job in order to dedicate myself fully to my writing, this does not make this gift any less significant to me and my work.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |