By: Alissa Damiano
Decisions and Revisions
In the article titled, “Decisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Publishing Writer,” the author, Carol Berkenkotter, and Donald M. Murray conducted a study to evaluate the processes of planning and revising in highly skilled and verbal writers. As writers, we are often not aware of the tendencies and thought processes we undergo during our own writing processes. We do a lot of things unconsciously and do not even realize how our processes may change depending on what we are writing or what environment we may be in. This is why the study was recorded and evaluated over different periods of time as well as different locations to assess how these factors may affect an author’s writing process.
I find that I tend to not do much prewriting and instead just jump into the writing based on what I know. Prewriting only ever becomes a big deal for me when I am asked to write a topic that I am not familiar with or do not have enough prior knowledge on. This is when research and brainstorming become very important for me and helps my process of writing go a lot smoother. In Mr. Murray’s results of the study, it seems as though he took a lot of time to plan and prewrite for his 3 writing pieces compared to any of the other steps, such as editing and revising. Revising especially had a very low percentage compared to everything else. In contrast to Mr. Murray, I feel that I tend to spend more time revising and editing my paper during and after writing since I do not do as much pre-writing and planning beforehand, so having that process of revision and editing is important to make sure my piece flows smoothly. This relates to Mr. Murray in the study since while recording his writing process, they found that he often went back to his previous paragraphs while he was still in the process of writing to change things and perfect those paragraphs. I find myself doing the same since I feel that my ideas shift and change as I continue writing my piece, so editing is needed to make everything flow together.
Are Writers Laboratory Rats?
In Donald M. Murray’s article titled, “Response of a Laboratory Rat- Or, Being Protocoled,” I agree with his statement that there is no exact writing process that every writer follows. I think it is really important as writers to be aware of our own writing process as well as the processes of others out there to understand that no two writers write exactly the same. Every writer undergoes their own internal and external thought processes while writing and so many different factors such as the topic, environment, etc can affect the process of writing.
I also enjoy the point that he makes when he says that the study became very natural over time and the writer should not be looked at as a “rat.” These are all very natural processes that writers undergo and ultimately, the study was just observations of how the mind works when writing. The only changes that affected the study were the environment, topic, etc. Other than that, it was a very natural process that every human who writes goes through in their own unique ways. This study is a very interesting way to discover your own writing process as an individual and I feel that every writer should test this themselves to open up their awareness of how they process writing.
Leave a Reply