ABSTRACT
To reduce writing to a series of skills and prescriptions does not teach empowered creative thought. Rather, it marginalizes writers, telling them their experiences are not important. (Shafer, 1999, p. 227)
In writing, as in life, you have to ask a lot of hard questions of yourself … never settle for easy answers … You have to learn to trust … the writer’s voice within you … Anything can happen; everything is possible. You just have to keep writing. (Randall, 2002, p. B2)
Good writing isn’t forged by magic or hatched out of thin air. Good writing happens when human beings take particular steps to take control of their sentences, to make their words do what they want them to do. (Fletcher, 2000, p. 5)
Have you ever observed an author writing? Probably not. Much of what good writers do is concealed from public view (Fletcher, 2000). Unless they participate in an interactive writing group, authors usually work in solitude. How they plan, draft, revise, review, and edit their work are generally hidden from us. Carol Berkenkotter’s case study of Donald Murray is a notable exception. Berkenkotter (1983) illuminates Murray’s writing, revising, and editing strategies, and his writing habits. In addition to Berkenkotter’s study, Murray’s numerous books about writing offer insights and advice on the processes and the craft of writing. He frequently uses his own experiences and his own writing to illustrate a writer’s struggles (see Murray, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1996a, 1996b, 1999, 2000, 2001).
