(Continued) ...
Keep It Focused, Clear, and Interesting
Specific reports, such as Interrogatory Questions, demand a more rigid boilerplate-structure to control costs. In writing other documents, such as the Complaint, it remains essential to maintain reader interest and to spare the audience the duller products of the writer's brain. Furthermore, a restatement of well-known facts; familiar passages; and extensive, longwinded introductions and conclusions tend to bore readers. Get to your point and successfully answer the question, "So what?"
As with teaching or acting, writing constitutes a performance. Though some attorneys and experts rely upon staff members for preparation documents, it remains critical for the assistant to maintain the same authorial voice-that of the attorney or forensic scientist-while maintaining integrity of self as the writer. This practice determines the tone and much of the clarity of the document.
Getting to the Point
In any written work, each paragraph should make a point. Most professional documents consist of an introduction, a development, and a summary/conclusion. A writer builds each section by assembling paragraphs that are informative and that are composed well-in other words, "all killer, no filler." A paragraph should discuss one topic that contains a single point. Often, a short paragraph that makes no point causes the reader to leap ahead. However, long paragraphs can cause as much trouble. It may be helpful to remember the old punchline, "The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time."
A Few Words on Presentation
If one picture, graph, or table has the value of a thousand words, then attorneys and experts should endeavor to make the illustrations readable. The use of these kinds of word-substitutes remains a part of writing, especially for readers who understand information visually through photos and drawings. Therefore, similar rules apply. In using substitutes, writers need to keep their implied readers in mind while presenting documents with clarity and brevity. Charts and PowerPoint visuals in the wrong hands may end up appearing cluttered, simple, or childish. Furthermore, careful use of fonts and colors remains of great importance in conveying professional work.
Some Useful Sources
There are many excellent books on the subject of Presentation. "These include Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery" (Voices That Matter) by Garr Reynolds (New Riders, 2019); "Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations" by Nancy Duarte (O'Reilly Media, 2008); and "Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint to Create Presentations that Inform, Motivate, and Inspire" by Cliff Atkinson (Microsoft Press, 2018).
These authors point to the art of simplicity, which allows readers to process and to store most of the information through their doors of perception. Though the foyer is large, the doorway is small. Only a limited amount of information can pass successfully through the short-term-memory process and onward to long-term retention.
In recent centuries, authors have used bundles of footnotes that consume the lower half of a page. Today, word-processing programs abate the main problem inherent in footnotes by including hyperlinks instead. With the development of these links, multi-page footnotes have fallen into obsolescence. However, if one must use notes, s/he may subordinate and place these notes at the end of the document. In most cases, notes break the flow of a piece by adding material that usually does not belong in the main body of the text. If notes are used in place of a hyperlink, then authors should compose them as guides to outside sources and nothing more.
Coherency and Rhythm
All writers need to spin their words so that they cohere. Well-written documents should develop much like spider webs (see Charlotte the spider in "Charlotte's Web" by E. B. White, Harper and Brothers, 1952). Even though webs are fragile and lovely, a spider weaves them to capture its food. A writer must spin every sentence in order to link it with the preceding ones like web lines. The entire structure of the piece must hang together. The final sentence that closes a paragraph should emphasize the writer's point by turning around the thought. Coherent writing helps the reader to grasp the message that the writer intends.
Due to the deluge of advertisements, popular songs, and various forms of electronic media that we encounter in our current culture, many writers have adopted the habit of "crafting" incomplete sentences. Predominantly, sentence fragments form most Texting messages as well as those on Facebook, Twitter, and other social-media sites. Standard fluent documents demand the use of complete sentences-subject, verb, and object-not fragments. We recommend that attorneys and other professionals strive to write sophisticated documents, no matter what the common milieu may do.
In the war against monotony, writers continue to debate the use of elegant variation. Nevertheless, variation can be confusing when writers pedantically repeat a limited vocabulary that tends to bore their readers. The attentive use of synonyms and eloquent variation can solve this problem. However, in cases of rarified legal, economic, and scientific terms, one must proceed with care. Too much eloquent variation will impair the reader in understanding the intended meaning of the author.
The Importance of Reading Aloud
Before the invention of the radio and television, family and friends would assemble at home to whittle, relax, or sew while reading books out loud to the gathering. The reader hears the written word in his/her mind. Like music and poetry, accomplished writing has rhythm. By reading documents aloud to one another, writers can hear the rhythmic beat. Does it sound choppy? Is there monotony? Alternating a declarative sentence with others containing introductory phrases solves many problems through variation while allowing the rhythm to form. In other words, alliteration helps to provide a pleasant flow when listing necessary terms.
We can detect more than awkward rhythm when listening to our documents read aloud. We expect rough drafts to contain a few inappropriate uses of eloquent variation, nonsensical or fragmented sentences, monotonous sections, and verbal stumblingblocks that will trip the reader's mind. In the case of stumblingblocks, parallel construction of two or more phrases can be rewarding, such as in this sentence: "Maintaining clarity while voiding monotony by varying verb form will leave readers satisfied."
Punctuation can cause a kerfuffle because rules develop and change over time. Traditionally, the rules reflect old guidelines that typesetters used to maintain consistency. For instance, a writer should put one space after a comma or a semicolon. Punctuation goes within quotation marks but outside of parentheses. For more on this and related topics, we defer to "The Chicago Manual of Style" (University of Chicago Press, 17th ed., 2017).
Takeaway
This month, we continued our journey in the Art and Craft of writing in the fields of Law and Economics. Next month, we will continue to provide information on the subject of Revision, including "If It's Broken, Fix It!" and will invest some time in visiting The Department of Redundancy Department as we consider the Major Rules of Revision. We hope that our readers are enjoying this journey and are finding ways to apply our suggestions to their own writing and that of their staffs.
(Please feel free to copy and share with those in your office.)
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Dr. John F. Sase teaches Economics at Wayne State University and has practiced Forensic and Investigative Economics for twenty years. He earned a combined M.A. in Economics and an MBA at the University of Detroit, followed by a Ph.D. in Economics from Wayne State University. He is a graduate of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School (www.saseassociates.com).
Gerard J. Senick is a freelance writer, editor, and musician. He earned his degree in English at the University of Detroit and was a supervisory editor at Gale Research Company (now Cengage) for over twenty years. Currently, he edits books for publication (www.senick-editing.com).
Julie G. Sase is a copyeditor, parent coach, and empath. She earned her degree in English at Marygrove College and her graduate certificate in Parent Coaching from Seattle Pacific University. Ms. Sase coaches clients, writes articles, and edits copy (royaloakparentcoaching.com).
