A Few Thoghts on Writing

One of my judge's favorite quotes on writing is by Elmore Leonard: "I try to leave out the parts that people skip." Its a great quote, and its great advise. I have the good fortune to spend a good portion of every day writing. I write memoranda recommending dispositions on the various cases we hear at the court, and I write drafts of opinions that we publish announcing the results of the case and explaining the law supporting those results. I feel like I have progressed as a writer in my time here at the court.

My judge is an exceptional writer, and I have learned a lot of good things about writing from him. I have learned to leave out the parts that people skip (overwrought "roadmaps"); I have learned not to start a sentence with "however" because it sounds too ponderous; I have learned not to let writing get too easy (in legal writing, there are lots of terms that are so overused that they are almost cliches, like the word "progeny"); and I have learned that it is worth your time to incorporate metaphors and tropes into your writing.

Metaphor and trope is my judge's specialty. He spends a lot of time editing our draft opinions and adding what he calls his "rhetorical flourishes." Here is an excellent example: "Arguments based on symmetry have a superficial appeal because they appear to be linked to equal treatment and thus to fundamental fairness. But more often than not, symmetry is quickly exposed as a false prophet of fairness. This is one such case." State v. Robison, 147 P.3d 448.

Here's to good writing and to all of us continuing our blogging (or starting to blog) as a continued outlet to sharpen our writing skills.