Writers’ Corner ters, while sans serif fonts lack these problem of unsightly gaps between Appearance to Match Substance finishing strokes. Here’s an exam- words. ple of each: This sentence uses Palatino Creating Contrast and Emphasis Linotype, a serif typeface. Writers have several typographi- Creating the This sentence uses Univ- cal options for creating contrast or ers, a sans serif typeface. emphasis, including all caps, bold- You should select a serif typeface face, italics, underlining and changing for your document’s text. Serif type- typeface. Among these, indisputably Stylish Brief faces are considered more legible, the worst choice is putting anything which is why almost all book and in all capital letters. Readers differ- magazine publishers choose a serif entiate letters by shape, including by R. Daniel Lindahl typeface for text. Furthermore, some height. But when print is in all caps, court rules specify that documents every letter is the same height. Con- must use a serif typeface. sequently, using all caps slows down Therefore, you should always use the reader, who must work harder to a serif typeface for your document’s recognize each letter. Most lawyers give careful attention text. But which serif font is best? Begin For a similar reason, underlining to the substance of their writing— with a proportionally spaced font should be avoided because under- their ideas and the words chosen to (where the letters’ widths vary) rather lining obscures the descenders on express those ideas. But fewer law- than a monospaced font (where each letters such as “g,” “p,” “q” and “y,” yers give equal attention to another letter has the same width). Mono- interfering with the reader’s ability to important aspect of written expres- spaced fonts (such as Courier) are instantly recognize those letters. sion: the appearance of the documents difficult to read because each letter The best option is using either that they create. This is regrettable is the same width, which interferes italics or boldface, neither of which because a document’s appearance with the reader’s ability to quickly hinders readability. Another good influences its effectiveness. A visually differentiate between letters. Next, option, especially with headings, is pleasing document is more likely to avoid Times New Roman and other changing the typeface. A heading be read, understood and remembered condensed or moderately condensed set in a bold sans serif typeface viv- than its unappealing counterpart. typefaces. Choose instead a typeface idly stands out from the surrounding Therefore, the careful writer labors designed for books, such as Century, serif text, giving the heading addi- over both the document’s words and Book Antiqua, Bookman Old Style tional emphasis. its appearance. or Palatino. Because these typefaces Fortunately, automated word pro- have a greater x-height (the relation- Effectively Using White Space cessing has made it easy to create ship between the height of a small-let- Leaving white space between sections attractive documents—if you know ter x and the top of a capital letter), is an effective way to create separa- what to do. This article offers a few they are easier to read than typefaces tion and signal transition. Think of a simple strategies for improving how such as Times New Roman, which has book—a new chapter always begins your documents look. a smaller x-height, designed for the on its own page, even if it means leav- purpose of cramming lots of letters ing some portion of a blank page at Choosing a Typeface into a newspaper’s narrow columns. the end of the preceding chapter. That Most word-processing programs offer white space signals to the reader that numerous typefaces (also known as Justifying Text the book is transitioning from one fonts). Typefaces suitable for legal As a general rule, text can be either chapter to the next. Similarly, leav- documents fall into two categories: flush-left (where the words line up on ing white space at the end of one sec- serif and sans serif. Serif fonts have the left margin but not on the right) tion of a brief and beginning a new small “wings” and or fully justified (where the words line section on the next page visually con- “feet” on the let- up at both margins). You should avoid veys the same message of transition, fully justified text, which causes the helping your reader follow the struc- word processing program to insert ture of your thoughts. large white spaces between words in R. Daniel Lindahl is a shareholder in order to make the margins line up. Avoid Orphan Headings the Portland office of Bullivant Houser But if you truly admire the fully jus- Headings are guideposts that help Bailey, PC, where he leads the firm’s tified look, make sure to hyphenate your reader follow the flow of your appellate department. He is also chair of DRI’s the text, which somewhat reduces the writing. But a heading’s effective- Appellate Advocacy Committee. Writers’ Corner, continued on page 59

54 © 2006 DRI. All rights reserved. For The Defense Writers’ Corner, from page 55 Use Small Indentations itations. But you should avoid such large ness is lost when it is disconnected from for Paragraphs indents, which are never used in profes- the accompanying text. Therefore, head- Back in the days of typewriters, para- sionally set type. Try instead a ¼-inch ings should always be followed by at least graphs were indented either ½-inch or 1- indent, which enhances the text’s flow. two lines of text and not buried at the bot- inch because that’s where the typewriter’s Try applying these suggestions to your tom of a page. And if it is a heading for a tab key put the indent. That convention writing, and you’ll find that your docu- major section of the document, the head- has largely continued despite the passage ments’ stylish appearance will match their ing should be followed by more than two of typewriters and their mechanical lim- substance. lines of text.

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