[ray__]

I am the first grad student of an assistant professor (chemistry/biology). Seeing her writing workload has made me a lot less enthusiastic about being a professor myself. I like writing about science, but the constant treading water mentality makes it difficult to 1) find the mental space to be creative and 2) take the risks that are often necessary for innovation, especially since the careers of your trainees are on the line. The kicker is that most grant writing isn't even about science. Good luck with your lab!

[lurkervizzle]

Same exact experience - I finished my CS PhD in 2005 and thought I would go into academia, but decided not to given how much of academia seemed to be just writing grant proposals vs. actual research.

FWIW, also decided not to go into academia because of how much smarter I realized I needed to be to be a top tier academic!