We continue this month with more from Melvin Mencher’s News Reporting and Writing, my journalism textbook that, in my opinion, should be required reading for lawyers too.

In Chapter 7, the “Writer’s Art” (in my copy, the 7th edition), Mencher notes that,“The good reporter is firmly rooted in the language of ordinary people, which, because it is comprehensible, has the ring of conviction.” The same goes for attorneys writing briefs, memos and emails.

He goes on to quote Daniel Defoe, who said that a perfect style of language is “that in which a man speaking to five hundred people, of all common and various capacities . . . should be understood by them all, and in the same sense which the speaker intended to be understood.”

Every news event — like every case or transaction — has its own “tone, texture and pace” that should be reflected in the way stories—or briefs and business communications—are drafted. “The way a story is written is known as its style,” Mencher explains. He refers to a news story about a poisoning in which the first five sentences average 11 words and then the next three average 21, providing “an air of calm after the frenzy of the incident.” Do you want law clerks to eagerly read your briefs? Write them with this same sense of style and drama.

Information should be presented succinctly, Mencher adds, but the narrative should also be suggestive (“connotative”) in language that readers understand. “The key to stylistic excellence is a wide vocabulary and a sensitivity to language that guides word choice.” By example, he quotes Shakespeare’s expert use of action verbs (“The grass stoops not, she treads on it so light.”) and recommends studying advertisements for their “tight, colorful writing” — a practice I intend to adopt too.

Finally, as frequently espoused in this column, Mencher says, “[W]riting is rewriting, leaving out more than putting in, always trying to simplify and clarify.”

From the Editor:
A huge thank you to Leslie A. Gordon, author of our long-running “Legal Writing Tips” column who retired from the column with the August 2014 issue of the BASF Bulletin. Her monthly columns started in 2008 and featured sage advice for improving writing and avoiding grammar errors. The BASF Bulletin will begin featuring “The Best of Legal Writing Tips” until a replacement contributor can be finalized.

About the author:

A former lawyer, Leslie A. Gordon is a freelance journalist living in San Francisco. She is the author of Cheer: A Novel, which is available on Amazon. She can be reached via email at leslie.gordon@stanfordalumni.org. Follow Leslie on Twitter: @LAGordonWriter.