I started
this blog today. Thus far I have managed to overcome one* of these limitations.
This was no small task**, requiring months of brainstorming, talking to friends,
experimenting and doing nothing for weeks at a time.
In order to
help me determine an acceptable blog title, I (arbitrarily) decided on certain criteria
I needed to reach:
Memorable
Search
Engine Optimization
Optimistic
Available Twitter
handle (Not anymore! It’s unclear if I’ll use it, but @grantwritesgood now
belongs to me.)
Relatively
unoccupied acronym (GWG***)
Vague
Clever
Attract
confused people looking learn how to write a grant proposal
____
Having a
generally optimistic premise was particularly important. Although I’ll likely
expand on this point in a later post, I’m really bothered by the overall
negativity of the internet, the current state of comedy and American society as
a whole. It seems like people can’t tell jokes anymore unless they involve
tearing someone or something else down. I blame VH1.
More
importantly, I find it much easier and enjoyable to write if the topic
something that makes me happy. There is a great deal of work involved in formulating
and voicing a clear opinion, and then putting that opinion in words. I’d much
rather spend that time and energy being happy.
____
The title
went through many incarnations over the last few months. Some of my favorite
ideas were already taken (I would mention them, but I’m not giving anyone else
the satisfaction) and others just didn’t seem like a good fit.
I had a
couple get all the way to the creation process before abandoning them. I
believe I started three other Twitter accounts, two other blogs (with zero
posts) and wrote a handful of ledes to stories that I never finished.
I didn’t start
to get to this point until my friend**** switched her “very popular” blog from
wordpress to blogspot and got me thinking more about what I wanted to do with my
own.
Not long
after, my friend Betty and I started texting after a prolonged communiqué
holiday (that rhymes). She suggested without provocation that I start a blog.
Together we brainstormed names (read: threw [ideas] against the wall).
For me,
being witty usually involves portmanteaus.
Thus, I began pitching a series of letter piles such “gramazin,” “gramusement,”
and “grantificating.”
Betty
(swiftly and correctly) decided these sounded like blogs for septuagenarians who
knit sweaters, watch Lawrence Welk and complain about the declining quality of
appliances manufactured after 1964. I haven’t given up on portmanteaus, but for
my blog title, they were out.
Next I tried
thinking of alliterative words to combine with “Grant.” These ideas mostly had
negative (grumbles, gruntles), arrogant (grand, great), or oddly rhythmic
(groove, grace) connotations.
GrantWritesGood
was suggested by Betty, who quickly added, “People might think it’s about
writing grants, so maybe smart people will stumble upon your blog. Win!”
The entire
conversation took less time than when she tried to explain to me how to use Spotify*****.
So hopefully I will have at least two
readers, with that added bonus that they’re both smokin’ hot AND have lots of
friends.
-gw
*Possibly 0.5, as I’m not entirely sure the name can universally be considered “clever”. It is (hopefully) at least clever to a small but devoted group of people. I like to call these people gravotees******
**See issues
1-3
***Others
include: game-winning goal; girls with guns; Ghent PDF workgroup; Great Western
Minerals Group, Global Warranty Group, some guy who likes politics and the
Cubs, and the Geospatial Intelligence Standards Working Group*******
****For
future reference, any time I use the word “friend” I’m referring to a girl. Any
time I use the word “buddy,” I’ll be talking about a guy. I would like this to
become the accepted terminology for everyone.
*****I still
have not figured it out. Someday, though, with determination and a lot of help,
I believe I will. I have that much confidence in my abilities.
******Subject
to change
*******I’m
bewildered about the inclusion “Intelligence” in the name but not the acronym.
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