When writing anything, whether it is an essay, a movie script, a song, or any other form of written media, it is common to revise what you have previously written. Revising your work allows you to catch mistakes you may have missed, like spelling or grammar errors, as well as changing anything that you don’t think works or makes sense. When revising, even though we don’t actively think about it, we go through our own processes when going over our work and completing our revisions.
The processes people go through when revising their work were observed by Carol Berkenkotter and Donald M. Murray in an experiment documented in Berkenkotter’s article, “Decisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Publishing Writer.” The article documents how people do many things subconsciously, like writing in certain way or look for certain mistakes first. It also went over how the writer’s processes may change even if they don’t realize it depending on what you are doing, as well as their environment and location.
Donald M. Murray would later go on to write a response article titled “Response of a Laboratory Rat- Or, Being Protocoled,” where he states that there is no exact process that every writer follows. I agree with this statement, as no one has the exact same way of writing or describing events and ideas, and that’s important for the sake of everyone having their own distinct voice and ways of describing things. Everyone has their own opinion, thoughts, and environment that affects the way people talk, think, and feel. Overall, everyone has their own distinct way of writing and revising their work, and many different factors that go into making those voices distinct.
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