Don’t Throw Curves at Your Readers
Have you ever had this experience? You’re reading a sentence, and then you suddenly lose track of where it’s going. It contains a curve; i.e., it doesn’t go where you expect it to go.
Consider this example:
On the road to being effective, visible and valued permanent members of a legal team, getting along with people matters.
The curve comes at the first comma. At that point, the reader supposes he’s just finished a dependent clause, that what follows is going to be the independent clause. That’s the way it reads. But when the reader comes to the second comma, he pauses. After one moment, he realizes his supposition was wrong; the dependent clause doesn’t end at the first comma; it ends at the second comma. The writer has thrown the reader a curve.
A big deal? Not really. But throw too many of these little curves at your readers, and they won’t want to read you again.
What’s obvious is this — the copy was not reviewed by an editor before it was published. If it had been, the curve would have been straightened, perhaps like this:
On the road to becoming effective, visible, and valued members of a legal team, associates learn that getting along with people matters.
Note, in particular, the comma inserted right after visible. That’s a serial comma, and you should make regular use of it (despite what your legal writing instructors taught you).
