Over the next few months, you may well notice a call to action at the bottom of my articles like this:
“Thanks to the ACF Boost program, your donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar with a funding ‘boost’ up to $2,000 from Creative Australia.”
Creative Australia is the Australian Federal Government’s arts funding body. To quote from the Australian Cultural Fund (ACF) Boost program’s Guidelines:
“ACF Boost is a matched funding program designed to enable independent artists and small groups or arts organisations using the ACF to leverage private sector support through a matched funding ‘boost’. ACF Boost offers dollar-for-dollar matched funding of up to $5,000 for applicants that run a fundraising campaign through the ACF for a project that will be developed, produced and/or toured within Australia by 30 June 2025.”
I applied for an was accepted into the current round of the ACF Boost program and, subsequently, am running a crowdfunding campaign for the next 3 months. I have set a goal to raise $2000 from donations, which will then be matched by another $2000 from the ACF.
What will I use this money for?
To take 1-2 months off to pull together the research, notes-to-self, and drafts (excerpts of which you might see in this Substack) and turn them into a book called Interesting Times.
Most creatives and artists are used to having to work at their vocation around the edges of a day job or, if they are full time creatives, other aspects of their professional practice. And you can get quite a lot of good creative work done in this way if you are disciplined enough and manage your creative practice well enough*. I call this creating in fragments.
But there comes a point in every creative project where the fragments need to be merged together into a coherent and compelling whole, and that takes the sort of consistent focus that is best generated by putting a large block of time aside to dedicate to the project.
I have been chipping away at my research for this project for the last year, compiling a nice collection of interesting stuff, some of which I look forward to sharing with you via this Substack. And I am excited to finally commit to writing some of my thoughts down in response to this research and / or a need to share my own personal experiences. By setting up this Substack and therefore compelling myself to write content for it, I have taken my first steps to figuring out what could go in my book.
But there will come a moment where little articles on Substack just won’t do. My brain will start to yearn to piece it all together and that’s when I will need that dedicated writing time to massage a first draft (which for me always does just look like a vast and messy portfolio of fragments) into a second draft. And that’s where my time will need to be subsidised.
So here is how you can help:
Consider making a donation to my crowdfunding campaign. Every little bit helps; even small donations are most welcome.
Share this Substack on your social media. Ironically, one of the things I am looking forward to railing against in Interesting Times is how heavy handed and oppressive social media algorithms have become. My posts are regularly buried and, therefore, not viewed or engaged with by as many people as I need. So, if you like an article on this Substack then please share it!
I have some events coming up on the themes of the book – they will feature me doing some storytelling, sharing some interesting research, and, if participants are up for it, some open discussion. Please participate and / or share details on social media. When I start taking bookings you will be able to see details about them here and here. And, of course, I will be announcing them on this Substack.
Lastly, please keep on reading and, if you haven’t already, subscribe. Writing can be a lonely business and every subscription is a huge encouragement for me.
*And if you struggle to do this then give me a call. Part of my professional practice is mentoring other creatives around developing and sustaining creative practice.