First drafts
A valuable nugget from Execupundit's "Miscellaneous and Fast" section: Author Steven Pressfield on first drafts. I always think of first drafts as "how I would explain it" were I talking - the story, the chain of events, the instructions. From there, it is easier to edit.
You're in good company. I took a legal-writing seminar once from Gary Kinder, author of Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea . He recommended imagining that you're talking to Tom Wolfe, wearing his trademark white suit and high-collared striped shirt and fancy necktie, and he asks you to tell him about your case.
I once told an anecdote to Bryan Garner, the nation's foremost authority on legal writing and drafting, during a seminar break, and I have to admit that I rehearsed it in my head a few times first. One does one's best in the presence of experts. Tom Wolfe would no doubt have the same effect.
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