Shifting Gears
As an attorney, you’re used to writing for a particular audience — judges, their clerks, and other attorneys. If you’ve been at it for some time, you’ve developed, or adopted, a style for that audience.
Suppose you’re called upon to write for a different audience. Suppose you’re asked to write for an audience composed of corporate counselors, the people who hire and fire them, and other attorneys. Suppose you’re asked to write a Client Alert about something significant.
You’re addressing a different audience for a different purpose, so it makes sense to use a different style.
If you don’t have another style, try this:
- Find something you wrote that describes a sequence of events.
- Read a few articles in a newspaper.
- Rewrite what you wrote as if it was going to appear in the newspaper.
- Make believe your salary is based on how happy the newspaper’s editor is with the results of Step 3.
If you rightfully imagine a big salary, then — the next time you’re called upon to write a Client Alert about something significant — just follow Step 3 and Step 4.
People will be impressed.
14 November 2007 at 17:53
[...] I recently suggested that attorneys writing about events (and trying to attract readers) consider this exercise — write about the events the way professional journalists do. [...]