The tone or writing style of a bid need not be uniform across all sections of the submission, but an editor should ensure against a mish-mash of different, non-complementary styles e.g. a bid with a “salesy” Executive Summary or “front end” and a “back end” that ranges widely from misplaced “brochureware” to dry academia.
In answer to the question, “What’s the best style of writing to employ in a bid?”, it would be simple to say, “That which comes naturally to the writer.” The problem is, sometimes (often, in fact), a stilted, convoluted academic style is the section contributor’s default writing style.
A partial answer to this – and one which avoids this pot pourri of styles ending up on the editor’s desk in the first place – is to coach all section authors in the use of the active voice in their writing.
