Login
Powered by
MOMENTUM
MEDIA
Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
After being a lawyer for over a decade, Gretchen Shirm left it behind to become an author. Here, she shares how her legal background continues to inspire and influence her storytelling.
Speaking with Lawyers Weekly, Gretchen Shirm, a lawyer turned author, discussed the motivations behind her unconventional career transition, how her legal background continues to shape her work as a writer, and the advantages of pursuing creative outlets for legal professionals.
For Shirm, the desire to become a writer has always been deeply ingrained. She explained that as she progressed in her career, this longing became an “urgent” pursuit that she “could no longer ignore”.
Shirm is the author of the recently published novel Out of the Woods, which draws inspiration from her experiences as a junior lawyer during her internship at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. She has also published three other fiction novels.
Though she “loved” her time in law, Shirm reached a turning point after completing her doctorate in creative writing and her first child’s impending arrival. At that moment, she realised: “It was impossible for me to juggle all of those things – something had to give!”
Despite leaving the legal profession, Shirm’s legal experience continues to shape her writing. She explained that readers often notice a distinct “restraint” in her writing style, a “stylistic tendency” she attributes to her time as a lawyer.
“I also think that being a lawyer really trained my critical mind in a way that fed into my creative mind,” she added.
Shirm believes a noteworthy “overlap” exists between the fields of creative writing and law, attributing this to their mutual reliance on “the power of language”.
When making this career pivot, Shirm noted that she encountered several challenges, with financial security emerging as one of the foremost obstacles to navigate during this process.
“Mostly the difficulties have been financial – how to sustain oneself as a writer financially – developing a creative career has been a hard slog, and I think I was possibly naive about that when I started to write,” she shared.
Shirm shared that mastering the “craft” of creative writing has presented a significant learning challenge, as it is a “highly specialised skill” that can’t be perfected on the first attempt.
She added: “Writing a novel also requires an incredibly huge investment of mental energy – a bit like being a lawyer, it consumes a great deal of your focus, so finding space in life to do that, while also earning an income and raising a child and being a good partner can be challenging.”
Shirm posited that for legal professionals, “awakening their creative mind” can yield significant advantages. During her time as a full-time lawyer, she ensured that she dedicated time each day to engaging in “writing and reading” due to how “therapeutic and freeing” it was to allow her mind a much-needed creative break from the intricate challenges of the legal profession.
“I personally think that lawyers benefit from engaging in different forms of thinking and reflecting beyond the narrow thinking the law entails, so if there’s any way of making space in your life by working part-time or taking time off work to develop your creative practice, I would definitely encourage that,” she stated.
With the rise of AI and the changing nature of work, Shirm believes that now is an essential time for lawyers to expand their skill set, stating: “Creative thinking is one area in which people will be able to distinguish themselves from formulaic, AI-generated ideas.”
We're evolving — and so should your insights. Heads up — Lawyers Weekly is going premium from 1 May for just $5 a month. Stay informed without missing a beat. More information coming soon.
Get breaking news
Grace Robbie
