There’s more to good writing than good writing

Writing a proposal that gets and keeps the attention of busy donors is hard. Creating the conditions for stand-out proposals—or case statements, reports, or letters to donors—can help you work more efficiently and produce stronger, more competitive documents.  

Here’s what helps me get started and keep going.

• Plan. Commit to a detailed plan that allows for starts and stops. Sometimes I get stuck before I even get started. I don’t panic when I know I have flexibility.
• Know what it takes. It takes a lot:
  • Decide the story you want to tell
  • And how you want to tell it
  • Draft and re-draft
  • Wordsmith (words matter) and wordsmith some more
  • Make your edits
  • Incorporate other people’s edits
  • Move material as needed for the biggest impact
  • Repeat any or all of the above, as often as needed.
• Educate. Let your team—reviewers, designers, your boss—know that it takes time to get it right. They also need to stay on schedule.
• Pause. Put your project aside and come back later with a fresh perspective. Consider what Hemingway had to say: “It is pretty important for me to let [the novel] cool off well before re-writing.”¹
• Keep on track. Don’t let your proposal go down to the wire. It will show in your writing.
• Declutter. A clear mind is essential to good writing. Eliminate interruptions. Turn off your phone and email, clear your desk of visible distractions, and close your door or find a quiet place to write. Concentration now saves time later.
• Focus. This is similar to, but different from decluttering. It’s harder. I’m referring to life’s challenges that inevitably intrude at work, from our kids to family illness or a friend who needs help. To prevent wandering (in your mind or on your feet) and keep focused, I plan time in my day to attend to whatever’s on my mind. It helps me get back on track.

Take heart!

The progress you make on your proposal, section by section and draft by draft, is enormously satisfying and will energize you to tackle the rest of your document. And the gratification of hitting “send” on a proposal that’s great, not good, is incomparable.

¹ Earnest Hemingway , On Writing. Edited by Larry W. Phillips. New York: Scribner, 1984.