I have completely, utterly, forgotten how to write journalistically.

[eyesroll]

I'm putting together a freelance piece for a company in my old industry -- 1,000 words (+/-), about a program I know (or used to know) inside and out, three interviews and a study. All done.

Holy crap, law school's done a number on my writing. (It's done wonders for my LEGAL writing ability, but everything else has gone to hell.)

I need to go back and edit in pronouns. Right now I've got things like "Smith said that Smith's department was reluctant at first to implement Miller's recommendations from Miller's study." (At least things like "the party of the first part" are out of fashion these days.)

I need to vary my sentence structure.

I need a conclusion that isn't just a restatement of my introduction.

I need to remember synonyms and adverbs are OK.

I need to remember that "says Smith" is as appropriate a citation as I'm going to get.

Lawyers and law students will know what I'm talking about; everyone else will think I've lost it, and they are right.

I need to remember that I'm getting paid for this -- probably more per hour of actual work than lawyering will pay me for a long time. So there's that.

Gah.

[Magrittes Pipe]

1. She's the queen of the truckstop

And she stands about five-foot-three.




A shiny dime if you recognize that.

[eyesroll]

2. No idea.

Somebody set Hedges up the drunk.

[Magrittes Pipe]

3. I coulda joined the army, but I figured that sucks

So just like my daddy, I learned to drive a truck.

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. Need an editor?

It's what I do. :hi:

[eyesroll]

5. No thanks -- they'll clean it up for me.

I was an editor in my pre-law-school days, so the spelling/grammar stuff is still there (not that my DU posts are any indication), as are the organization and research...the people I'm working for are good friends and will discreetly smack the legalese remnants out of the piece if necessary.

[Blue-Jay]

6. Careful, Oeddie. She'll sue you!