Berkenkotter and Murray

Before You Read

I do feel that I have a few pre-writing rituals. I usually have to be in a very quiet space with music playing very, very softly. I also usually try and write down any specific objectives that I am aiming for. These rituals help me focus on my writing, as well as give me inspiration and ideas.

Summary

In the articles of Berkenkotter and Murray, Berkenkotter uses Murray as a test subject to see how experienced writers think, write, edit, etc. Her way of going about this includes having Murray record his thoughts on practically everything he does onto a tape. She finds that Murray takes extensive notes and recites his drafts to his wife. Berkenkotter finds through her research that Murray goes through many drafts and extensive amounts of planning, but as soon as Murray is about to break new ground in her study, he fails to dictate his thoughts. She also found that Murray wasn't really able to write an explanation of death to ten year olds in an hour, because he didn't believe that he was writing to an actual audience, his lack of time, and lack of understanding of the topic. Her results showed that Murray used most of his time to plan and evaluate. But, he used hardly any time to revise.

In Murray's response to Berkenkotter's article he states that the one-hour protocol was one of the worst experiences in which he felt trapped. Murray also mentioned that the research project helped motivate him on some days and that talking aloud was, "Merely a question of turning up the volume knob on the muttering I do..". Murray also says that he didn't realize how much he actually planned, but said that much of his revision is done in the planning stage. Murray also states he does not want to be a model for other writers, because he hopes that all writers are diverse in their own way.

Synthesis

I found the articles of Berkenkotter and Murray similar to Kleine's article about students' researching habits. It goes to show that even experienced writers such as Murray, don't exactly have the best ways of approaching their writing. I find that Murray's statement that all writers are diverse in their own way, is a very true belief. Murray spent most of his time planning and evaluating, instead of spending an equal amount of time on all the stages of the writing. This shows that although Murray didn't follow the "exact rules" of writing, he is still a magnificent writer nonetheless.

Questions for Discussion and Journaling

1.) My impression of Murray's writing process was that it was actually similar to how I approach writing a paper. I tend to spend most of my time planning out my paper and outlining main points. However, I feel that I spend more time than Murray on the editing stage.

3.) I feel that Berkenkotter was shocked in how an experienced writer could neglect the important field of revision. But, with Murray's response later, she realized that not all writers necessarily divide the stages. Murray mentioned that he did some of his revision during his planning stage. Berkenkotter learned that not all professional writers are professional in the way they approach writing and that some of the ways that writers think, just can't be explained.

Applying and Exploring Ideas

1.) Most of the time, before I start writing, I plan out my ideas on a page. I make an outline of topics or important issues I want to discuss in my paper. I find my writing style to be somewhat like Murray's style. I tend to plan most of my paper out and evaluate it, but usually tend to lack in the field of revision. After reading the article, I feel that to become a better writer, you have to evaluate your writing style and decide what you feel you need to work on the most.

Meta Movement

I learned from the two articles that writing is a very difficult subject to research and that the tapping into the mind of a writer is hard to achieve. Murray is a good example of how all writers are different, and that writers should develop their own style, but to not neglect the important steps when writing.

Thoughts

Overall, I thought the first article was quite uninteresting. I don't really believe you can observe how someone thinks by just doing a few tests. There are so many thoughts that cannot be recorded because they pass through the brain so quickly. I thought  Berkenkotter's research was not a very strong way of presenting how writers work.