Berkenkotter and Murray

The article, Decisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Publishing Writer, written by Carol Berkenkotter was the process of a lab experiment she did on a man named Donald Murray. This wasn’t a typical experiment with lab coats and terrified rats but more of a study on the process behind writing. Berkenkotter had two concentrations. She wanted to compare the difference it makes on the location of writing as well as the revision process. Murray was allowed to write and organize his thoughts wherever he thought necessary. He used a tape recorder to record his thoughts out loud as well as used journals to write down concepts that lingered in his head. When Murray was in the comfort of his own home, he was able to form profound ideas for his articles. Berkenkotter spent a total of sixty-eight days studying the habits of Murray and his process of writing and revising his work. He never had a specific way of revising his work. It was somewhat sporadic. He would constantly go from planning, to translating to reviewing then revising all at different times. Murray was also studied on how he preformed when placed in a room and assigned a prompt to write about in a specific amount of time. It was hard for Murray to grasp the idea of who is audience was or to gain an interest in what he was suppose to write about. Needless to say he did not preform efficiently at this task compared to the work he was intrigued in. Murray was able to reflect on the experiment in a different article that he wrote. He believed the experiment went well, he just wished that Berkenkotter had added a few things. Murray found it interesting how much he got into his writing at the time, that he felt that Berkenkotter understood more about his writing that he did. He also reflected on how it is important to go back and forth with writing and revising even though it may seem confusing.

I thought the two articles were very compelling. I found it interesting on how much time Murray spent on his writing and revising. It was almost a lifestyle for him. He always was thinking about his writing and somehow managed to record his thoughts. I personally have never spent so much time on a piece of writing. I do know that it is Murray’s career and his passion but I have never put that much effort into any sort of writing. I barely ever make rough drafts for my assignments let alone revise them unless it is a really important piece of work. I do know that if I enjoy something and have a strong passion for it I will put forth so much hard work and try to make it as close to perfect as possible. I guess that is what Murray strived to do with his writing. I can also relate to Murray by the whole idea on writing about something you don’t have an interest in. For example, when I took the Act I was forced to write about school dress code. It was hard for me to write about this because I didn’t really have a preference either way and in the back of my mind I know the maker of this prompt didn’t really care about it either. He was just forced to come up with something that could create a counter argument. It also is difficult because they put a time limit on you and you are in a room with a bunch of other students on a Saturday morning. I also found it interesting how Murray got so into his writing that he barely even knew what he was writing about. He was so stuck in the moment of writing and forming ideas.