Dear Legal Writer: Be an Active Reader & Writer Plus 3 Legal Writing Tips
Conventional wisdom says the best way to become a better writer is to read a lot of good writing. That may be true, but I find it impractical for too many.
What percentage of lawyers and law students have daily free time to read significant additional writing, “good” or otherwise?
And if you have a house full of people needing you at the start and end of each work day, chances are that your at-home reading time is fleeting—if it exists at all.
Indeed, lawyers often lament how they have little to no time to read anymore. Any reading feats may be confined to children’s books.
For many, therefore, the conventional wisdom will fail. Telling them to read more will either land on deaf ears or never get put into practice.
Added to this group are those who simply loathe reading for pleasure and those for whom reading is onerous due to poor eyesight or other non-conventional reasons.
Does that mean the folks in the no-plan-for-extra-reading group can’t become better writers? Of course not.
👉 Here’s one non-reading tip that’s helped me become a better writer:
Become more active and intentional about the time you already spend writing.
▪️ Instead of reworking a sentence to avoid using words or phrases you’re not sure how to use, spell, or punctuate, look these questions up. Learn the answers.
▪️ Then make a conscious effort to integrate those answers by practicing them in the writing you’re already doing for work or school.
Eventually, you’ll start to incorporate new writing techniques naturally, without even thinking about them.
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Finally, for law students who genuinely have no brain cells left for more “active,” “intentional” writing (or reading) right now, I’ll strive to pass along my own learnings by incorporating them into letters here.
Although I often use some incomplete sentences—we must agree that writing on LinkedIn is not formal legal writing—I do otherwise strive for proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. (See 3 lessons below.)
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What advice do you have for becoming a better writer when your audience does not have time to read “lots of” additional “good” writing?
Fondly,
💌 Amanda
P.S. Consider these 3 writing lessons from above, which you may have noticed if you were reading actively:
1️⃣ Put no space on either side of an Em-dash. {Write like—this.}
2️⃣ Use a comma after the second-to-last item in a list. {E.g., “spelling, grammar, and punctuation.”}
3️⃣ Separate the words in a phrasal adjective with hyphens. {E.g., “no-plan-for-extra-reading,” “second-to-last.” Try not to use too many of these long phrases; they get kind of clunky and awkward.}
Scope: U.S. legal writing.