Legal Writing

Dan Santow, at Word Wise, a blog for public relations professionals, reminds us of a powerful tool for revising your writing: read it aloud. He concludes:

. . . by reading out loud you?ll hear when sentences are meaningless and empty. How many times, after all, have you read a sentence like "We will utilize proprietary methodologies and best practices in order to leverage messaging that breaks through the clutter" and literally not even noticed it? Eyes gloss over (not to mention glaze over) sentences like that. Read it out loud and you?ll notice it, all right, and cringe that you were its author.

This week, after you've drafted something, read it aloud, then start revising.