IT
Project Proposals: Writing to Win
by Paul Coombs
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
2005
160 pp., 13 b/w. Paper, $50.00
ISBN: 0-521-61257-8.
Reviewed by Dene Grigar
Texas Womans University
dgrigar@twu.edu
I have to admit to ulterior motives for
wanting to review IT Project Proposals:
Writing to Win by Paul Coombs: There
are several grants I am in the midst of
co-writing with a computer engineering
focus and, frankly, as an Arts and Humanities
scholar I wanted to know what project
proposals look like for information technology
even though a member of the grant writing
team specializes in that area.
While the book leans heavily on business
project proposals rather than academic
grant ones, I learned a great deal from
Coombs book. Aimed at novices, the
language is clear and precise, and the
book takes the reader from the beginning
of the proposal writing process to the
end. Numerous diagrams and tables help
the reader to visualize that process.
Two "Case Studies," found in the Appendix,
test readers on what they learned about
proposal writing. A "Proposal Evaluation
Questionnaire" makes it possible for readers
to rate their own proposals later. Strangely
missing from an otherwise flawless presentation,
however, is an example of a proposal written
from start to finish. An artifact like
that would be priceless for novices to
see.
What I have found most extraordinary about
the book is one of its foci. From Chapter
I (i.e. "Does Good Writing Matter?") to
Chapter 2 (i.e. "The Art of Persuasion,"
"Knowing the Reader") to Chapter 5 ("Tightening
up the Text") to Chapters 6 and 7 ("Obeying
the Grammar Rules" and "Obeying the Punctuation
Rules," respectively), the books
message is fixed as much on good writing
and communicating as strategy (Chapter
2), content (Chapter 3), and structure
(Chapter 4). The literature and rhetoric
scholar in me was deeply satisfied in
knowing that what we know has value outside
of our classrooms. How many computer majors
have any of my colleagues and I tried
to convince that core requirements in
English do not constitute a waste of their
time? I will hand them a copy of Coombs
book instead next time.
I recommend this book highly for those
teaching technical communication and computer
engineering, particularly at the undergraduate
level. But truly anyone who needs advice
on writing IT-oriented grants could benefit
from this handy guide.