Use the headings and subheadings listed under the Review Criteria in the program guidelines to guide your writing. Then you can be sure that you have responded to the sponsors’ questions. Remember your audience and write to the reviewers. Follow format guidelines exactly —margins, font size, page limits, single or double-spaced, etc. Write shorter sentences and paragraphs using tables and charts to help describe your project.

Write to communicate as suggested by these helpful hints:

• Write an opening section that will grab the reviewer’s attention.
• Explain technical terms.
• Write out acronyms the first time.
• Use the appropriate tone and tense.
• Cite key relevant works.
• Avoid jargon, slang, and abbreviations.
• Avoid grammatical and spelling errors.
• Avoid writing to impress.
• Avoid slick packages that overwhelm the reader.

The 4 Cs of Good Writing

Clarity
Keep the distance between subjects and verbs short. Which is clearer?

1. The Federalists’ argument in regard to the destabilization of government by popular democracy was based on their belief in the tendency of factions to further their self-interest at the expense of the common good.
2. The Federalists argued that popular democracy destabilized the government because they believed the factions tended to further their self-interest at the expense of the common good.

Writing is dense when you use abstract nouns derived from verbs and adjectives. For example, nouns ending in – tion, - ment, - ence, -ry, etc.

• Discover—Discovery of
• Careless—Carelessness of
• Resist—Resistance to
• Different—Difference of
• Proficient—Proficiency of
• React—Reaction to

Which is clearer?

• The intention of the committee is improvement of morale.
• The committee intends to improve morale.

Write clearly by choosing words to reflect your intended meaning, display confidence in your idea, show commitment to your plan, and reduce the perception of risk.

Cohesiveness
Think of cohesion as seeing pairs of sentences fit neatly together. Readers always prefer to read what is easy before they read what is hard. When introducing a new idea, start with what is familiar to people and simple to understand. Then introduce what is new and complicated.

Let’s look at the three sentences in this paragraph.

1. Some astonishing questions about the nature of the universe have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space. This topic is somewhat familiar to most readers.
2. A black hole is created by the collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble. This may be new information but it is easy to understand.
3. So much matter compressed into so little volume changes the fabric of space around it in puzzling ways.

Coherence
Think of coherence as recognizing what all the sentences add up to in a piece of writing. Make everything you write relevant to your project idea—background information; evidence, facts, or support data; explanation of complex ideas, and the explanation of your methods. Order the narrative sections so that the sequences make sense to your reader.

Conciseness
Six steps to concise writing.

1. Delete words that mean little or nothing—kind of, actually, virtually, basically, kind of, practically, etc.
2. Delete words that repeat the meaning of other words. Which is more concise?
3. • The strange type of animal was large in size and unusual in nature.
   • The strange animal was large and unusual.
4. Delete words that are implied by other words. Which is more concise?
5. • I was unexpectedly surprised by the final outcome of the fundraising event.
   • I was surprised by the outcome of the fundraising event.
6. Delete doubled words such as full and complete; hope and trust; any and all; each and every; first and foremost; various and sundry; true facts; and consensus of opinion. Which is more concise?
7. • The terrible tragedy of 9/11 changed how each individual perceived what it meant to be safe and secure.
   • The tragedy of 9/11 changed individual perceptions of security.
8. Replace a phrase with a word. Which is more concise?
9. • In a situation in which the classroom door is locked, get the key from the secretary.
   • When the classroom door is locked, get the key from the secretary.
10. Change negatives to affirmatives—not different to similar; not many to few; not often to rarely; not allow to prevent; not stop but continue. Which is clearer?
11. • Except when applicants have failed to submit applications without complete documentation, benefits will not be denied.
    • To receive benefits, submit all your documents.