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Why are read only documents called “riders?”
Chief
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Do you often read for leisure? Reading in general will help you form cleaner sentences and expand your vocabulary. Do you write a draft and allow yourself to sleep on it before a final review? I have found that my first draft is often very rough. However it takes a lot of energy getting the first draft out—so I don’t have much left to proof with. If I sleep on it and proof it the next day, it really makes a huge difference.
Chief
This is a great piece of advice. Actually, this helped me far more than any books about writing—except for Strunk & White and Deidre McCloskey’s “Economical Writing.” Though I was an Econ major as an undergrad, hence the latter choice!
Point Made, and then get “brief catch” plug-in for Word.
2nd this
Point Made and Making Your Case are my go to recommendations. I’d read Making Your Case first and then Point Made as I feel you’ll get more out of it that way. But if you can only read one, I’d say Point Made
“Point Made” has been sitting on my shelf since using it for a class during 2L year…7 years ago (side note: that was strange to type out). It’s a good book that I’ve used for writing appellate briefs and some motion briefs where the topics are more complex. It’s fully marked up with a litany of post it notes sticking out the edge. For your “everyday” motions, it’s not the best because you enter the point of spending too much time on something simple…think “perfection is the enemy of good enough”. Other than that, I learned how to write motions better by looking at what other people filed and what the partners wrote. I wouldn’t expect a new associate to write like I do, but the best advice I heard was to include more than what you think is necessary for your draft to the partner. It’s 10x easier to take things out than to put them in and the partner, or whoever you’re working for, will appreciate this.
I actually like “legal writing: getting it right and getting it written.”
First year here and I’ve really liked Point Made. The lessons really started sinking in for me when I started writing a MSJ right after reading it. I don’t think it would have been as helpful without the ability to directly put the tips into effect and see them work out.
Before clerking, I had a federal judge recommend to me Thinking Like a Writer by Stephen Armstrong as a book he used in his writing. Thinking Like a Writer: A... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402411286?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Same here!
Get the WordRake plug in for Word
An old partner I worked for recommended reading out loud while proofreading too to help. It can really help with sentence structure. I have taken to outlining my briefs too to keep my arguments organized before I start writing.
Chief
Also…I do this…change the type face. I’m old school, and love times new Roman, but I always change to say, courier new and printing it out to edit. Try it…you’ll be amazed at what you catch. Then change back to the typeface you want.