Pick 20 pages

So you know what's hard? Figuring out the 20 pages you feel best represent your writing.

See, there's an arts grant thing in New York state I want to apply for, recommended to my writing workshop by a local author. One of the categories this year is fiction, you see. They're different each year. You don't have to have been published, just an artist who has a vision which can be aided/supported/whatever by this grant. It's pretty rad, actually.

So you need to pick 20 pages. And then do a 200 word work statement that relates to the writing and explains it. Not so bad, I guess, once I figure out what I'm going to use. Should I just go for the gold and use the first twenty pages of The Last Song? Should I use a couple of short stories (it can be any 20 pages, though not "fragments"). I should probably use The Last Song. Though there's also a 400 word excerpt explanation to contextualize the piece, which makes sense.

Of course, then there's the 700 word "curriculum vitae", which is going to look awfully spare for me. I don't have a Bachelor's in writing. I'm not pursuing an MFA. I devour books. I handwrote a 1000 page epic fantasy novel in high school. I work at a library, where I have run NaNoWriMo workshops. I've been a NaNoWriMo participant since 2007. These seem eclectic. I guess it could be worse?

Have you ever applied for an artist's grant?