3 Things Legislative Editing Taught Me About Writing Clearly

You can imagine my excitement as a freshly post-grad English (gasp!) major who had just moved across the country when I landed my first “real” job as a Legislative Editor for the Colorado General Assembly. After a rigorous interview process, I found myself sitting in the basement of the Colorado State Capitol building surrounded by thick binders of statute books, helping to prepare the very bills that would eventually become law.

It wasn’t glamorous (okay, it was a little glamorous), but it was transformative — not just for my resume, but for my writing. Here are three lessons I took away from that job that I now use every time I sit down to write:

1. Your Writing Should Make Sense (Really, It Should)

Bookish people, including myself, can fall into the trap of writing in fluffy, overdescriptive language when they should just say the thing.

Legislative language has no patience for that. As legislative editors, our job was to strip any language that did not fall within the bill’s subject matter, replace complex legal terms with plain-English equivalents (“provided that” became “if”, etc.), and cut redundancies. We also made language gender-neutral where possible to make bills more inclusive.

The result? Writing that was precise, accessible, and hard to misinterpret. Whether you’re drafting a bill or a Facebook post, ensuring clarity in your writing shows respect for the reader. 

2. It’s Okay to Follow a Formula

Writer’s block is real, and many times, it happens because we simply don’t know where to start.

Legislative editing taught me that structure is your best friend. Many sections of a bill follow a prescribed format: safety clauses, petition clauses, enactment language — all laid out in a way that drafters can apply without having to start from scratch each time.

When you have a formula, you can focus on substance instead of fussing over structure. Outlines, templates, and “canned language” aren’t cheating. 

3. Details Are Everything (But Not All the Things)

Editing legislation also trained me to notice every comma, every cross-reference, every accidental repetition. But it also taught me when to stop nitpicking.

Bills are living documents with deadlines. At some point, and likely soon, you have to send them forward, knowing they are clear enough to be interpreted correctly. That balance — noticing the fine details, but not letting them eat up too much of your time — is a lesson I’ve carried into all of my writing.

Legislative editing might not sound all that romantic, but it taught me to look at language in a whole new way. Good writing isn’t just about sounding clever –– it’s about making sure your reader doesn’t have to work so hard to understand you.