Legal Writing

This week: Take time to plan

Posted on April 07, 2008
I spent this past weekend in the Chicago area, at a meeting of the board of directors of the Association of Professional Communication Consultants. Among those present was my long-time friend Lee Clark Johns, Tulsa-based communication consultant and author of...

This week: Use "readability" formulas wisely

Posted on April 01, 2008
A number of "readability" formulas, both manual and computer-based, have been developed to measure the difficulty of written text. Perhaps the most widely used is part of the grammar checker built into Microsoft Word. It and some others claim to...

This week: Use "readability" formulas wisely

Posted on March 31, 2008
A number of "readability" formulas, both manual and computer-based, have been developed to measure the difficulty of written text. Perhaps the most widely used is part of the grammar checker built into Microsoft Word. It and some others claim to...

This week: Separate rules from tools

Posted on March 24, 2008
When we first learned to write, we had to learn a lot of rules. So we sometimes believe that writing consists entirely of following rules. If we learn the rules, we'll be better writers. Actually, writing has few rules, and...

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This week: Separate rules from tools

Posted on March 24, 2008
When we first learned to write, we had to learn a lot of rules. So we sometimes believe that writing consists entirely of following rules. If we learn the rules, we'll be better writers. Actually, writing has few rules, and...

This week: Take as much time as you want others to take

Posted on March 17, 2008
Bill Jensen, in his book Simplicity, writes: When people are in need of communication, they want others to take the time to listen, and then to take the time to create meaning, clarity, and connections between ideas. But when they...

This week: Take as much time as you want others to take

Posted on March 17, 2008
Bill Jensen, in his book Simplicity, writes: When people are in need of communication, they want others to take the time to listen, and then to take the time to create meaning, clarity, and connections between ideas. But when they...

This week: Draft quick and dirty

Posted on March 10, 2008
The great editor Maxwell Perkins once said, "Just get it down on paper, and then we'll see what to do with it." This week, take that advice. Draft quick and dirty. If you don't know how to spell a word,...

This week: Draft quick and dirty

Posted on March 10, 2008
The great editor Maxwell Perkins once said, "Just get it down on paper, and then we'll see what to do with it." This week, take that advice. Draft quick and dirty. If you don't know how to spell a word,...

This week: Watch the borders

Posted on March 03, 2008
Speaker Joe Griffith tells a story of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) under J. Edgar Hoover: A young FBI man was put in charge of the FBI's supply department. In an effort to cut cost, he reduced the...

This week: Check your organizational culture

Posted on February 25, 2008
My late friend Kitty Locker, in her book, Business and Administrative Communication, wrote:If you think your boss doesn't want you to write simply, ask him or her. A few bosses do prize flowery language. Most don't.You may think you work in an organization that favors fancy, pretentious language...

This week: Don't be ridiculous

Posted on February 18, 2008
Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, also wrote of the first business how-to books in English: The Complete English Tradesman, published in 1745 (!). In that book, he wrote:A tradesman's letters should be plain, consise, and to the purpose. . . ...

This week: Be economical

Posted on February 11, 2008
Norman R. Augustine, president and CEO of Martin Marietta, once calculated the relationship between thickness and dollar amount of government contract proposals. After reporting the result, he wrote, "If all the proposals conforming to this standard were piled on top of each other at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, it would probably be a good idea...

This week: Answer your reader's "WIIFM?"

Posted on February 04, 2008
All readers ask, consciously or unconsciously, the question "WIIFM?": "What's in it for me?" This week, as you plan and revise each piece of writing, check to make sure you're answering that question.

This week: Write without thinking

Posted on January 28, 2008
Don Marquis, American journalist and creator of the characters Archy and Mehitabel, said, "I never think when I write; nobody can do two things at the same time and do them well." That's a good practice to follow. Do your thinking at the planning stage of your writing process, then again at the revising stage...

Build a verb collection

Posted on January 22, 2008
Norm Leigh, at Biz Writer Blog, encourages each of us to "become a vigorous verb collector." He writes:In last week's post, I emphasized the value of jamming as many lively, punchy verbs into your bean as possible because verbs are the heart of effective writing...

This week: Organize before you do something (says Winnie the Pooh)

Posted on January 21, 2008
It's sometimes possible to reorganize a piece of writing at the revising stage of the process. But that's a little like changing the floor plan of a house after you've built it. Yes, you could conceivably cut the garage off a completed house and move it to the other end of the building, but that's certainly not the best time to do it...

The headline is the e-mail

Posted on January 18, 2008
At Bad Language, Matthew Stibbe has posted Ten Laws for Better Email. I could devote a whole posting to each one, but here's a taste:3. The headline is the email. The subject line should be clear, factual and specific. It should also encourage the reader to open and read the email...

And thanks again!

Posted on January 17, 2008
Diane Murley, writing for Arizona State University's Ross-Blakley Law Library Blog, has listed three ways to "Become a Better Writer": Read ?How to Write: A Memorandum from a Curmudgeon,? chapter 1 of The Curmudgeon?s Guide to Practicing Law, by Mark Herrmann...

Thanks!

Posted on January 16, 2008
Daphne Gray-Grant, in her top-notch e-mail newsletter, Power Writing, has named my book The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course in Business Writing and Communication as one of "Five Books You Must Read." I'm honored to be listed in the company of Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think Julia Cameron's The Right to Write Arthur Plotnik's Spunk and Bite Sam Horn's POP Thanks, Daphne!

This week: Don't sedate your verbs

Posted on January 14, 2008
Ruth Walker, writing in The Christian Science Monitor, said:Look what's happening to verbs--the "muscles" of language. They're being crowded out by more sedate linking-verb constructions. . . . "He lost his job" often loses out to "He became unemployed...

This week: E-mail yourself

Posted on January 07, 2008
At LifeClever, Chanpory Rith has posted a great trick for getting around writer's block. "If writing stirs a panic attack in you," Chanpory writes, "try this: start with an email." Why? For five reasons: It's convenient. You feel less pressure. You're more conversational...

This week: Kick the props away

Posted on January 07, 2008
In their book You Send Me, Patricia T. O'Connor and Stewart Kellerman note thatSome puffed-up writers use long words, techie talk, trendy terms, and convoluted sentences to cover up or deceive or sound important or go along with the crowd. Most people who inflate their writing, though, are simply insecure, often for no good reason...

It's resolution day!

Posted on January 01, 2008
If you're reading this blog, you probably would like to become a more effective business writer in 2008. So be specific. What would you like to improve most about your business writing this year? Jot down your answer, and make it a resolution...

This week: Don't be afraid

Posted on December 31, 2007
Journalist Gene Fowler once said, "Writing is easy; all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead." What Fowler is describing is, of course, writer's block. We've all had it. And at its root is fear, the fear of not "getting it right...

This week: Take a break

Posted on December 24, 2007
This week, take a break from trying to "manage your writing." Relax, and have a happy holiday season!

This week: Keep the simple simple

Posted on December 17, 2007
Brad Shorr publishes a great writing blog, Word Sell. Something he said today got me thinking:It takes an extraordinary person to take something simple and keep it simple, let alone take something complicated and make it simple.Many of us know that when we revise something we've written, we should look for ways to simplify it...

Don't dodge the bullets

Posted on December 14, 2007
Daphne Gray-Grant, in her always-useful e-newsletter, Power Writing, says that bullets work because they Add structure and organization to your writing Provide many compelling entry points for skimmers and scanners Help simplify information (for the reader and writer) Emphasize main points Improve comprehension Daphne provides some other good tips on bullets, although I follow a slightly different convention from the one she recommends...

Software for the mind

Posted on December 12, 2007
Roy Jacobsen, at Writing, Clear and Simple, has posted a lovely meditation on David McNally's comment that "Language is software for the mind." The whole posting is well worth reading; I'll quote only its last two paragraphs:The words you use, either written or spoken, can have powerful effects on your audience?if you use them carefully and skillfully...

This week: Leave out the parts that readers skip

Posted on December 10, 2007
Elmore Leonard, author of Get Shorty and other hugely successful books, was once asked why his books were so popular and easy to read. Leonard answered, "Simple. I just leave out the parts that readers skip." This week, when you start revising, imagine yourself as your reader...

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