Revising Your Grant

One of the biggest misconceptions I encounter about grant writing is that once you write your proposal, you’re done with it.

So many writers expect that the first draft is the last draft. I’ve actually had prospective clients tell me that they don’t need to revise their writing. They’re just so good that they don’t need it. I just laugh and say, “ok!”

I can tell you that even a Ph.D. in English doesn’t make you a first-draft-is-your-last-draft kind of writer.

No great writer writes that way.

Writing is a process.

Writing and revising your writing helps you think through and refine ideas.

When I taught university writing, the revision process was always the part we spent the most time on. We did peer reviews for every single paper and always did at least one 1-on-1 student conference per semester (for each student).

When I wrote my term papers, peer-reviewed academic publications, and book-length dissertation, I went through countless drafts to better convey my ideas.

I know that once you finish writing your grant draft, part of you might feel like never looking at it again.

I get it, believe me.

But, revision is the most important step in the writing process. When it comes to grant writing, that’s even truer.

With so much (like thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars) riding on the quality of your writing, you have to put your best work forward. As a rhetorician, I can tell you that style and correct grammar, usage, mechanics, and punctuation are not secondary concerns. They can actually make or break you in a grant.

That’s why I created a brief guide to revising your grants. I encourage you to not just read this, but practice what you’ve learned here with your latest grant draft.

Let’s get started!

Overview

Why is revision important?
How do I start the revision process?
How do I make my writing less boring?
How do I know that my writing is well organized?
How do I know that my voice is suitable for my audience?

Why is revision important?

In a grant proposal, like in all persuasive writing, your content is not everything. It’s important to write with compelling style to get the grantmaker to pay attention to your message. Once you get all the information you need in your proposal down on paper, take the time to revise for style, organization, and voice. I promise you—it will be time well spent.

How do I start the revision process?

This might seem counterintuitive, but I believe the first step in the revision process is not doing anything right away. Once you finish writing your first draft, set it aside for a day or two. (Yes, this does mean that you need to finish your first draft well in advance of the hard due date. But I bet you knew that already.) By giving it a rest, you’ll be able to look at it with fresh eyes and a clear head.

Once you’ve taken a break from your grant for a couple of days, then you’ll be ready to start revising. I recommend using one or both of these techniques: reading your proposal out loud or reading your proposal starting with the last sentence and moving backwards to the first sentence. Both of these techniques will help you catch mistakes that you might not catch otherwise. Another key strategy is to have an objective outsider read the proposal. We organize writing exchanges in our Grant Writing Made Easy course because everyone needs a second set of eyes (even me).

How do I make my writing less boring?

There are a number of things you can do to make your writing less boring. Even though grant proposals don’t have to be as thrilling as your favorite summer novel, you should spend some time revising your writing to make it more interesting!

Sentence Length & Structure in Grants

One thing that that might be making your writing boring is that your sentences are all the same length. You can fix it though! Count the number of words in each sentence of a paragraph. If most of your sentences have nearly the same number of words in them (a range of 4 or 5), then you need to spice it up. Make some shorter. Make some of your sentences longer—but not too long! By varying the length of your sentences, you will make your rhythm much more interesting.

Sentence length is important. And so is sentence structure. You might be having a not so positive flashback to your college composition course at the mention of sentence structure. But it’s something you really should pay attention to.

Here’s a quick review of some of the most common sentence structures:

Simple sentences: these are sentences made up of just one independent clause. EX: I won the grant.
Compound sentence: these are sentences with at least two complete and independent clauses. EX: I won the grant, and it allowed me to better my community.
Complex sentences: these are sentences with at least one dependent clause and one independent clause. EX: Because I won the grant and bettered my community, I felt like all my hard work writing the grant paid off.

Of course, within each of these three categories there are other subcategories of sentences. For example, simple sentences can have linking verbs (like is/are) or action verbs (like writes). Take a quick survey of your own writing, noting which type of sentence you use for one or two pages. If there isn’t enough variation, it’s time to revise and switch things up.

Punctuation in Grants

Another way to make your writing more interesting is by using different punctuation. Variety is key again. You probably don’t need to use more periods or commas—they are the most over-used punctuation out there.

I recommend switching things up with these fun types of punctuation:

Colon: Use colons to introduce a series like this: dogs, cats, and birds.
Semicolons: You can use semicolons to join two complete clauses; they are great for connecting two related ideas.
Dashes: I seriously love dashes—they draw attention to what’s after them.

Here are some example sentences that could be wildly improved with some strategic punctuating:

On Tuesday, I went to the store. I bought some bread, milk, and carrots, and I biked home. Then I made a sandwich.

Now, the new and improved writing:

It was Tuesday—my day for grocery shopping. I bought some staples at the store: bread, milk, and carrots. Then, I biked home, where I made a sandwich.

Doesn’t that sound better?

By using a variety of sentence lengths and structures, as well as different punctuation, you’ll be able to craft a stylistically interesting proposal that the grantmaker will enjoy reading.

How do I know that my writing is well organized?

Global Structure in Grants

Having a logical organization in your writing is very important in grant proposals. You don’t want to leave your audience struggling to figure out what you meant because you dropped a random statistic in the middle of a paragraph.

Here are some quick tips on organization:

Have a topic sentence for each paragraph.
Use Point, Evidence, Analysis: Each time you make a claim, provide evidence that supports that claim. Do not drop random statistics throughout your proposal. After you include your evidence, provide an analysis of the claim and evidence. This means that you should consistently remind the reader of your main argument and how what you just wrote relates to that argument.
Include what you want your readers to pay attention to and remember at the beginning of sentences. That means not frontloading sentences with long introductory clauses that don’t get to the meat of the argument. This strategy uses primacy to make sure your reader pays attention to what is most important.

When I teach writing, I have my students do the following exercise to improve the organization of their writing: print out something you’ve written. Maybe it’s the statement of need from your most recent grant proposal. Then, grab your scissors and cut each sentence out individually. You can then rearrange these sentences and experiment with the order. After you’ve found an order that works for you, you’ll be ready to open up Word again and make those changes. This helps you get out of organizational ruts that keep you from seeing how ideas can connect differently to make stronger arguments.

How do I make sure that my voice is suitable for my audience?

I cannot overstate how important it is that your voice matches the audience of your proposal. But I would like to stress that this is a post about how to revise your proposal; do not stress over your voice too much while you’re writing the first draft. Once you are ready to revise for voice, the first thing you should do is go and read the grantmaker’s website. You’ve probably done this before, but go do it again to refresh yourself on what their values are.

As you read their website, write key terms that indicate what their goals and values are. Then, open up your Word document and use the Find tool to search for these terms in your own writing. If they don’t appear, then add them.

There are also some general guidelines to follow when you’re working on the voice of your proposal:

If you are writing for a corporate foundation, use businesslike writing. The people reading your proposal will be used to reading concise writing. They also will see the grant as a means to improve their public image, so your grant should focus on the returns they’ll receive on their investment.
When you write a grant to a private foundation, you should write more about the public good than you would in a grant to a corporate foundation. Learn their values and write about how you share them.
If your grant is for an academic research project, make sure you use language that people in your field know and understand. But, you should still define technical terms because it’s not guaranteed that everyone on the grant committee will be an expert in your specific area.