Why I Write (and Why I Think Law Professors Generally Should Write)

As my colleague James Boyd White has observed, It may look as though we are all doing the same thing, as we huddle over our typewriters or computers, producing work called articles or books, but we are in fact often doing very different things, and I think it is important to recognize and value these differences, in ourselves and in others. There are not only differences in what we write but in whom it is that we write for. Unlike Professor White,2 I usually write as professional to professional. Again, unlike Professor White,3 I am fairly comfortable with the voice and form of the law review article. Why do I write? Why do law professors generally write (at least those who do the same kind of writing I do)? I have asked myself this question more than once. Members of my family have asked me the same question quite a few times. It is not easy to explain why because the answers that first come to mind don\u27t stand up when you think about it for a while