5 Tips From Grant + Residency Recipients

because you deserve more time and space to write

I know a lot of us aren’t feeling super ambitious right now. Facing the the day-to-day crises of just the first month of 2026 is taking so much energy. But I also know that despite daily overwhelm, many of us are still working on big ideas, creative ambitions, and beautiful projects that deserve our time and attention. Whatever you’re hoping to write this year, I hope you can find the time and space to make it happen. We need your words, your ideas, your convictions, now more than ever.

Applying for grants, fellowships, and residencies is one avenue for securing the time and space (and $$$!) to bring those writing goals to life. I’m updating The Big List of Deadlines every week, which is a task I personally find motivating. Despite the defunding of so many institutions that support artists and writers, there are still new opportunities being announced every day.

So I reached out to recent recipients of some of these exciting opportunities, and a handful of them have generously offered advice on the application process. If you are planning to apply for any funding or career development opportunities this year, I hope these are helpful! And if you weren’t planning on it, maybe this will convince you to go for it. Read the tips and then go check out The Big List. And if you have questions about specific opportunities, whether they’re mentioned here or not, feel free to drop them in the comments, and I’ll see if I can get the right people to pop in with some answers. If you have advice of your own to share, we’d all love to hear it!

Tips on Applying for Grants, Fellowships, and Residencies

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

Good luck out there, friends. We got this.

Apply early.

“The early bird gets the worm. For [my first grant], I applied within 1-2 days of learning about it, and for the second one I applied same-day. The competition is fierce for these types of opportunities right now, and I received numerous rejections this year for other writing fellowships and events, even ones where I felt really confident about my application, which sucks. If you sink a ton of time into one application and elongate the process by debating whether to apply, wondering if it’s applicable to you, if you’re good enough, etc, it can just waste valuable time that you can spend shooting your shot, and continuing on.” — Karen Fischer, author of The Gumbo Pot (Karen received grants to attend the annual conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Scientific Sessions for the American Heart Association.)

Focus on the artist statement.

“Writing a strong artist statement is hard but essential. The people deciding on who gets accepted should get a clear idea of who you are, where you come from, what you stand for, and why you are committed to your art. Think about it this way: Who would you invite into your home for a dinner party with other artists? Someone with an impressive but impersonal CV or someone with whom you feel affiliation when you read their words? I used some of my better-read Substack essays in my application to show that my writing engages others. It’s ultimately more about who you are as an author than about your accolades and accomplishments.” — Claire Polders, author of Wander, Wonder, Write (Claire was accepted to an artist residency at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora in Christchurch, New Zealand.)

Don’t sell yourself short.

“For [The Spark Award], one of the qualifications was having an audience, and I was doubtful I had an audience with a wide enough reach to qualify for the grant. So my two cents would be to apply anyway! Particularly if you’re doubtful about some arbitrary measurement of success, like audience reach or number of accolades. Also: read the fine print and don’t confine yourself to restrictive labels. The Spark Award guidelines explicitly state that journalists can’t apply, and I almost missed that crucial piece of information. Rather than deciding I was unqualified (because I’m a journalist) I opted to highlight the parts of my writing career that fall more into the “creative nonfiction” camp. I’m a “journalist,” yes, but I’m also a “nature writer” and an “essayist.” I employed these labels to help convey the breadth of my work.” — Devon Fredericksen, author of Bitten Fruit (Devon received a Spark Award for Oregon Artists from the Miller Foundation.)

Center trust and community.

“In 2025, I was selected as a News Creator Corps’ Fall 2025 Trusted Creator Fellow. This fellowship is an 8-week intensive program for creators who care deeply about serving their audience with factual, impactful information and are actively working to fight misinformation. Along with a $5,000 stipend, I gained hands-on training from experts in fact-checking, sourcing, interviewing, AI, and more. For creators considering applying in the future, my biggest tip is to show how trust is at the center of your work. Think deeply about how your content helps your community make informed decisions — whether you’re in travel, parenting, politics, or any other niche.” — Danielle Desir Corbett, founder of Grants For Creators (grantsforcreators.com)

Get specific.

“The Jack Hazard Fellowship is specifically awarded to writers working in high schools across the country, so that narrows the applicant pool quite a bit. The New Literary Project wants more than anything to make space for creative labor that can’t happen during the school year—so make a clear case for everything that you can do with this money over the summer. Lean into the fact that it’s nearly impossible to write during the school year. You need and deserve this chance!

“And I encourage you to set aside a little time every month to look for and apply for grants and fellowships. Once you’ve developed a few strong applications, you can often reuse portions of them for new opportunities.” — Kristin Collier author of What Debt Demands and a Jack Hazard fellow.

Do some pre-reporting.

“Every application cycle, the McGraw Business Journalism Fellowship seeks out applicants with high-impact stories that “follow the money,” but this year the fellowship has placed some added focus on the implications of policy shifts imposed by the current presidential administration and federal spending cuts. My reporting partner and I applied to this fellowship two times, and on our second round took several weeks to build, tweak and adapt our application to better align and reflect on these changes. At this stage of the process, it is highly important to focus on finding a unique and compelling story that you are best positioned to tell whether that be through expertise, regional proximity or general enthusiasm about the project. Try to have a source or two to follow and be able to communicate how you envision them serving the arc of the story. Additionally, background research and knowing the timeline of events that led up to the event or circumstance you are covering will be a huge help along the way once selected.” — Tamia Fowlkes, author of Tamia Talks and McGraw Business Journalism fellow.

Keep in touch.

“Relationship building has been so important to every opportunity in my freelance writing career. Whether for a grant or a new job, having people who know you and your work is instrumental in these applications. It's something I keep in mind through so many decisions about who to pitch and what kind of work to focus on. If I can stick with people I know I like to work with, fostering those relationships is often more valuable than a new fancy byline. Also, it just feels good to really get to know some of our peers in this crazy world of professional writing—especially as freelancers, when everything and everyone is moving so quickly and our work is so online. Try grabbing coffee when you’re in the same city as an editor or a fellow freelancer you’ve worked with previously! Be a real person, and meet real people! It makes everything better—and yes, it will also be super helpful when you need a letter of recommendation for a grant or residency applicaiton.” — Britany Robinson (that’s me!) author of Wild Writing (Recipient of a Society of Environmental Journalists grant and a NW Science Writers Career Development award.

That’s all for today, friends! Stay tuned for more updates, essays, and an upcoming interview series on career changes!