Legal Writing Tip: Use Action Verbs

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Professor Bryan A. Garner, author of The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style and author/blogger of Law Prose[1], recently said, “Although be-verbs—especially is, are, was, and were—remain central to our language, good writers moderate them. They’re sluggish.”

 

He went on to say that action verbs, by contrast, make writing go: they kick, jolt, jump-start, halt, fly, flash, dampen, upset, soothe, hurt, and heal. You get strength from good verbs.

So, here’s your legal writing tip for improving a draft. Try this:

• On your computer, search for “is.”
• Challenge yourself to eliminate it.
• Then do the same with “are.”

You just might be surprised at how effectively you streamline your paragraphs.

[1] www.lawprose.org