Opening lines: what literature can teach lawyers about writing
‘Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.’ [One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez]
‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way’. [A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens]
‘If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: in love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.’ [The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah]
What do all of the above have in common? They are the opening lines of great books. Fascinating novels written by brilliant writers, true wordsmiths that treated writing as a sacred craft.
An arresting opening line serves multiple purposes. First, it grabs the reader’s attention. Second, it sets the the scene for what will ensue: a good opening line will probably be followed by good prose. Third, it is memorable. Many novels’ opening lines have been immortalised and are known even by people that never read the book itself. The opening line of Moby-Dick (“Call me Ishmael.”) is a good example.
What can we (lawyers, legal scholars, judges, law students) learn from literature? Well, the list is endless, but let us just focus on opening lines for now. It is common knowledge that, more frequently than not, legal writing can get a bit dry and technical. The writer usually gets straight to the point, using no literary devices to help the reader more easily navigate the detailed material she presents. Analogies are absent, and so are metaphors and allusions. Sometimes we do encounter the odd quote, but this remains the exception.
What literature teaches us, inter alia, is that the benefits of intriguing opening lines transcend writing genres. Good writing is good writing, whether it’s literature, advertising, legal essays or court judgments. It is therefore advisable to take the “risk” of relying on them to get readers hooked before driving our point home.
Having mentioned court judgments, it is worth stressing that some brilliant opening lines can be found in judgments. Here are some fine examples:
‘In my view, the parties do not need a judge; what they need is a rather stern kindergarten teacher.’ Justice E.Morgan of the Ontario Superior Court in Morland-Jones v Taerk, 2014 ONSC 3061.
‘I will call her Janet because she has had four surnames already.’ Lord Denning in Eves v Eves [1975] EWCA Civ 3.
‘Overnight on 29th January 2012 the Defendant, Fatih Ozcan had a dream.’ HHJ Gosnell in Kucukkoylu v Ozcan [2014] EWHC 1972 (QB).
And of course, Lord Denning’s most famous opening line: ‘It happened on April 19, 1964. It was bluebell time in Kent.’ Lord Denning in Hinz v Berry [1970] 2 QB 40.
The link between great literature and good legal writing is there for us to explore. Who knows? At the end of the day we might come to conclude that ‘it was love at first sight’, to use the opening line from Joseph Heller’s bestseller “Catch-22”.
