Here’s a fun exercise — take a pen and throw it at a lawyer. Chances are you’ll hit someone who aspires to write a thriller or become a journalist.

It can be done. We are proof. Between the two of us, both lawyers, we have written novels, non-fiction books, TV scripts, newspaper and magazine articles, radio commentaries and countless other types of non-lawyer communication pieces.

But we have other writing skills too. We also write all kinds of law-related documents — contracts and letters of agreement, memoranda, agreed statements of fact, pretrial briefs, factums, demand letters for clients. The list goes on.

That’s the point. Lawyers need to write and to write well, but the skills required for lawyers to put pen to paper aren’t always the same as for other kinds of writing.

There is common ground. Good writers know how to get to the point, be clear about what they want to say and what action they are asking to be taken. Often, though, that’s where the similarities end.

Let’s look at the differences between writing an exciting book or a compelling news article and legal writing. And what the similarities are.

A novelist needs to capture the reader’s attention right from the get-go. The question is often asked of a reader after just the first paragraph: Are you in? Do you want to keep reading? Do you need to keep reading?

One way is to directly state the key point of the book. Here’s a famous opening line by Jane Austen in her 1813 book Pride and Prejudice:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

In one line, she sets out the whole narrative and tension of her great novel. In a modern version of this type of opening, Virkam Seth starts his sprawling novel A Suitable Boy with: “You will marry this year.”

Another trick. Start your first sentence in one direction, then veer off in another halfway through.

George Orwell’s 1984 begins with this: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” At first it sounds normal, but by the end of that sentence you know something is up. And you probably want to know what.

For a writer of longer material, the structure and path are important too. Novelists are taking you on a journey; often the more unusual, the better.

That’s why we love thrillers. Most of us won’t strangle, shoot or stab anyone in our own lives, but a good writer makes you want to know about someone who did, why they did it and how to hunt them down.

Journalism is different. The goal is to tell you the most important stuff first, as fast as possible. That’s why it’s called news — it’s new.

It’s not just a matter of telling you what happened — that’s noise, not news. Right now it’s unfortunate that so much of the reporting on COVID-19 falls into this trap — lots of random information with no context.

A good piece of journalism not only tells you right away what you’re going to read about; it gives you a sense why.

Here’s an example. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities were split on whether it was a good idea to wear a mask in public. Then a consensus emerged that it is, especially indoors in public areas. Then a backlash occurred in the United States, with people (foolishly we think) equating not wearing a mask with some sort of right to free expression. Full disclosure: we think these anti-mask people are ridiculous.

You could begin a story about this in one or two sentences that would let people know right away what they will read about if they continue. How about this?

“To mask or not to mask? That is the question that until recently troubled scientists, who have now reached consensus that is safer to cover up than to blather on about some ill-conceived idea that one has a ‘right’ to infect other people with COVID-19.”

Do you get the point?

So now that we see differences, what are the similarities between these types of writing and legal writing? Here are three.

1. Be simple. Be direct. Tell a story. The more complicated the legal concept, the simpler your language should be to explain it.

2. Make sure you are clear about what you want. Does the other party owe your client money? Tell them they have to pay and what the consequences will be if they don’t.

3. Make sure you know what you are asking of whom. Who will read your legal writing? Another lawyer? A business associate? A judge? Think — and care about your reader.

Many of us want to be great writers like Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway or Lord Denning, or successful journalists like Woodward and Bernstein. We may or may not get there — but to start, we need to know which way we want to go when we hit the keys.

David Israelson is a non-practising lawyer, author and journalist. You can follow him on Twitter @davidisraelson or on Linkedin. Robert Rotenberg is a criminal lawyer at his firm Rotenberg, Shidlowski, Jesin and the author of five bestselling legal thrillers. His sixth will be published in February 2021. Together they teach lawyers and business executives how to improve their writing and communication skills.