Law Department Management Blog
This post stands proudly at the front of a line of 6,000! Seventy months ago, on Feb. 20, 2005, the first post stood up and since then the procession has conga-lined its way to this milestone.
A few thoughts occurred to me as I reflected on the outpouring and commemorated this moment.
Patterns of posts. Some of my material arises from the patterns I have set myself to follow. For example, metaposts never seem to end, and in fact as I accumulate more and more posts, there seem to be more opportunities to stitch together bundles of related posts. I make it my practice to accumulate metaposts into groups of ten and publish the collections with URLs. Fifty of them have appeared. I periodically tip my hat to other websites and blogs that refer readers to me. My blog book reviews follow a format. Another practice the last year or so has been to cull and abbreviate the ten best posts of two months before. My bi-monthly National Law Journal articles get a regular nod as do my bi-weekly columns for InsideCounsel. These pattern-posts keep a sort of discipline.
Thoughts, not just links. My habit engrained, I always write something substantive rather than merely supplying readers with a bare link to an item. To dash off, “Good article on nuclear fusion in North Korean legal departments,” with no explanation other than the implicit “Check this out!” offers readers some value, to be sure, but forces them to trust your judgment and do the heavy lifting of reading and thinking. Busy readers want to know why they should click, so I explain the point if I give a reference. Value add is both locating items of interest and saying why it has merit for managers. I don’t link before I leap.
Writing style. It could be that I am running out of substance so I cover up with style. It could be that six years under my blogging belt has emboldened me to let loose with what I want to write more the way I want to write. It could be that constant writing has honed my skills as a writer or that it draws on the wisdom and confidence of middle age? My evolving writing style, nowhere near H.L. Mencken or gonzo journalism but with more sashay and panache than the average legal bear, owes much to the constant attention I pay to prose effectiveness and to Deirdre McCloskey and her inimitable style.