Academic Legal Writing - Eugene Volokh [158]
“[I]f it weren't for my buddy's consistently applying social pressure to be better than I would if no one were looking, I would have put in fewer hours and (presumably) performed more poorly.” If you're the sort of person who responds well to such friendly peer pressure, take advantage of it.
On the other hand, other people react differently. One student, for instance, suggested: “[Don't] talk to people doing the law review about the law review because others can contribute to your ... mid-competition blues .... It can be discouraging when another person says, ‘Just revising my draft,’ [when] you are not done [with the first draft] yet.” If you're the sort of person who responds this way, make a deal with your friends that you won't talk to each other about how far you've gotten.
The important thing is to know yourself, and to set things up so you and your friends help each other rather than inadvertently depressing each other. Humans are social creatures, and our mood and efficiency can change dramatically depending on our social environment. For this especially important, high-pressure task, take a few pains up front to arrange your environment so it helps you.
8. The really good and fortunate friends can help by lending you their apartments
If you live with a roommate, and a friend of yours is going out of town for the duration of the competition—not unlikely, since the competitions are usually during vacations—see if the friend will lend you his apartment. For most people, solitude and lack of distractions are a great help (even if occasional company can be a help, too).
9. Oh, no! I'm reading this chapter the day before the competition is to start
Don't panic. I stand by the advice I gave you, but preparation is helpful, not mandatory. Even if you couldn't prepare beforehand, just do the best you can during the competition. Likewise, even if you do less preparation than you hoped you could (you just skimmed the Bluebook chapters instead of reading them a couple of times), don't worry.
As one student reports, “A good friend of mine was in a section that had their huge memo due the day the competition started. As a result, he didn't prepare at all, and he still made it. I'm sure he's happy he tried, despite the [lack of] preparation.”
H. A Timeline for After You Start
1. Start quickly
Start quickly. Everything will take longer than you think, and you don't want to delay, no matter how much you dread the process.
Also, fatigue will be your enemy. If you get the materials in the morning or afternoon, but put off starting until the evening, you'll quickly get tired and inefficient, and therefore dispirited.
2. Read the instructions
Read the instructions carefully. You will have to follow them precisely. The instructions may tell you
a. how to format your document, for instance
i. which font to use,
ii. what margins to use,
iii. how many lines to have per page,
iv. how to organize the footnotes,
v. whether to use footnotes or endnotes,
vi. which of several possible citation styles to use (for instance, the Bluebook style for briefs or the Bluebook style for law review articles),
b. how to structure your paper,
c. what topics to cover or not to cover,
d. what research you may or may not do,
e. how many copies of your paper you should submit,
f. when exactly the paper is due, and more.
Obey these instructions, no matter how much you may disagree with them, or how unimportant you may think they are. If they tell you to underline the period in “Id.,” then always underline the period. The law review editors are looking for