An Oregon Lawyer Writes About Blogging

I like this blurb (it’s not a blog post, an essay, or your typical course description – but it works!) by David Rossmiller that sets the scene for his “People: Throw Off Your Shackles and Blog!” program on blogging:

Excerpt: “As someone who has built a successful law blog and who has been blogging daily for more than two years, I’ve been asked to write a series of posts talking about how to blog, what to do and what not to do. “How to” blog is always a tricky, touchy subject, one that sounds dangerously close to impinging on the thing that is most beloved among bloggers, their autonomy and sense of freedom. The internet is the new Final Frontier, a place where no man has the right to tell another what to do. So I do not say “how to” in the sense of suggesting there is any one correct or right way to blog. Blogging is like music, you’ve got to play it the way you feel it, you’ve got to give your own interpretation to the material. And that, really, goes right to the heart of the matter…. (continue reading).

Oregon is filled with writers of all stripes, but surprisingly, at least to me, is that so few Oregon attorneys blog. Blogging is a good way to stretch those writing muscles, not to mention those legal analysis mental sinews.

I always tell lawyers who ask about blogging that you don’t have to go public with your first blog. You can try blogging in the privacy of your own (offline) computer. You might not like it, you might find it too much work, but you might also find it very satisfying, if not therapeutic. (It’s also, as Justice Bedsworth says about his monthly essays, a way to get it out of your system. We all need that.)

I’ve posted about blogging here and there is LOTS more about lawyers blogging here, here, here and almost everywhere (maybe 🙂

Remember, no two bloggers are alike. You need to find your niche and your own writer’s voice. This is why blogging is fun, creative, and, like any writing, on occasion deeply satisfying.

(And, if I’ve managed to persuade at least one more Oregon lawyer to blog, I have been a good little law librarian.)