Grant Writing Rules (and when to break them)

Last week I sat in on a mini-workshop by Dr. Robert Porter, who is a grant development expert and has written many fantastic articles on the topic. Dr. Porter took us through several exercises on boiling down grant language to be shorter and clearer. Below are some techniques and examples:

Use active language
Passive language often removes the subject from the start of a sentence making the sentence longer and more difficult to read. Dr. Porter offers the following example:

Example: It has been demonstrated by research that...
Improved: Research shows...

Use fewer words when you can
In writing, we often assume that all the words we use are necessary. I once had a Technical Writing Professor who insisted that we should never use the word "very" in our writing. She argued that when you removed it, you never changed the meaning of the sentence. It came across as useless hyperbole.

Example: At that point in time
Improved: Then


Use shorter words
I recently sent an academic article I'd co-authored to my parents, and my Mom complained that there were too many big words, although she was anxious to use some of them in her next scrabble game. Editors and target readers of academic articles rarely balk at big words, but grant reviewers want their grants to be succinct and clear. With that in mind...

Example: Utilize
Improved: Use

Always opt for what will make things clearer for reviewers
There is no shortage of writing rules that some folks propose as writing gospel. However, as grant writers, we have to be willing to throw any and all rules out the window if need be to offer the easiest and clearest read to our reviewers. With that in mind, I offer one final example of improving a sentence from an NSF abstract. Look at my revision and you'll likely see areas that I could continue cutting. I tried to maintain a balance of clarifying, shortening, and maintaining the meaning and intended emphasis. You be the judge.

Example:

The long-term objectives of this project are to enable a paradigm-shifting future for simulation-based engineering with big data and to demonstrate this future through specific applications to challenging problems in medical device design.

Improved:

Long term, this project will drive a paradigm shift for simulation-based engineering with big data where we will apply these solutions to medical device design challenges.

Resources:

Crafting a Sales for Your Grant Proposal - Robert Porter, Ph.D.

Why Academics Have a Hard Time Writing Good Grant Proposals - Robert Porter, Ph.D.

The Elements of Style (book) - William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White