Aebersold 1 Branden Aebersold Professor Gardiakos ENC 1101- Composition I 14 July 2013 The Revision Process When it comes

to an individuals planning and revision process, everyones strategy is a little bit different. Carol Berkenkotter decided to do an experiment on how professional writers plan and revise their masterpieces. She decided to study a Donald Murray, who a published writer, in order to see just how exactly good writing pieces are formed (218). It is no question as to whether or not Murrays planning and revision process is different from our own, but by how much? In order to avoid context stripping, or when researchers remove the subject from its natural environment, Berkenkotter allowed Murray to write where he does in his normal everyday life (218). She used the thinking-aloud strategy, as well as a tape recorder to capture and document Murrays thoughts (219). One of the first planning strategies that Berkenkotter observed Murray using involved a daybook that he carried around (220). Murray would carry around this daybook and make copious notes in the book about his writing, whether it be titles, topics, subtopics, or anything else he would use in this writing (220). Similar to Murray, I find myself writing down ideas that I get about a paper I have to write during the day. If I an idea about something good I can put in the paper, I will make a note off to the side so I will remember to add it later. Unlike Murray, who seems to always have numerous pages of ideas written down,

Aebersold 2 I tend to only have a few, or I might not even think about a paper before I start to write. Berkenkotter then noted that Murray would share his ideas with his wife, who would then physically type up the ideas (220). This is a tactic that Murray uses that I have personally never heard of before, and have never considered myself, possible because it might be considered cheating. Regardless, this seems like a good strategy in order to get another viewpoint on an idea. I personally do not like to share my papers or ideas with anyone except for my professor, and only because I have to. Next Berkenkotter composed a serious of percentages that represented how much of Murrays time spent was in regard to planning, evaluating, revising, and editing (222). It is to my surprise, as well as Berkenkotters, as well as Murrays, that a mean of only 3% of Murrays time was spent revising (Berkenkotter 222). This confused me because it seemed as if throughout her research there was an abundance of examples where Murray was revising. Berkenkotter then explained that Murray moved quickly from the stage of revising, back to the planning stage which she says are interconnected (225). This is why Berkenkotter came to find that most of Murrays time was spent planning (222). I spend a great deal of my time planning before I write, but Murray plans not only before, but while he writes. If he finds something that doesnt work in his writing, he takes a step back, and plans how to fix it (Berkenkotter 226). I on the other hand, if I do any revising at all, do it in one or two sessions rereading through my paper. If something is wrong, I fix it to make it sound better. Unlike Murray, once I write my paper, its done (other than fixing minor speech mistakes). Finally, Berkenkotter noticed that Murray used a revision strategy called reconceiving, or scanning the text through an external reading perspective (223). Hardly do I ever try to read my paper from an external perspective. Not that I do not think this process would help my writing,

Aebersold 3 but because I wouldnt know where to begin. It is a difficult task to read something through the eyes of someone else, and it must take a lot of experience to do so. Having said this, I am not nave in that I know others do not know everything that I do. I try to write my papers so that everyone is able to understand what exactly it is I am trying to say. Murray uses a variation of useful planning and revising techniques that many less experienced writers, including myself, do not. Although I do more planning that some of my peers, I do not do as much planning as Murray. That is fine, because I am not a published writer and none of my papers will ever have to be of that quality, but I would like to try to do more planning. I will try to get the reading and research done early, so that I can think and plan more heavily on the topic and what Im going to write. I will also try to do more planning after I write my paper, in terms of revising. This will hopefully make my revisions less rash, and more thought out that previously. Like Murray, I will consider getting someone elses opinion of my ideas for my writing. Whether it be a peer, family member, or teacher, Im sure all of their opinions will provide me with helpful insight. Finally, I will try to reread, revise, and plan my papers through the eyes of someone else. This may take some experience and getting used to, but this should significantly improve the overall effectiveness of my paper. I will most likely never be as great a writer as Donald Murray, but thats to Berkenkotters research I can use some of the same strategies. Hopefully these strategies will help me to become a better planner, reviser, and overall better writer than I am now.

Aebersold 4 Works Cited Berkenkotter, Carol. Decisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Published Writer. Writing About Writing. Ed. Wardle, Elizabeth and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 216-229. Print. Murray, Donald. Response of a Laboratory Rat-or, Being Protocoled. Writing About Writing. Ed. Wardle, Elizabeth and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 230-235. Print.