Organize Your Ideas

A good way to examine your proposals is to go through your writing paragraph by paragraph. Ask yourself what idea each paragraph is examining. Make a comment in the margin next to each paragraph, or write the topics on a separate sheet of paper to form a rough outline. Then make sure that everything in each paragraph refers to that paragraph’s specific topic. If you shift topics, create separate, smaller paragraphs.

When you have finished this exercise, look at the topics you have written in the margins or on your outline.

If any of them repeat or are very similar, consider combining those paragraphs.

Also look at the topics to make sure that you are going through your ideas in the most logical manner. Are all of your paragraphs examining program costs grouped together? Are all of the discussions of results in the same area?

Your last paragraph will be your conclusion. In a very short inquiry, you do not need to briefly reiterate all of your ideas in the conclusion. Since your restatements would occur so close to the original statements, you might sound repetitive. And you may be using valuable space that could be used for additional helpful and...