11.1 OPPORTUNITIES FORPERSUASION
In the game of Scrabble, players use letter tiles to spell words in a crossword puzzle pattern on a game board. They score points based on which letter tiles they use: The infrequently used “X” is worth 8 points, while the more common “T” is worth only 1 point.
Players earn bonuses, however, if a letter is placed on a special space on the board: Some spaces are “double letter score” or “triple letter score” spaces, which allow the player to double or triple the points of the letter on that square. Even better, some spaces are “double word score” or “triple word score” spaces, which allow the doubling or tripling of the points for the whole word.When you write a brief, you will “score points” with your reader just based on your “tiles” — the strength of the arguments you make about the law or the facts. In addition, however, there will be opportunities for persuasion that arise at various times as you write the brief. These opportunities for persuasion, like the colored squares on the Scrabble board, allow you to make the most of what you have.
The opportunities for persuasion addressed in this chapter are based on knowledge about how people read and use legal documents. Practical advocates exploit this knowledge and base their writing decisions on it. Every writing decision you make — from which issues to argue, to how you structure your sentences, to what typeface to use — can affect how the reader understands and perceives your argument, or how easily a user is able to find the argument. Some decisions will affect the reader’s impressions of you as a credible advocate and a reliable reporter of the law and the facts. Others will affect the user’s ability to find the most relevant or important parts of the argument. All must be made with care, and with the reader and user in mind.