Confessions of an Incorrigible Writer

What I’m doing right now is my hobby: writing. I do in it every weekday morning in the law office I retired from several years ago.

When I was a student—in college, grad school, then law school—I hated writing. I’d sometimes avoid a course simply because it required what we called a term paper. I don’t know why I hated term papers, but my guess is that it was self-consciousness: fear of producing an unworthy product.

I remember with clarity (and embarrassment) the feeling of dread I experienced whenever a professor announced the requirement of a term paper. I’d think to myself, with a deep feeling of self-pity, My lord, 20 pages and only four months to do it!

Later, as a young lawyer in a large law firm, I’d often churn out 20 pages in a single day! Why did I become a lawyer if I hated writing so much? Ignorance. I didn’t know what lawyers did. I had no idea it involved so much writing.

Just like that, I became a writer

As it turned out, my ignorance was a blessing. I quickly came to enjoy the writing that was forced on me. It became the essence of what I did as a lawyer. Other lawyers went to court (usually over money), bargained with opposing lawyers (usually over money), or counseled clients (usually about money).

I wrote—briefs, memoranda, proposals, whatever. And I did it with enough success to make partner and even become chairman of my practice group.

Now in retirement, I search for opportunities to write—articles, columns, podcast scripts, whatever. I currently write monthly columns for three publications: two ABA publications and my college alumni magazine.

I’m on the editorial advisory boards of two ABA publications and one state bar publication. And I write and record a monthly podcast for the American Health Lawyers. It’s supposed to be humorous, but you’ll have to ask a listener (if you can find one).

In addition to the columns and scripts, I try to write articles as often as I can. As I believe most writers can tell you, the hardest part of producing an article is identifying a good topic. That highlights another irony in my long-ago hatred of term papers: The professor usually provided the topic, thereby eliminating the chief obstacle.

At the office on the regular

My firm provides an office to any retired partner who actually uses it. Surprisingly (to me), few of our retirees choose to meet that condition.

But I do. Each weekday morning, I arrive by 8:30 or so, dressed in suit and tie, and enter the small office assigned to me.

In that office, I have all I need for my research, writing, editing, podcasting, and editorial advising: a computer and two monitors, recording equipment, subscriptions to all the publications I want (50 or so), printer, telephone, and thankfully, access to the firm’s help desk.

Of course, I could produce my columns, articles, and podcasts at home. For several months during the COVID-19 crisis, I did just that. But I prefer to work in my office.

Why? Partly for practical reasons: I have two monitors in my office, there’s no television to tempt me, my bulldog Albert (Tabler spelled sideways) doesn’t whine for attention, and my wife Dawn needn’t worry about making noise.

But the main reason I prefer to work in my office is that it’s what I’ve always done. I associate the office with researching, writing, and editing. Like the suit and tie, the office is part of a routine I’ve followed for more than half a century.

Ironically, I’m much more efficient at writing in retirement than before. One reason is that I always leave my office by noon. The shorter workday (if I can call it that) forces me to work faster, confirming Parkinson’s Law: Work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. (A cynic might say I write faster in retirement because no one is paying me by the hour.)

Seek and ye shall find

How do writing opportunities arise? Well, generally, they don’t arise. You have to find them.

I do that by volunteering for editorial advisory boards, volunteering to write columns, and submitting articles, generally unsolicited. Of course, all that involves the risk of rejection, but so what? If an article is rejected, I’m no worse off than before I submitted it, and I’ve had the satisfaction of writing it.

My recommendation to a retired lawyer looking for a hobby? Try writing. Your legal career probably made you pretty good at it. And don’t overlook another advantage: It’s indoor work with no heavy lifting.