Nine Tips for the Aspiring Storyteller

by Karen Stefano

Alot of creative people went to law school, then started practicing, and ended up feeling stifled. If this describes you, why not try your hand at writing a novel or a memoir or a very personal essay? And if it's the law that you want to write about, satire might be just the vehicle.

If you're reading this article, chances are you have some stories to write about. And chances are pretty high that you keep putting it off. "Someday," you tell yourself. But how about making that someday now? Here's how.

1. Just write. When you're getting started, don't edit--just get words on the page. There is no room for perfectionism in a first draft. Santa Barbara District Attorney Joyce Dudley wrote her first novel, Justice Served, in eleven days. "I couldn't stop writing," she says. Of course, then it took five years of rewriting to get that draft into final form.

2. Make time. "Creative writing has to almost be a compulsion, or it's not going to happen," says Chuck Sevilla, a criminal defense attorney who completed his two novels (Wilkes: His Life and Crimes and its sequel, Wilkes on Trial) at night after long days at the office. "Do what you can despite the time constraints," offers Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mohr, who was able to finish a short story called "Herman Loves Brooke" by getting up every morning at 6 a.m. and working on it for an hour.

3. Compare legal and creative writing. Good writing, whatever its form, is good storytelling. A winning brief tells the most compelling story (within the limits of the law, of course, and those pesky facts). Something must be at stake. This is true not only for fictional characters, but for litigants as well. "Briefs are responded to more favorably if they contain a certain emotional component--like a criminal defendant who has been treated unfairly by the system," says Sevilla.

Andrew R. Wiener, a San Francisco litigator and mediator who is wrapping up his novel tentatively titled Lost and Found, also sees striking parallels between his day job and writing fiction. "When clients come into the office," he says, "they tell you a story, and it usually carries a passionate message that yearns to be heard. The job of the trial lawyer is to parse out the compelling details, which is very similar to what a novelist does."

4. Keep a journal. Writers are parrots and thieves, and many lawyer-writers find it natural to use the courtroom as a backdrop for their stories. So go ahead: Study your colleagues like an anthropologist would. But be ready--an idea can slap you in the head anywhere, anytime, so always keep a notebook within easy reach.

5. Find encouragement. Find a "trusted reader," someone who's willing to read carefully and provide constructive criticism. Many writers warn that this person should not be your spouse, but San Francisco land use attorney Tim Tosta violates this rule. "My wife is my trusted reader," declares Tosta, the author of #DEATHtweet01 and #DEATHtweet02, which chronicle his experiences as a hospice volunteer. Still, he acknowledges that to make such a partnership work, you need to understand the dynamics of your marriage really, really well. Another place to get feedback is a writers' group. And if you can't find live encouragement, I recommend two books: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and Stephen King's On Writing.

6. Attend a workshop. University extension writing courses provide a good fit for lawyers because they are offered on both nights and weekends. Challenging weeklong summer workshops include The Squaw Valley Community of Writers in California, Tin House in Portland, Oregon, and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival.

Too busy to devote a week to a scheduled class? Try online workshops, such as those offered by San Franciscobased Zoetrope: All-Story.

Workshops also provide an opportunity to develop relationships that can sustain you through the ups and downs of writing--and then of trying to get published.

7. Stuck? Tough it out. Machiavellian games, clashing egos, lofty concepts of equality and justice: They all make any lawyer's life ripe for memoir or fiction. And when a senior partner walks past the associate offices with a dog-training clicker in hand, the stuff just writes itself, right? Wrong.

San Francisco attorney Stephen M. Murphy claims that he often gets writer's block. But the author of short stories and essays collected in What If Holden Caulfield Went to Law School? doesn't let it stop him. "When I get stuck, I go back and get in the head of my main character and try to think what he would do next." Murphy also fights off mental blocks by avoiding distractions and "getting away"--even if that means just retreating to a local café.

Other methods for conquering writer's block include "freewriting"--writing down whatever comes to mind for a ten-minute sitting--and using mental prompts such as those described in The 3 A.M. Epiphany by University of Denver creative writing professor Brian Kiteley.

8. Hire a writing coach. "A coach is an unbiased editor who takes your work to the next level," says Amy E. Wallen, author of the best-selling novel MoonPies and Movie Stars. Wallen also coaches aspiring writers, many of whom are lawyers. "A coach provides guidance from an experienced perspective," she notes. "I give constructive feedback not only on the page, but also on how the story and its parts develop in the bigger picture."

9. Celebrate. Swell with pride for having committed yourself to your craft while pursuing a legal career. Take a glamorous book jacket photo, and wait for Oprah to call.

Karen Stefano is a lawyer with Hulett Harper Stewart in San Diego. Her short fiction has appeared in the literary journals Ellipsis, the South Carolina Review, and the Santa Fe Literary Review.

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