Some Grant Writing Tips

I have realized over the past few weeks, that I have a decent list of persuasive writing tips/techniques that I don't think I've put out in the blogosphere before, so below are a few of them. These tips are particularly pertinent to your project summary, since that is where your reviewer will start and will sometimes make the decision of whether to read the rest of your grant or not.

Grant Writing Tips:

1. Take advantage of primacy and recency, meaning readers tend to remember what they read first and what they read last, so make the first and last sentence of your project summary count - really drive home your most important point!
2. Reinforce your most important points. Do not assume that after you have said it once, your reader will remember it and understand how key it is. Say it again in another way when it is time to remind them.
3. Use images and conceptual diagrams. You may not be able to have these in your project summary, but a picture is worth a thousand words, and a meaningful image that ties things together for your reader will help reviewers remember your proposal.
4. Use buzzwords, not jargon. You want to speak the same language as your sponsor, so research them and incorporate the words and phrases that they think are important into your grant. Jargon on the other hand is technical speak that may not make sense to all of your reviewers.
5. Vary your sentence length. This makes for a more dynamic read.
6. Favor the active voice whenever possible.
7. Use headings and white space.
8. Anticipate your reader's questions and answer them as you go. They will be distracted from what you are trying to say if they have a list of questions building up in their heads.
9. Use examples and metaphors to illustrate your point.
10. Always remember who you are writing to and give them what they want!

What are your writing rules? Or better yet, if you have been a grant reviewer, what are your pet peeves?