{"id":328,"date":"2018-11-30T03:13:49","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T03:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grantwriterteam.com\/blog\/?p=328"},"modified":"2022-03-29T14:59:14","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T18:59:14","slug":"whats-your-writing-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grantwriterteam.com\/blog\/whats-your-writing-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Architect or a Gardener? What\u2019s Your Writing Style?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Game of Thrones creator, George R. R. Martin shared this analogy in an interview. He\u2019s quoted as saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they’re going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there’s going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up. The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don’t know how many branches it’s going to have, they find out as it grows. And I’m much more a gardener than an architect.\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Writers in chat rooms, on LinkedIn, and on Facebook groups began to share their thoughts and weigh in on the topic. But is it either-or, or is there a spectrum?<\/p>\n

The analogy has spread to other fields where people are asking this question as well. In business, innovation, design, technology, teaching \u2026 How do you operate? What kind of creative are you?<\/p>\n

When you start a new project, do you plan it out in advance, or jump right in and start, then see what emerges? Are you a planner or a planter? A plotter or discoverer?<\/p>\n

Libby Hikind, CEO and founder of GrantWriterTeam.com,<\/a> and retired grant writer says that the budget is to the grant, as blueprints are to a building. Libby’s way of starting a grant was a clear read and highlight of the application identifying all budgetary directions and merging them with the needs of the applicant.\u00a0 The budget was her blueprint. After that, she would plant seeds programmatically.<\/p>\n

Libby invites all grant writers to join the GrantWriterTeam.<\/a><\/p>\n

Architects Writing Style<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Grant writing architects<\/strong> can’t even think about starting to write unless they have the whole project planned out. They\u2019re actually at an advantage. Grants are generally laid out with steps to follow. The architect grant writer will find it easy to work from a detailed outline, or based on the answers to the questions asked that need to be enumerated. Architects often devise timelines.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever covered your wall in sticky notes, you\u2019re probably an architect (or maybe a detective?). Some will literally map everything out.<\/p>\n

When in school, we\u2019re often taught and obligated to follow this style. We\u2019re told to make an outline first and to follow prescribed steps. We\u2019re often even graded on the said outline. And then we write – the opening paragraph (thesis or hypothesis), body, conclusion.<\/p>\n

\"hallAdvantages of Being an Architect<\/strong><\/h4>\n