Technology Microgrants

Technology Microgrants is sponsored by West Coast Christian Writers Conference (WCCW). These microgrants are for writers who need technology to achieve their writing goals, such as a new keyboard, software, or a new device. They are intended to provide partial financial aid.

WCCW March News: The Art of Memoir - by Laura Craig West Coast Christian Writers WCCW March News: The Art of Memoir Meet the New WCCW Team Members, Memoir Author Spotlight & Save the Date Reflections on Writing a Memoir A very long time ago, back when my heart first flickered at the thought of becoming a writer, I read a simple piece of advice that stayed with me: write what you know .

At the time, I had no idea that I would one day write a book about childhood parental rejection and how it shaped my ability to feel God’s love. For decades, I knew rejection. I knew longing.

I knew the quiet ache of believing God loved me while struggling to feel it. That was my lived experience and it turned out to be the place where my writing began. If you feel drawn to write a memoir, let the reader see you .

Not the polished version. Not the healed-up, tied-with-a-bow version. Let them see your questions, your missteps, your anguish and fears.

Let them rejoice with you, cry with you, and wrestle alongside you. Anne Lamott says it best in Bird by Bird : “If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work.

Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. ” That risk is what transforms a personal story into a shared one.

A memoir isn’t your entire life story—it’s a focused lens. Choosing a clear theme is essential. Every chapter, every scene, every reflection should serve that central theme.

For me, that meant asking again and again: Does this story move the reader closer to understanding rejection and healing through God’s love? If it didn’t, I let it go. Here are a few tips I gathered along the way that made a difference: Craft matters.

Hook your reader with your first sentence. Start each chapter with action, tension, or curiosity. Use sensory details generously.

Invite readers into the moment. Write scenes, not your whole life’s story. Ensure your story has both conflict and resolution.

Writing a memoir isn’t just an intellectual exercise; it’s an emotional and spiritual excavation. Let prayer be a lifeline. I didn’t start writing without first sitting quietly with God, asking for courage, clarity, and compassion.

Then I would blast Brandon Lake’s song “Gratitude” and sing along, swaying with the melody, worshipping God before I began. I didn’t know how to structure my memoir when I started. I only knew the story I needed to tell.

As I kept showing up to the page, the book slowly revealed its shape. If you’re waiting until you “know how it ends” before you begin, you may never start. Trust the process.

Let it evolve. The end product of my book turned into a mash of memoir and self-help written in a devotion style. It didn’t follow a typical structure, but it worked.

If you want to stay within a traditional memoir form, I recommend reading several memoirs by well-known authors before you begin. Writing can feel deeply isolating. Joining critique groups, writing alongside friends, or simply working in cafés or libraries helped me remember that I wasn’t alone in the process.

Community keeps you grounded when your story feels heavy or when self-doubt creeps in. Remember to let your book breathe. After I wrote my first draft, my newlywed husband and I campervanned around New Zealand.

I honestly believed the book was ready to be published. Thankfully, I re-read it with a fresh perspective upon our return and saw the need for revisions—and many more followed. Finally, show how you changed.

Transformation is what readers long for—especially stories of how God meets us, reshapes us, and restores what once felt broken. If God is stirring something in you to write, trust that He will meet you on the page, just as He has met you in the story itself. Are you interested in writing an article for the newsletter?

E-mail newsletter@westcoastchristianwriters. com A Big Welcome to Laura and Hannah 2026 WCCW Conference - Save the Date! The 2026 Conference will be held November 4-6 in Roseville (a suburb of Sacramento in Northern California).

Don’t forget to mark your calendars! Full conference details will post to the website in late spring, and registration will launch with a flash sale in the early summer. FROM PENNY CHILDERS: Two years ago, Susy Flory shared a dream with me — and handed me a title.

But let me be honest: Susy was the brains behind the vision. She coordinated Mini Master Classes, quarterly CONNEX, Agent Pitch Slam, and so much more. I had the privilege of coming alongside her and helping that dream take root in the membership community.

Serving as your Membership Director has been one of the quiet privileges of my writing life. I say quiet because so much of what happens in a membership community happens in the margins — a Critique Group where someone finally hears “this is working,” a Latte and Lit gathering where a conversation becomes the turning point in someone’s manuscript, a Midweek Lift that arrives on exactly the right morning.

But I want to be clear: I did not do this alone. A community like this one runs on people like these — quiet, steady, and utterly faithful. I want to especially thank Nancy Lerma, Michelle Newman, and Derrell Thomas for stepping up to oversee the Critique Groups, and to every group leader who shows up week after week for their writers.

To Holly Varni for hosting Latte and Lit with such warmth and creativity. To Bitsy Kemper for her steady, faithful work behind the scenes. And to Tisha Martin for the gift of the weekly Midweek Lift that has encouraged so many of us right when we needed it most.

They say it takes a village — in WCCW, it takes a team of writers who believe in each other enough to do the work. What a team it has been. And now, it is time.

This community — this dream — is being passed into new and capable hands. Hannah Pahuta will be taking the helm, and I can’t wait for you to meet her. You will be hearing more about her soon.

It has been a privilege and a joy I didn’t expect and will never forget. With love and great hope for what comes next, Penny Childers, Membership Director, 2023–2025 Are you a fast writer? Is a chapter-by-chapter critique schedule slowing you down?

Do you have a completed or nearly completed manuscript you’d like other eyes on? Check out the Whole-Book Critique Group, open to WCCW Members. We’re looking for 4-6 experienced critiquers with completed manuscripts to commit to 1 year of critiquing together.

We will focus on one book at a time, taking a minimum of 2 months to fully read and critique each manuscript. Then we’ll meet on Zoom to discuss that book. Interested in joining?

Contact our leader Michelle Murray at bookenshel@gmail. com. Become a Member Today!

For just $70 a year, your membership unlocks critique groups and monthly membership events such as agent pitch slam, Mini-masterclasses, Writer Connex, and Latte & Lit book discussions along with much more (easily accessible through Zoom)! Don’t forget to join our WCCW Facebook Membership Community and stay in the loop between events.

A Writer’s Reflections from the Frontlines of Motherhood Speechless: A Mother’s Memoir of Caregiving explores hope when a child cannot speak for themselves. Kathleen Knapp shares her personal journey caring for her son Benjamin, a nonverbal, medically complex cancer survivor with autism. With honesty, she reflects on daily challenges and quiet joys, discovering that though her son is speechless, he is never silent.

Through the image of a butterfly’s transformation, she shows how faith led her from uncertainty to resilience and hope—a heartfelt story of caregiving and enduring love. Meet Kathleen Knapp : a writer, speaker, and author of Navigating Grief and the Come to the Table devotional books. Kathleen is a retired Registered Nurse with a BA in Psychology and lives in Western Canada.

She and her husband have three adult children—two earthbound and one heavenside. Connect with Kathleen on Facebook or on her website at Psalm139Promises. com .

Purchase her recently released memoir Speechless today. Microgrant Application Time Need a little financial assistance to help you achieve your writing goals? Applications accepted until March 23rd for the 2026 WCCW microgrant program.

The categories for grants have changed, and we’re excited about the new ways the WCCW community will be helping on another. The grants are entirely funded by donations. The microgrants allow generous donors, including members of our Champions community, to help other writers.

Learn more about how to donate here . This year, we will offer two types of grants. All recipients must demonstrate financial need and complete an online application between March 2 and 16.

(We will have a second grant application window July 19-August 3.) You can learn more and apply for a grant here . As we did last year, we’ll continue to offer a technology grant, this year for $275.

In the past, writers have used our tech grant to help defray the cost of a new laptop, or to purchase an updated version of software like Microsoft Office, or to help pay for repairs to existing equipment. New this year: A microgrant that provides writers with one free session with a writing coach.

Grantees will be given the opportunity to share up to 2,000 words of their work in progress, book proposal, or pitch sheet with a WCCW expert in their genre. They’ll then sit down (over Zoom) with that expert for a 30-minute session to get feedback and advice, and to ask questions. Coaching grants will focus on one of three genres: fiction, nonfiction, or memoir.

Beyond genre, grantees can decide what to focus on, such as: Deciding whether to self-publish or approach a traditional publisher Feedback on your writing style or hook Any writing or publishing topic of your choosing (This grant is valued at $125; this amount will be paid directly to the coach who provides the service.)

WCCW microgrants are awarded to those who can explain their financial need and writing goals in a clear and compelling way. WCCW members may be given priority. We award a limited number of grants per year.

Note: We do not provide grants to writers looking to defray the cost of self-publishing. Looking to get the word out about your new release? Feature it in the WCCW Newsletter by e-mailing newsletter@westcoastchristianwriters.

com WCCW is more than just a conference; we’re also a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that supports writers in many different ways, including offering a hand-up to further the ministry of writers. Applications reopen in 2026. Want to find out more about joining our Community of Champions, a group of committed donors?

Click here to make a difference in the life of a Christian writer (and it’s tax deductible!) Do you have special promotional news to share? Consider applying for a WCCW e-blast to share your message, service, or product with our audience.

Apply here Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment or question by clicking on the button above. This post is public, so feel free to share it.

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