What My Cycle Taught Me About Writing Better Grants
And Why You Might Want to Start Tracking Yours, Too
Let’s talk about something that doesn’t usually come up in grant writing circles: menstrual cycles.
For years, I’ve tracked it for the usual reasons—physical health, mood, energy. But lately, I’ve noticed something else: it’s a powerful creative tool.
Here’s what I mean.
I’m usually a data-driven writer. I love a good stat. I want to show the math, cite the research, and lay out the logic. That’s my comfort zone.
But once a month, for a few days, something shifts. I feel more porous, more emotionally tuned-in, and I write like my job depends on making the reader feel something.
Because it does.
And those days? That’s when the emotional hooks in my narratives hit hardest. That’s when I’m not just building a case. I’m making someone care. Deeply. Urgently.
That matters.
It matters when we’re telling stories about inequity, about underinvestment, about why our communities deserve more. It matters when we’re writing about trauma, healing, and justice. It matters when we need a reviewer to see the people behind the numbers.
So yes, I track my cycle to optimize my grant writing. And instead of feeling bad about how weepy I feel, I turn it into a griping narrative.
It’s not a gimmick. It’s a recognition that my body is part of my work. That my best writing doesn’t always come from the brain. Sometimes, it comes from hormones.
And if you’re someone who cycles, I wonder—have you noticed this, too? Could this be something you lean into, not around?
Because federal grants don’t just need strong budgets and compliance language. They need stories. They need truth-tellers. And sometimes, the most powerful truths come when we’re not trying to control the narrative—just reveal it.
Let’s stop pretending we write in a vacuum. Let’s use what we’ve got—bodies, brains, all of it.