Climbing Mountains and Creating Diamonds

We have all heard them. In the frazzled squeals of over-caffeinated classmates, in the somber tones of shell-shocked 2Ls, and occasionally, through the uncontrollable tears of a humbled perfectionist (hopefully not): Law school exam horror stories. These frightening tales echo throughout Eckstein Hall: “One exam counts for your entire grade!” “My Civil Procedure exam took over three hours!” “Twenty minutes into the Torts Final the kid next to me just threw down his pen and walked out!” Now I am not here to scare you, but I am also not going to lie to you, law school exams are not fun. Rather, I am here to give you advice based on how I survived my first semester of law school exams.

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The Bride of Dracula: A Halloween Story

It is Halloween, and time for my annual attempt at political satire.  Previous attempts at spooky political humor can be found here and here.  Public response to these efforts has been overwhelming, but I am going to keep doing it anyway.

Scene: A decrepit stone mansion in suburban Minnesota. A great entry hall is lit with the flames of a dozen torches. Ragged tapestries line the walls. In the corner, a grand staircase and an iron banister, covered in cobwebs, lead to the second level. The front door creaks eerily as two shadowy figures enter the room.

Van Helsing: Quiet, Mr. Harker, don’t let her hear you.

Harker: Do you think the Countess is sleeping?

Van Helsing: No. She only sleeps during the daylight.

The stillness is interrupted by a female voice coming from the top of the stairs.

The Countess: You know me all too well, Dr. Van Helsing. Did you stop by for a cup of tea? I wasn’t expecting visitors.

She steps out of the shadows and into the flickering firelight. She is wearing a diaphanous floor length gown, colored eggshell blue. Her long brown hair extends to her shoulders, where it curves back upwards in a flip. But the most striking aspect of her appearance is her stare, with two intense brown eyes that seem to pierce into her visitors’ very souls.

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Stephen King on Writing

A few years ago, my student Nick Martinez recommended Stephen King’s book On Writing to our legal writing class. I read the book cover to cover in almost one sitting, and since then I have read passages out loud to anyone who will listen. Nick and I discuss here what we learned about writing from the master of horror. 

NM: Stephen King wrote On Writing as a tool for budding writers to use in their exploits in constructing fiction, but the book’s wisdom translates to all forms of writing. I first read this book for fun, hoping just a little that it would also bolster my creative talents.

It wasn’t until I was fully immersed in the world of legal writing that I discovered myself using the very same fiction writing tricks set forth by King. King takes time to describe the most common and fundamental ingredients in all types of writing, such as proper word choice and sentence structure. By mixing in the anecdotal flavor of his own life, King succeeds in conveying these techniques in a clear and practical manner rarely seen in writing guides. King shares an entire “toolbox” of useful tricks.

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