Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

It’s time for my tri-weekly post of roundups of writing posts, motivational posts, and other assorted things that have piqued my interested.  Most everything is something I found through my RSS reader.

Writing

• 75 Books Every Writer Should Read (Online Universities.com) (via Holy Kaw!)
• The Wrong Stuff (Judge Alex Kozinski) and  How to Lose a case in 100 pages or more (Judge Gerald Lebovits), via the (new) legal writer.
• The Power of the First Sentence (Write to Done)
• The Art of Great Writing: 60 Writing Tips From 6 All-Time Great Writers;  The Art Of Great Writing Part 2 – 125 More Tips From 20+ All Time Great Writers (bighow.com)

Motivation

• 11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination (Stepcase Lifehack)
• Why Most People Won’t Succeed (Mr. Self Development.com)
• Top 40 Useful Sites to Learn New Skills (Marc and Angel Hack Life) (via Holy Kaw!)
• But you’re not saying anything (Seth’s Blog)

Everything else

A little while ago I shared my fascination with books.  Today I found a post on Japanese pens.  Yes, I spent the time to read a post on Japanese pens and then took the time to write about me reading a post on Japanese pens.

The rest of it

I read a lot blogs.  Some I read for the content.  Others I read because I like the way the writers write.  I don’t know why, but from my experience, the best writers are criminal defense attorneys.  Two of the best are Norm Pattis (Norm Pattis blog) and Scott Greenfield (Simple Justice).  For pure writing skill and style, they are way at the top.  I read the blogs for the content too, but that’s not the point here.  And I’m not talking about good writing as in grammar.  Anyone with a handbook can do that.  I’m talking about engaging prose.  Stuff you actually want to read.  Both have different styles.  Both are worth reading, and in my opinion, worth emulating.  Is there something about criminal defense that lends itself to good writing, more so than civil litigation?