
At the end of the proposal lifecycle, we’re all looking to cut page count—either to fall within the maximum page count or to increase readability with whitespace. While writers should adhere to page budgets early in the process to avoid last-minute stress, here are three quick editing tasks that will help decrease overall page count. 1. Remove nominalized verbs. Removing nominalized verbs saves space and makes writing easier to read. Nominalization occurs when we turn a verb, adverb, or adjective into a noun. Proposals are typically littered with verbs turned into nouns. Nominalization isn’t grammatically incorrect, but it clutters writing because nominalized verbs have to be paired with a true verb, thus doubling the number of words it takes to describe a simple action. Does all this sound complicated, or give you flashbacks to elementary school? Don’t worry, the principal is easy to understand with the following examples: Nominalized phrase Single-word replacement … Continue reading Editing to reduce the length of your proposals