Lessons From A Legislative Policy Writer
KWI’s guest speaker at the June 26, 2010, meeting was our own Reed Holwegner, who joined our group in February of this year.
Reed is a native of South Dakota, who has been transplanted to the Sunflower State for the second time. Reed attended the University of South Dakota, where he earned his BS in political science and his MPA with a dual emphasis in legal research and program evaluation. After graduate school, Reed came to Kansas and worked for the nonpartisan Kansas Legislative Research Department for three years researching and writing legislation. He then moved back to South Dakota to do the same type of work there. After six years, he took a sabbatical and worked in real estate for a year in the Black Hills. He returned to Kansas and is again employed with the nonpartisan Kansas Legislative Research Department for the past three years as a research analyst. There are days when he fondly claims his title should be “javelin catcher.” Although Reed’s job has him writing primarily fiscal policy, away from work, he writes science fiction as well.
He presented an interesting program on legislative writing. We learned about government policy, both theoretically and practically, what differentiates the two, as well as what’s crucial in writing policy. He also helped us understand bill drafting and writing policy analysis. He ended with a humorous writing based on actual comments made in years past by our elected officials.
I enjoyed Reed’s presentation and I learned a great deal about our legislative process and not just the writing of legislative policy. I even learned a fair amount that I feel will help me in my writing of articles, devotions, and inspirational fiction. Surprised? Actually, there’s a lot to be said about learning about the different kinds of writing and the rules that apply within a particular area or genre. For example, in writing law or policy, there’s a vast difference in using shall and shall not or may and may not. In fiction, the distinction between those words may not be as noticeable or have as drastic an effect on its intended meaning. Reed stressed that when writing policy, a word’s main meaning should be used rather than its subtle meaning. And while that may not always be true in fiction, I can see where it would definitely apply in many areas of writing, especially legislation.
I am a lover of words. I love to read them, and I love to write them. It’s amazing how a mere twenty-six letters of the alphabet of which only five are vowels — six if you count “y” — can be comprised, finagled, and arranged in an order that can evoke feelings of fear, peace, laughter, or tears. Hmm, maybe policy and fiction have more in common than we think. There’s one thing for sure–whether you’re writing policy or fiction, adverbs can be problematic. But no matter what you write, every single word has an impact and matters. So, choose your words wisely. While you generally stand a chance of doing revisions with your written word, once spoken, they rarely can be edited.
Thank you, Reed, for sharing your expertise with us. We’re honored to have you as a member of our group.
A more in-depth write-up of the program can be found in the June, 2010, edition of the KWI Newsletter.
Susan Hollaway
Susie, thank you for the wonderful blog. Having missed Reed’s presentation, your post gave me a new insight into legislative writing.
Thanks for the kind words, Renee. Reed gave a very interesting and entertaining presentation. I enjoyed it.
I thank Susan for the kind article and blog entry. Writing has sometimes been compared to chess. The rules for grammar and the board game can be easily learned, but it can take a lifetime to master either. The exercise of writing always needs to be honed. One writing project can lend itself to be practice for another.
Writing opportunities can come from surprising places. For example, last week an intern who has been working under my supervision for the past six months asked me for a letter of recommendation so that he may apply to law school. This was a very different creative writing project. My choice of words could either help or they could severely stymie his career aspirations. To optimize its effectiveness, my recommendation letter should only be a page long. Gee, no pressure there. Fortunately, the intern had demonstrated several strengths and abilities to inspire my writing. Three paragraphs and 250 words later, I think that I concisely accomplished what was necessary. In large part the intern’s acceptance to a law school will mostly be due to his college grades and score on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). If he does get accepted, I will take satisfaction in knowing that my writing encouraged others to open the intern’s door of opportunity.
Reed,
I’m glad you liked the article and blog entry. I liked your comment. You are so right — writing takes a lifetime to master….but what a wonderful journey.