The prologue and epilogue are literary devices used to give the reader a roadmap to the future and a neat resolution to loose ends. Legal contracts should and often start with a recitation of facts or conditions that the remainder of the contract should deal with in one way or another. New lawyers will often miss the closing of the loop in a contract. Rookie mistakes in drafting follow an open-ended formula. A recitation and a stated desire but no mechanism to create the outcome. I usually describe the closing of loops mathematically. My simple approach is to draft contracts or documents using the A + B = C formula. Where A is what is happening, B is what you want to happen, and C is how you want it to occur. You can also use this formula to create an outcome where A is what is occurring, B is how you want to create change, and C represents consequences if B is not followed. Both of these techniques are oversimplifications of contract drafting but almost all good contract terms follow this pattern.
I have often desired that parts of life follow the A + B = C format. A neat formula with predictability. Life rarely presents itself with three simple variables. Unfortunately, there is an A and an X and a B and then a Y often ending with a Z. Then out of nowhere life throws in a J. How do we react to these outliers? These variables are not candidates for a neat prologue and conclusive epilogue. Living life, you must be able to pivot, react and juggle unknown characters, variables, and unpredictable influences. Formulas are often helpful to retain stability in the day to day so you can handle the twists and turns.
Assuming that our trajectories are anything but linear keeps us prepared for all 26 letters.
Albert R. Hartley
Currently Reading:
The Quiet Game
By: Greg Iles
Creative Quest
By: Questlove
Steve Martin Writes the Written Word: Collect Written Word Works
By: Steve Martin
The Works of Alfred Tennyson
By: Alfred Tennyson
The Plague, The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom, and Selected Essays
By: Albert Camus
The Rebel
By: Albert Camus