In this post, I am going to provide you a brief Guide which you may follow to produce a well-researched legal blog piece. Instead of making a really long post I have divided the Guide into 3 parts. You must read all the 3 parts to get a holistic idea of the art of writing legal blog pieces.
Part 1 of the “Guide for Writing Legal Blog Posts” deals with the following:
- Selection of Topic
- Importance of a Good Title
- Structure of a Blog Post
- Language and Linking Problems
This Guide is essentially for beginners who want to know the basics of writing a good legal blog post. Whatever I have written in this Guide is based on my own personal experience and the expert advice which I have gained from websites of renowned foreign universities.
- Selection of Topic:
Kindly follow the news. There is no shortcut to it. Most legal blogs prefer pieces which deal with current issues. You have to stay up-to-date and select a topic which is a bit uncommon, unsettled and interesting. Remember the fact that people will only read your blog post if they find the topic interesting and relevant. Also, do not forget to see minutely the submission guidelines of the blog where you are planning to submit your blog post. Most submission guidelines explicitly mention the kind of articles they prefer to publish and the guidelines will help you to select your topic. For instance, the ILPS Blog publishes only those articles which are related to current developments in the field of public international law and foreign policy. To make things easier I am providing one example. The ILPS will not publish a blog piece where the author talks only about the theories of state recognition in International Law. However, if you can link the theories with a contemporary issue then we will happily accept your blog piece.
- Importance of a Good Title:
Having a unique and interesting title is a sine qua non for a legal blog post. A reader hardly takes 4 seconds to read a title and whether he/she will read your blog post or not is decided during those 4 seconds. The title of the blog post must be concise and informative. It should tell the reader what the post is about. For example, do not give a title like “American Perspective on the judgment rendered by the ICJ”. It really doesn’t make any sense. Which judgment are you talking about? The readers cannot predict anything about your article after reading such a title. Some students also focus on a specific part of their blog piece and decide a title on the basis of that portion. Do not do it. The title should inform the reader what your entire blog post is about. I personally keep a temporary title while writing my blog posts as it helps me to keep my focus on the topic. I decide the actual title after I finish my writing.
- Structure of a Blog Post:
Imagine for a moment that I have not used the above three headings. Half of you would not even have read this much. People will always prefer to read a post which has headings and sub-headings. First, you should write the introduction. Here you should briefly introduce the topic to the readers and it should not be too long. While writing the introduction inform in about 2 to 3 lines what your entire blog post talks about. Then while writing the body of the blog piece divide it in at least 2 parts and give separate headings for these two parts. After this, write the conclusion. From the introduction to the conclusion the central arguments of your blog post should remain visible.
Keep in mind that you will come across many blog posts (even in international legal blogs) which are without headings and subheadings. After all, how you write a blog piece depends solely on you and there is no hard and fast rule. If a blog post has 700 or 800 words, then you can skip the headings and subheadings.
However, I have provided a brief structure below which you may follow if you like for a blog posts which consists of 1500 words or more.
- Introduction
- Heading 1 (After a heading you may give subheadings if you need to divide your content further)
- Heading 2
- Conclusion
- Language and Linking Problems:
Please do not use flowery paragraphs and long sentences. The best blog pieces engage the readers with their content and depth of research. Your language skills won’t save you if you have poor research skills. Students have a tendency to use very long sentences. Trust me! Long sentences filled with ornamental English words won’t earn you brownie points while writing a legal blog post. The editors will always tell you to redraft the long sentences. Moreover, avoid writing very long paragraphs.
It is important here to mention that there must be links between your paragraphs and each paragraph should further strengthen your main argument/arguments directly or indirectly. You cannot write XYZ in one paragraph and then suddenly talk about ABC in the next paragraph. You have to link XYZ and ABC in such a manner that there is a logical flow of content. Both XYZ and ABC should strengthen the argument/arguments that you are making.
I have noticed that many students while writing a blog post forget to introduce a topic and they straightaway jump to their arguments. Do not do it. Ever. Suppose, if one writes about why India should become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group then first the writer should introduce the readers to the Nuclear Suppliers Group itself and then put forward his/her arguments. You cannot just start writing your arguments straightaway after your introduction without telling the readers clearly about what Nuclear Suppliers Group is in the first place.
This post will remain incomplete if I don’t talk about the importance of transitional words and phrases. These type of words and phrases are used to stitch/connect paragraphs and sentences in your blog post and maintain a logical flow in them. Examples of transitional words and phrases: surprisingly enough; nevertheless; simply stated; as opposed to; important to realize
Click here and here to find more transitional words and phrases.
Let us face one truth. People will not read your blog piece if they cannot understand it and if it doesn’t have a logical flow. If you have written a blog post dealing with international trade law then write it in such a way that a human rights law enthusiast can easily understand your point of view and arguments.
In Part 2 of the “Guide for Writing Legal Blog Posts” I talk about plagiarism, paraphrasing, hyperlinking and much more!