As I'm refining my ideas about lightning fast grant writing, I'm intrigued by the role that sports psychology plays in training someone to be a highly successful "great" grant writer.
One of the definitions of a great grant writer that I heard from someone else was that a great grant writer can write quickly about something they know absolutely nothing about. The ability to pull this off is important because the rules for writing the grant are constantly changing and grant writers are forced to stay ahead of the competition by understanding the latest developments in their charitable field.
To a certain extent, it helps to have a high level of self-confidence and a certain degree of detachment from what you are writing.
Technically, it also requires some skill in conducting research. The internet, of course, has made this process a lot easier. It is so much more fun to do grant research now when all I need to do is launch a Google search.
There are some other habits I've found helpful in writing quickly about things I don't understand.
First, I always write the grant first and then do the research later. The reason is that I have a tendency to over research if I haven't done my first draft first. If I force myself to go through the grant application questions and answer them to the best of my ability, I end up with a much clearer picture, practically speaking, of what I really need to be researching. Often, the things I thought were important at first, really aren't so important once I fully understand the grant.
Finally, I don't mind relying on my intuition when I create a first rough draft. Even if my ideas are completely wrong, they still provide a framework for the "experts" to tweek and adjust what I've provided as a framework for them. Also, using my intuituion is fun...and it often produces surprising, original, and helpful ideas. This is part of the reason I don't mind writing grants for a living...it give me an opportunity to let my imagination soar.
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