Welcome to the on-line writing support program sponsored by the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. This program is offered to enhance the writing skills necessary for legal work. Its messages are instructionally designed to foster written communication and to facilitate a deeper understanding of how legal structure, style, argument, and voice actually take shape in writing. This message continues a discussion about scholarly legal writing. It is not uncommon for you to find yourself skipping from one phase of the writing process to another, sometimes to good effect, sometimes not.
Nobody has a monopoly on the writing process.
Everybody goes about writing in different ways at different times for different purposes. You know from your own experience that some pieces of writing come easier than others, telescoping some of the process. Remember that writing is like prospecting inasmuch as sometimes we make a lucky find of a nugget lying on the surface, but most of the time it takes a lot of sifting to find the precious metal. To avoid the blocks and confusion that come from trying to do too much at once or reaching too soon for final results, always be aware of where you are in the writing process in order to focus your energies and direct your attention. Start with a writing task.