Anticipatory Edits

Abstract

There are many definitions of good writing. Three that particularly resonate with the law students I teach are adapted from various definitions of poetry. The first comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who helped found the Romantic Movement in the early nineteenth century with his good friend William Wordsworth: “Good writing is the best words in their best order.” The second comes from Howard Nemerov, who was twice selected to serve as the Poet Laureate of the United States: “Good writing is getting something right in language.” The third doesn’t have a precise source but seems to have been said in some form by pretty much every poet ever: “Good writing is making order out of chaos.”

Recently, however, my students have latched on to what may be an even better definition, especially for people who are about to either start a clerkship, join a law firm, or begin any other position that requires the ability to write with or for someone else: “Good writing is anticipating the edits of your boss.”

This essay highlights the benefits of adopting that definition and learning how to make “anticipatory edits.” Approaching your first job in the law as if it is a platform for self-expression can lead to some very bad outcomes. A better strategy, this essay suggests, is to take on the mindset of a ventriloquist and develop two qualities that are as professionally valuable as they are under-taught: linguistic flexibility and compositional humility.

Keywords: Writing, Editing, Professionalism, Clerkships, Law Firms, Persuasion

JEL Classification: K1