The most important step in creating a blog is to come up with an interesting topic about something that you are already familiar with. If you have been working in the legal field for some time, then this tip will be easy for you! However, if this isn’t the case, you may want to consider practicing on a more general-interest legal topic first.
Once you have your topic ready, it’s time to find great angles from which to approach it. How would you teach someone else about your topic? Finding these different angles should aid you in creating a highly interesting and captivating blog. You may want to think back on how lawyers speak in court, and then use this style for your own writing, or you may want to try something else entirely. Whatever method works best for you is one that will ultimately help with increasing readership and building trust at the same time.
Table of Contents
DO YOUR RESEARCH
The first thing to do is research before you write your legal article thoroughly. All facts leading up to reaching this point must be considered and made part of the story; otherwise, biased feelings towards one side could taint the opinion the reader has on the subject matter. It is also crucial for you as a writer to know all about Case laws or legislation that may have a direct bearing on your legal topic not only because it will make for better reading, but it will enable the writer to include all relevant points in the article.
Introduce Your Topic at the beginning.
You can’t just jump right into your topic. You need to give people an introduction about what you’re talking about and then include a little summary of the points that you’ll be covering in your article. This will properly set up your readers on what they’re going to read.
You ask, How To Write A Legal Article? People love simplicity and straight-to-the-point pieces . Imagine yourself as one of your readers: How would you feel if you were instructed to go on reading while not knowing where the author is taking you? How would you feel if halfway through, the author suddenly changes topics and had no proper transition for it? How would you react if all of a sudden words pop out and made no sense at all? Bad.
Vary sentence length
The length of your sentence has a lot to do with how effective readers are able to interpret your content. Too short, and the message might get lost: readers will not understand what your article is about or what you aim to tell them. Too long, and it becomes tedious and boring for the reader.
The length of your article is important because this shows how long it will take to read. If you are writing for people to read in their free time, having a short article that focuses on the point will be well appreciated; however, if your audience wants detailed information, then write according to what they want. Remember that your articles must always be interesting! Otherwise, why would anyone bother reading them? This can usually be achieved by making use of any emotion involved in the case or issue at hand. For example: anger, sadness etc. Just don’t overdo it so much so that you bore even yourself.
How do you find that perfect length? Well, that depends on a lot of different factors. To begin with, keep sentences as simple as possible by eliminating excess words. Next, make use of adjectives only if they are absolutely necessary. If you can describe something without using an adjective – well done! It’s better to describe the subject briefly rather than going into detail with flowery language. Finally – go back through your text periodically and shorten any unnecessary sentences until each sentence flows nicely from the previous one. Varying the length of your sentences helps to render a more fluid and easily understandable text for readers.
Use simple words
Your choice of words says something about how educated you are – but simplicity does not automatically mean a lack of intelligence. In fact, simplicity is all about getting your message across using as few words as possible – while still maintaining its original meaning. Legal language can be complicated enough without having to make things harder by using fancy or unusual words that no one really understands. Using language that is too difficult will cause confusion and even annoyance: people will want to give up on reading your article just because they’re struggling to figure out what you’re trying to say.
How To Write A Legal Article shouldn’t be a secret if you know your way around words.
Your audience is the key: How intelligent do you think they are? How advanced is their understanding of legal jargon? How much do they know about your specialism? How long have they been reading articles in your field or related fields?
Plain language works best even if you’re writing for a relatively intelligent audience.
Even though you might be tempted to use common phrases, everyday expressions, idiomatic expressions, you need to avoid clichés like the plague. Legal readers are exposed to many different texts on a daily basis – often written by lazy authors who find themselves unable to come up with original phrasing. As such, these readers will immediately spot whether what you’ve written sounds like it could have come from another article – which may result in your audience feeling cheated and manipulated.
How do you find the correct words to use?
How can you come up with persuasive and original phrasing to catch people’s attention without resorting to clichés?
These are all questions that legal writers struggle with on a daily basis – and this article cannot possibly provide all the answers. However, these questions should help get you started.
Headings and sub-headings
Use Headings and sub-headings to structure your blog post. This makes it easier for readers to read and scan the article without having to read the entire content for understanding the context. This not only clears the clutter but also gives a clear point of view to both the writer and the reader.
Writing a legal article can be daunting. The writer must have the knowledge of law, which is required to impress the judge. This means that you have to consider all facts surrounding your case or issue before writing about it.
Do not give unnecessary information and do not be biased
Once you have gathered all your information, it is time for you to start shaping your article. Take out all unnecessary information, and try not to make any biased statements; this will give an unbiased opinion of the case or issue at hand, which is what the reader wants (this also makes for better sales). Nobody wants to read on a topic that is written by a writer who is biased.
Use your own words for statistics and cite them correctly
If there are statistics that need to be used in your article, indicate them clearly by stating how they were obtained; if no source was obtained (such as a survey), cite it correctly. All facts used should be correct, and all views or opinions stated must come from a third-party source. This will make your article seem very professional, which is something any lawyer strives for! All the best legal articles are written in this manner.
In legal content, citations and sources are one of the most important things. It backs up your claims and legitimizes your writing.
Last but not the least
MAKE SURE YOUR ARTICLE IS ON TOPIC AND THAT IT MAKES SENSE
Did you know you could write for this blog?
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> Here’s a toolkit that you may be interested in:
| Check Plagiarism (Make sure it is at least 90% Original Content) | 1text.com |
| Grammarly (Use this free tool to enhance your writing skills) | Grammarly |
| Topics for article writing for law students | Explore topics |
| Word Counter (Keep count of the words you type) | Wordcounter |
| Using the same words and making things boring? | Thesaurus.com |
| GoogleDocs (Especially If you’re co-authoring an article, this might be helpful) | Google Docs |
| Need help concentrating while you write? | A Soft Murmur |
Passionate about using the law to make a difference in people’s lives. An Advocate by profession.
