Here are the first two sentences of the fourth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, as I currently imagine them:
This manual offers guidelines for clear and concise contract language. If you’re making decisions regarding contract language without consulting it, odds are you’re copy-and-pasting, relying on flimsy conventional wisdom, or improvising.
I hear you saying to yourselves, Ah, this is the jumped-up so-and-so we know and love!
Go here to see what the introduction currently looks like. (Sorry, but it’s a PDF. I haven’t got the hang yet of how to upload a Word document with the appropriate settings.) I’d be delighted to receive comments. If you get the fever and want to pore over the manuscript, go here to find out how to make that happen.
In the fourth paragraph, third sentence, you probably meant to say “…making headway in the marketplace of ideas requires…” and not “…making headway in the marketplace ideas requires…”
That’s why it’s great to have fresh pairs of eyes looking at this stuff! Thank you.