On Writing, or “Beer + Edits”

• Author: Lyonette Louis-Jacques
• Date: September 17, 2018

Some of us write because publishing is a requirement for career advancement as legal information professionals. Some of us write because we want to document an event in law librarianship, report on a conference or workshop attended. Some of us write to share information on a legal research topic that fascinates us. Some of us write to fill a gap in the literature. Some of us are neophyte writers and some of us have been at it for quite some time. I fit the latter description, so I thought I’d share some thoughts on the process.[1]

Honing Your Writing Skills

Very early in my career, Dan Wade, senior foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL) librarian at Yale and mentor to many, told me that I should “read”. A simple advice and one that has been hard to do because carving time out to read at work is difficult, but I’m passing the advice on to y’all. Read. Read everything.

Reading will help you learn and become more knowledgeable, become familiar with what topics interest you, what good writing is, who the best authors on law librarianship and legal information are, and who you might want to emulate or ask to mentor or coach you as you develop your scholarship, hone your writing skills, your writing “voice”.

Read the literature on law librarianship. Read current scholarship on legal information. Read legal news sources. Read law blogs.

And listen. Listen to law-, technology-, and library-related podcasts. Attend conferences and see what speakers (and topics) fascinate. What makes a great speaker and topic also makes a great writer.

If you volunteer to edit a newsletter or be a book review editor, you will have lots of opportunity to read the submissions of other law librarians and interact with the current scholarship on law librarianship issues. You will also develop a sense of what you would like to see as a reader, and what topics you might wish to write about.

And then, write, write, write. I follow a lot of writers on Twitter, and that is their main advice. They are also avid readers.

If you’re new to writing, start by publishing short pieces in newsletters or blogs. You can write book reviews. Even though you’re writing individually, it’s actually a collaboration, or could be. Interact with the editors. Ask them for writing advice.

You can share drafts of your work with writers you admire and ask for their feedback. You can post your work on SSRN.

And the bibliography is not quite dead, especially if accompanied by an essay or if annotated, so that is always a publishing option. W. S. Hein publishes legal research guides and bibliographies.

Set aside a time during your work day to write. Negotiate the time for scholarship if needed. I attended an AALL/LexisNexis Call for Papers session in which the writer-presenters highlighted making time for your scholarship as key.

Collaborative Writing

Working with one or more co-authors can be a fun and rewarding experience. It helps if the co-author(s) have traits you don’t have such as being good at meeting deadlines, editing, finding great images, etc. Sometimes collaborating does not work out or does not lead to a successful publication, but the experience is always worthwhile.

A great example of a successful collaborative writing venture is “Beer & Edits: A Writers’ Network.” I’ve been seeing “Beer + Edits” meet-up notices at American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) conferences for a while now, but never checked it out.

From a recent posting by Stacia Stein, current chair of the AALL PEGA-SIS Beer and Edits Committee, to the AALL Members Open Forum, I found out that, since 2013, B&E has provided an in-person matchmaking service at the AALL annual meeting. This enabled writers to obtain feedback on their draft papers and articles from friends and colleagues interested in supporting librarians’ scholarship. And, as of 2018-2019, B&E will facilitate year-round virtual matchmaking for writers and volunteer readers/editors.

I wondered who thought of the B&E writing support initiative in the first place and contacted one of the founders, Jordan Jefferson at Yale Law Library, who emailed me as follows:

Back in 2012 Andrea Alexander and I were writing an article together long distance. We planned to meet up at the annual meeting that year to edit. While meeting over breakfast and mimosas we started talking about how we saw a gap in scholarly engagement at the annual meeting. I think we literally said something like, “wouldn’t it be great if authors could come together, meet other people interested in similar topics, drink a beer and edit?” We went to the (then) GenX/Y Caucus [which became PEGA-SIS – the Professional Engagement, Growth and Advancement Special Interest Section in 2014 – Lyo] to promote the idea. We had no money and no official approval from AALL. Our first event was held at a bar across the street from the Conference Hotel in Boston (food and drinks were provided by deep pocketed and interested librarians).

Here’s the wording advertising our second event: “Beer & Edits is designed to bring law librarians together in a casual setting to discuss ideas for scholarship, get and give feedback, and mingle with other people in the field. Beer & Edits provides an opportunity to find writing partners, meet others interested in similar topics, exchange work for editing, and brainstorm, all while enjoying a beverage!”

From there we moved to a more structured format (still without AALL sponsorship) which included matching librarians with similar scholarly interests. When GenX/Y became PEGA, Beer and Edits was absorbed and formalized turning it into what you see today.

B+E was started as an entirely grassroots effort by two members who wanted to fill a gap. In the 8 years since the event’s inception SISs have created a number of endeavors focused on aiding scholarship.[2]

One of these endeavors is the AALL Research Instruction and Patron Services Special Interest Section (RIPS-SIS)’ brand new Scholarship Committee which will be a useful resource for librarians and legal information professionals engaged in or planning writing projects.

Picking Writing Topics

And, when you’re ready to write, select a topic you’re interested in and are passionate about. Sometimes the journey...