Anatomy of a Civil Trial
been silent for so long. I’ve been busy because….”). Te truth is, those readers stopped paying attention and the writer is talking to thin air. If you expect your blog to help your business, you must
have the discipline to continue posting day after day. You have to buy in. You have to keep posting, no matter what is going on in your personal or professional life. No blog should have fewer than one post per week. Two to four posts per week should be your goal. Here’s how you can do it:
1. Set aside writing time: You should devote a regular time for your writing. I write most of my blogs at 10:00 p.m. after the kids have gone to bed, I’ve eaten dinner and cleaned up the house. I resolve that I will not sleep until I’ve finished my blogs.
2. Write blogs in advance: Tere is nothing wrong with writing some or all of your weeks’ blog posts in one or two sittings. I can usually get two or three posts done on Friday night, which clears up time during the week for other work. Most blog platforms allow you to upload those posts and set them to automatically post at a specific time (you didn’t really think I was awake at 4:00 a.m. publishing blogs, did you? Okay, only sometimes…)
FL-MAJ-7x4.5-BW-glova.pdf 11/27/2010 1:09:08 PM
3. Regular features: Te best way to prevent writer’s block is to have a couple of “regular features.” On my main blog, Mondays are devoted to a round-up of interesting news in bullet point format. Tuesdays are devoted to legal-technology issues, and most Fridays I deviate from the law and list out interesting things to do in Baltimore over the weekend.
4. Writer’s Block: Speaking of writer’s block, it is
important to have inspiration for blog posts before you sit down to write. I keep an Excel spreadsheet on my computer with possible blog topics that I update whenever I have a good idea for a blog. My list includes the date I had the idea, the general topic, links to sources (for example, news stories or blog posts by other authors) and the date completed. When I need to write, I simply consult my list and get started.
5. Writer’s Block, part II: To fill out your list of potential blog topics, you should pay attention to news stories, and examine what is going on at your firm. Do you have an interesting new case with a novel PIP issue? What questions do your new clients ask you every time? Read up on MAJ
Trial Reporter / Spring 2012 55
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