as important as substance: it is a prerequisite for running the race.
This is in part because of the time constraints typically faced by pan-
elists as they make their way through a pile of applications. Panelists
“are paid very little,” a musicologist notes. “They’re given a moun-
tain of material, which they have to plow through and assess...
What they principally do is deselect...asopposed to looking for
ones that they really want to fund. So if you write poorly or you sim-
ply write in such a way that bores people, you’re not likely...tosur-
face.” Similarly, a political scientist says, “The best proposals are the
ones I didn’t have to work at.”
For many panelists, a clear writing style is a manifestation of a
clear and orderly intellect. “The quality of writing says something
about the clarity of the mind,” an English professor remarks, adding,
“To me, it is more important than whether the proposal is com-
pletely precise.” Another English professor sees “a prose style that can
handle complex ideas in a clear fashion” as indicating a sharp intelli-
gence. Clarity is also taken to reveal competence (“It was written
with a kind of clarity that made me feel that a person knows what
they’re talking about”) and how much care applicants put into their
proposals. This is because luminescence, transparency, precision, an-
alytical articulation, and “crisp, tight, taut sentences” can be achieved
only through the repeated polishing of successive drafts. Thus, a
clear proposal, according to one English professor, “makes me feel
confident that they will write a good book...ifit’snotcarefully
written, it makes me worry about thoughtfulness... the depth of
thinking.”
“Quality,” like “excellence,” is a catch-all referent that panelists
persistently mobilize. Mentioned by 45 percent of the respondents,
quality manifests itself through “craftsmanship,” “depth,” “attention
to details,” and “soundness.” These in turn are associated with “rigor”
and “solidity,” with all of the terms used interchangeably to designate
applicants who invest extra effort in creating their proposals.
168 / Recognizing Various Kinds of Excellence