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One of the challenges faced by many new grant writers is the temptation to try to make the writing too interesting, too witty, or too colorful. “But grant writing seems so boring,” they will say, “I feel the need to jazz it up.”
Here’s what I have to say to that: You are not writing the next great American novel. You are not writing a column for the New Yorker. You are not entering an essay contest for English class.
What ARE you writing? A proposal for funding. Plain and simple. Grant writing is technical writing, and clarity is key. All of those things that the English teacher taught you, like word variation, allusion, metaphor, or simile, will not help you in grant writing. They will only make your narrative cumbersome, waste precious space within your page limitations, and possibly confuse a less-sophisticated grant reader. In fact, your creativity can kill you in grant writing.
Here are some tips I give to English majors to turn them into grant writers:
- Don’t worry about varying your terminology. Instead, use consistent wording. Say the same thing the same way every time. If objective 1a in your grant is “to increase the reading ability of school-age children” then keep saying “to increase the reading ability of school-age children” every time you refer to that objective. Don’t worry about being boring. Worry more about being clear and avoiding confusion.
- Don’t worry about using big or original words, or impressing the reader with your terminology. Instead, mimic the terminology used in the grant application. Turn the questions into statements to use as section headings in the application. Blend the language of the grant application into your answers. This shows the grant reader exactly where you are answering each question and makes your grant easier to score using a rubric.
- Use the fewest number of words possible to make your point. Period.
- Cut out any adjectives that sound like opinion or exaggeration. Don’t tell the reader your program is “amazing,” “exceptional,” or “one-of-a-kind.” State facts and cite hard evidence. Tell how many people your program has served and what the measurable effects were. Data is far more persuasive than opinion.
- Don’t try to get creative by weaving answers to questions in the application together to make your grant narrative “flow” more smoothly. Present the information in chunks, answering one question at a time so the reader can easily match the information to the rubric and give you the points for each question. In fact, sacrifice flow altogether for the sake of visibility. Break up key information in bullet points if that’s what you need to do to make it jump out and bite the reader.
- Don’t worry about redundancy one bit. If the grant application asks the same thing in two difference places, give the same answer twice. You’ll want to score the points for both questions.
A confident, persuasive writing style will certainly give you an edge in grant writing. But, the bottom line is that you are writing to a rubric. What’s most important is that you put the right information in the right places to score the points. Your content will help you beat your competition, not your creativity.
Thoughts or questions? Share them in the comments below.
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