A Writer Teaches Writing

Second Edition
A Complete Revision

DONALD M. MURRAY
University of New Hampshire

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

Dallas

Geneva, Illinois

Boston
Hopewell, New Jersey
Palo Alto

Copyright 1985 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.

No part ot this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any intormation
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be addressed to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, One Beacon Street, Boston,
MA 02108.
Printed in the U.S.A.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 84-81981

ISBN 0-395-35441-2
EcDHuH:j

17

he
he

PLAN

ht
)id
i

j
1W

lot
VC

he
,(

mt
SO

erith
ise
a\
tes
ful

it S
CS,

d.

itelirv,

lOW
we;

s in
foreals
lost
fecters

I
j

I.

--

It

the most important writing usually takes place before there is writing
at t,ist vhat ,vr uuiallv thmk of is riting: the production ot a
running draft, Writers write before they write.
I had the strange experience of being a laboratory rat in a writing
study by Dr. Carol Berkenkotter of \lichigan Technological University.
( Decisions and Revisions: F he Planning Strategies of a Publishing Writ
er, Carol Berkenkotter, and Response of a Laboratory Rat
or, Being
Protocoled, Donald M. Murray, Colhy,i Ceimipncif ion mud Conimumncatoun,
vol. 4, no. 2, May lo3, pp. 1 5(l72. Note: the word not should be
stricken from b. on page 171.) She studied my writing over a two-and-a
halfmonth period, focusing on two academic articles and a newspaper
editorial I wrote (luring that time, although I did work on other projects,
mm ludinh tution md pot tr\ Sht hid mt t mp& rrrord Ii it I is dumb
while I wrote as well as keep every note and every draft. hen she
studied the 122 ninetyminute tapes and the drafts. She also interviewed
me and observed me writing.
The most important discovers, fur me, was that I spent three-fifths
of my time
or more
collecting information and planning my writing.
Most of my rewriting turned out to be, in fact, planning. On occasion,
I spent 90 percent of my writing time planning. Dr. l3erkenkotters re
search and my own observations of my most elfective writing students
and colleagues led me to the model of the writing process presented in
this hook.
Inexperienced writers often write too soon. I can hear the reader
saying, But you suggested we start the writing course by having our
students plunge in and write. This is one of the contradictions I can
never fully resolve in my own teaching. Mv beginning students need
to write immediately so that they experience the territory of writing for
surprise. When they know what it is to write, then they can start to
learn to write more effectively. Writing is a skill, and students need to
mess around with paints before they learn to paint, plunk at a piano
before they are taught scales, fool around with a basketball, getting the
feel of it, before they are put through a formal practice. Writing, unlike
art, music and sports, has not been a matter of play for our students
at least not since the earliest grades of school. They have to write to
reexperience that essential play. When they are in the game, we can
begin to help them plan so they will write before they write.
Much of the had writing we read from inexperienced writers is the
direct result of writing before they are ready to write. Effective planning
doesnt discourage discovery as long as it is open-ended and experirnen
tal and the writer understands what John Fmvles says, Follow the

is

Y VI WRITING
CULHVM ING URPRISI* IHE IRVCLSS mLOR

that is the rule. But that does not mean

accident, tear the fixed plan
ages the kind
the writer should not plan. Planning, in writing, encour
ng takes
Planni
needs.
writer
and every other
ot acidcnts Fowles
uate
adeq
t
withou
ary
the place of the many drafts that are usually necess
p Ia on in g.

--

10 CtIS

As Kurt Vonnegut,
An effective piece of writing says one dominant thing.
not advance the
does
that
Jr., says, l)ont put anything in a story
memo, technical
t,
men
argu
action. The same thing can be said for
advances the
and
orts
supp
text
writing or poetry. Every element in the
t
meaning.
inan
dom
that
for
main point. Planning starts with the search
er the
discov
writer
the
help
There are a number of techniques that
ld
shou
writer
the
But
.
written
before it is
focus of a piece of writing
focus
The
ery.
discov
of
act
an
is
never forget that the act of writing itself
refine the focus,
is not found, then kept unchanged. The writing will
completely.
change
to
it
qualify it, adapt it, and many times cause
taking the
n
before
natio
desti
final
The writer does not arrive at the
n before
natio
desti
the
of
idea
an
trip, but the writer still has to have
cant
Signifi
tive.
produc
very
not
is
starting out. Pointless wandering
writer
The
class.
re
literatu
the
in
made
discoveries in chemistry are not
during the expedition
needs to have some idea of what may happen
towards meaning.
focus in a piece
Here are some ways the writer finds the potential
of writing.
The Focal Point
a single spot from
Painters and photographers direct the viewers eye to
to study paintings
l
helpfu
be
may
It
d.
rstoo
which the picture can be unde
with words.
or photographs to learn visually what we need to do
to energize an
point
single
a
of
power
the
The writer should learn
a quotation,
c
entire draft. I like to look for an organizing specifi
that will draw all the material together. I find
statistic, concept, scene
nt that will expose
it helpful to seek a revealing detail, a significant fragme
ess. Many times
an authors style, a failure in a law, a characters weakn
.
a single image will spark or organize a piece of writing
began with a
Fury
the
and
Sound
The
ed,
explain
William Faulkner
The picture was of the muddy seat of a little girls
mental picture.
gh a window where
drawers in a pear tree, where she could see throu
what was happen
her grandmothers funeral was taking place and report
as well as fiction
ing to her brothers on the ground below. Non-fiction,
s, in a sense, the
or poetry, often begins with an image that contain
the acorn that contains an oak.
whole story

PLAN

19

\jVhat words or phrases have special meaning to me as I work on a

piece of writing? Often a rather ordinary word, We all have such code
words in our life: the names of our family, the name of our hometown,
the title of a special song. Sometimes such words or phrases provide a
locus.
To find the local point, the writer often starts by simply standing
back from all the research, closing the notebook, pushing the file drawer
shut, and sitting back with a pad of paper and trying to put down the
most important thing the writer has learned from all the material the
writer has collected.
Writers sometimes find it helpful to stand back and answer, some
times in a paragraph, usually in a sentence, often in a phrase or a word,
such questions as:
What surprised me the most?
Li What organizing specific will help me control material?
ii What is the most revealing detail I have discovered or
can remember?
Li What image sticks in my minds eye and seems to symbolize the
entire subject?
O What person, or tace, do I remember from doing the research?
Li What idea kept coming hack to me during the time I was collecting
material?
[1 What code words have special meaning to me now?
IL What is the most important single fact I have learned?
0 What is the most significant quotation I heard or read?
0 What is the one thing my reader needs to know most of all?
0 What do I remember in greatest detail?
Li What event is central to what happened?
El What statistic sticks in my head?
El What did I think when I was doing the research?
O What did I feel when I was doing the research?
o What person impressed me the most?
O What story or anecdote do I remember?
o What pattern or order did I begin to see?
Li

a
Vs
re
Ii

Framing
Another way to develop focus is to frame the subject. This is, of course,
another word for the traditional counsel of achieving unity. But unity
for most beginning writers implies a finished kind of interwoven com
pleteness they cannot conceive. It is more helpful to think of framing
the subject or building a fence around it.

20

(1 IIIIV

Jf\J 5tlRP1<IE I ilL PR )CES5 I lIf( )RY OF WRITiNG

Most of us need to start by excluding rather than including. It is

hut necessary.
very hard to leave out matenal you have collected
Distancing
Establishing the most effective distance from which to write and, there
ng
fore, read a piece of writing is one of the most important planni
on
ionals
profess
with
activities, yet it is rarely taught. When working
and
ts,
interes
es,
newspapers and magazines it is a concept that surpris
helps professionals as much as anything else I teach them.
Like most good ideas, it is obvious, And the way to understand the
concept of distancing is to think of photography. Photographers work
with
with wide-angle lenses that include the entire mountain range, and
.
flower
alpine
tiny
or
a
telephoto and close-up lenses that zero in on a cliff
tive
ineffec
much
and
s,
rhe writer has the same range of option
t
writing is the result of a writer using a close-up lens when the subjec
should be narrowed.
Distance, of course, implies detachment or involvement. The writer
t
has an entire range of distances that may be created between the subjec
on
polluti
of
the
issue
view
and
and the writer. The writer can stand back
with scientific detachment, and that very objectivity may be most effec
s
tive in persuading the reader that something should be done. The writer
writer
the
ity.
But
author
special
a
professional objectivity gives the writer
ance
may also choose to move in close and show the reader the import
dying
is
who
ial
worker
industr
an
of the issue by spending a day with
to
from the effects of pollution. The close-up may allow the reader
,
feel.
family
experience the way he, and his

Point of View
When the photographer focuses on the subject the camera is at a particu
lar place, and as the camera moves the subject changes. The writer has
or argued,
to know the point from which the subject is to be viewed
told.
or
ed,
explain
or
ed,
examin
or analyzed, or discussed, or
g
During the planning process writers stalk their subject, movin
Point
point.
that
and
point
this
from
it
at
g
around it, circling it, lookin
the placing of the
of view, however, is not only a physical matter
is another way of
view
of
Point
.
feeling
of
but also a matter
camera
of the subject by
focus
the
find
often
writers
ve
saying opinion. Effecti
n based on
opinio
an
can
be
This
it.
of
ns
discovering their own opinio
of both the
built
n
opinio
an
or
n,
emotio
on
logic, or an opinion based
nal.
intellectual and the emotio

The Problem
er the
Another way to find the focus of a piece of writing is to discov
are
We
piece.
problem that will be solved through the writing of the

21

problemsolving animals and we need problems to solve. Some studies

of creative persons have hown that they see problems to be olved
where others do not. We see a pile of beer bottles, and the artist sees
the problem of catchinc the way the light reflects off the brown and
green glass. 11w writer sees, in the same beer bottles, a story in the way
Joe kept coming on too strong to the girls at the party and the kindly
way that Judy put him down. The social worker looks at the bottles and
sees the problem of alcoholism on campus that needs solving.
I the

What Is the Readers Question?

An effective piece of writing answers a readers question, and to do that
the writer must learn to anticipate the readers concerns. Sometimes I
will sit down and tormally write out such questionS as:

,vork
with
er.
ctive
bject

What
What
n What
Li What
Li What
Li What
Li What
Li

Li

riter
bject
1tOI

ttecer S
Writer
ance
lying
er to

VOICE

cticu
r has
ucd
)ving
Point
f the
y of
ct by
d
h the

r the
e are

does the reader need to know?

will interest the reader?
can the reader use?
will help the reader?
will surprise the reader?
will make the reader an authority?
will the reader rush to tell someone else?

Voice allows the reader to hear an individual human heinptak from

the page. Good writing always has a strong and approp,j voice. Voice
is the quality, more than any other, that allows us,recognize excep
tional poh ntial ifl i bcinning riter voice is
qu ihtv morc th n
any other that allows us to recognize excelIenvriting We respond to
oie when we heir it Voice gives the tcxt iniduility energy concern
Voice is, of course, closely allie&
tyle or tone, hut I prefer the
term voice for it seems more accii*fIe and more helpful for the begin
ncr Hovever we discuss styl, seems to gct rehted to fashion Style
sounds like something yobiy off the shelf. It is made by someone else
and it changes with thason The term style encourages the miscon
ccptlon thit writ1ng inhercntly dishonest that thc sriter has to say
what someoneie wants the writer to say in manner appropriate to
someone esi 3ut good writing is honest
honest in what is said and
honest in4ow it is said
Dr Donald H Graves of the University of New Hampshire
std his monumental studies of children writing, one of the first things
noticed was that the most effective young writers were always prac
ticing what they would write in their heads before they wrote. He called

23
DFS

trite
por

art a
tntly
iters
iting
;, its
F the
i the
use
with
es

The writing process is organic. It grows and changes during the act of
writing. What is being said changes what was intended to he said, The
structure of the piece of writing must be adapted to the evolving message
that is being delivered to the writer by the draft and will be delivered
to the reader in the finished version.
There is no one way to design a piece of writing. As we study
effective writers we find some pieces of writing that were written without
the slightest hint of the order that would be imposed by the raw material
on itself and other pieces of writing that were constructed from precise
blueprints. The type of plan depends, to a large degree, on the persom
ality of the writer. But I think it is dangerous for any writer to feel that
he or she can never work from a careful plan or, on the other hand,
must always have a careful plan.
The academic article I wrote before starting this draft was written
without any formal plan at all, It evolved from the first paragraph as
naturally as a river flows to the ocean. It seemed to flow naturally from
a plan that was unconscious, if it existed at all. Each part of the writing
came to me as if I were following invisible instructions. I accepted that;
who wouldnt?
Then I turned to write the final draft of this book, and found myself
making the most detailed plan I have ever made. It was necessary, and
it was helpful, so I made the plan. But, of course, I havent followed
the plan, not exactly. (And when I revised and edited the book, I had
more plans: three that I mailed to the editor in separate envelopes in
was the final one. None was.) The
I thought
one day. Each plan
outline is only a plan; the writing demands its own direction and develop
ment. I have had to leave things out and make room for new pieces of
information. I have had to change the order and the pace, the proportions
and the dimensions. I have had the excitement of writing a book that
is more than the plan, but that does not mean that I didnt have to have
a design from which to work. In fact, I had a number of designs, each
one more complicated than the last, until I saw a new simplicity. And
then that, in turn, became more complex, until it led to a simplification.
The writer needs a plan as an explorer needs a map. Its the guess
of how things may go from past experience. But it is only a guess. Yet
nothing will happen most of the time if there is no design. The writer
will simply wander and have to try to impose.a design later on, when
it is much more difficult to do. Each sketch of what may be the design
of the writing is a predraft, in which problems are identified and solved.
And the more experienced the writer is and the more difficult the writing
task the more likely the writer will begin to work with sketches of what
may need to be written before the first draft is begun.

34

(ULI! AIL\;1tRIRNI

liii iuoi

i vtiii;

liii

her
the reader a seiNe of tullillment or closure, It draws the piece to
said.
r
has
write
and reinforces what the
that
the sumi
g up
Writers rarely use the lonnal conclusion
the
e
when
com
endi
tive
e
effec
Mor
er.
read
is written directly to the
er
read
g
the
givin
on,
icati
impl
by
lude
writer tinds a way to conc
that
n
lusio
the
conc
to
e
er
read
e
the
mak
will
something specific that
y use the same techniques
the writer wants, To do this, writers us
tive
effec
an
uce
that are used to prod
---

The Trail
beginning and an ending, then they can
When young writers hay
will lead them through their material. Writers
begin to see the trail t
e from abundance, and they expect problems in
know they must
es, of course, the trail will be instinctive, or im
selection. Sor
e
r, hut many times writers will need a map. But unlik
mediately
ful
help
more
lly
s
usua
is
selve
maps, the one they draw them
geogra
own
e one drawn by someone else. Writers have to find their
tha
.
inations and their own way to get there
The Sketch
able to draw a
At the end of the planning process the writer may be
nature, need
sketch of the writing to be drafted. Some writers, by their
nders of
an extremely detailed sketch; others need only scrawled remi
they need no
key points; and still others, especially fiction writers, say
h will keep
such sketch at all and are, in fact, frightened that a sketc
of writing.
them from the accidental discoveries essential to a good piece
ng without
Of course writers who create fine pieces of finished writi
are most opposed
a sketch should never use one. Even those writers who
essful com
to sketches will run into writing tasks that demand the succ
do not make
pletion of a sketch, And if you talk to effective writers who
will find
,
sketches on paper while they are in the prewriting stage you
r sketch
Thei
ed.
that they have a very good idea of where they are head
is in their head, not on paper.
has a
Im talking about outlining, of course, but the term outline
the
what
to
tory
connotation of formal, rigid planning which is contradic
is
it
wed;
follo
writer does. The sketch is not a blueprint that has to be
the
that
so
like
a way of guessing what the piece of writing will look
tructed and
writer can take a look at the piece of work that may be cons
ng
a draft.
pleti
make changes before the time-consuming process of com
ssible to
st
impo
There are also some pieces of writing that are almo
h
fiction,
muc
s,
outline or sketch: humor, a mood piece, most poem
ess.
succ
its
for
plot
especially that which depends on character more than

35

There are a number ol dilterent vavs to sketch ,i piece of writing in

hat
the
de r
hat
ii e S

can
te rs
s in

ml

like
pful
)w n

w a
wed
.5 of
1 no
eep
ig.
iou
sed
O m
iake
lind
etch
ias a
t the
it is
the
I and
ift.

le to
tion,
:esS.

* Fr(nnc. Fhe sketch I most frequently use builds naturally trom the
planning te hniques used in this section of the book. 1 have a title, a
lead, the three to five main points, and an ending. I have built a frame
around what I want to say. I know where I will start and how. I know
where I expect to end, and how. And I have a strong sense of how I
will get from beginning to end. I have the same feeling. I am sure, that
a builder has when a house is framed in; theres a lot of work to do, but
the entire job can he visualized. Fhis sketch allows me to examine the
voice as well as the structure of the piece of writing. In an article or a
chapter 1 usually write a draft very fast it one sitting, or two, and Im
able to do this because the sketch is so complete.
As I build this frame I may look back and use titles, leads, endings,
trails I have sketched earlier. I may look back and use some and use new
ones that come to mind, or I may choose not to look back but just to sit
down and make a new frame, knowing that all the work I have done is
in my head, where it belongs. I can check back later if I feel it will help.
* Qucri. Nonfiction, both magazine articles and books, is often pro
posed and sold by a query. Many writers use a letter to query an editor,
but I find that letters tend to become discursive, and do not allow the
writer to show how he or she intends to write the piece and do not help
the editor visualize the piece.
I write my address and phone number, single-spaced, in the tipper
left-hand corner of a piece of plain paper. Two lines down, in caps and
underlined, I put the title, and under it, in upper and lower case, cen
tered, the name I intend to use in writing the piece. Two more lines
down, single-spaced, I write the lead as I think it will he written in the
final copy. I do not tell the editor about the piece, but reveal it through
this lead, which is ordinarily not more than ten lines. Then, indented,
single-spaced and hulleted, I make, in five lines or less, the three to five
main points. Then back out to the normal margin, and single-spaced, I
write a paragraph or two telling the editor about any special qualifica
tions I have, permissions to get the story, research materials, market
possibilities, anything the editor needs to know. This takes no more
than one page, unless I am proposing a book, in which case the bulleted
items become chapters, each one with a title and five lines telling what
would he in the chapter. In that case the proposal is two to three pages
long.
The query, of course, is not appropriate for the mood or humor
piece. Such pieces have to he written and then submitted because the
editor has to see and hear the voice to decide if it should he published.

I
I

VIAs

37

or belowaverage students. Ihere were no programs For students

who had learning problems. came From a poor educatiunal
background, or spoke another language than English at horn
E

The oneroom schoolhouse or small local high school otf

d very
Few courses, and they were often taught out of ancien
xthooks
that were out of date. There were few science Iaciht
or courses
that required special equipment or special teacher tr ing. Feachers
taught many subjects for which they were unp pared, staying a
day ahead of the students if they were luck
nd had not
moonlighted at another job the night befo to make ends meet.
.

,th
the
ore

SI) ii

xes
ts
the
yard
and

Teaching methods were primitive, dull d repetitive. Spelling, for

example, was usually taught throug
e spelling bee. Poor spellers
I was one were eliminated, n
aught. All the attention went
to the good spellers who survive and competed against each other.

ii

S.

hers
any
best
cate

The article will obviously

ye a strong, personal point of view. I
am still angry at the educati
I did not receive in a school system which
was considered one of th est in the nation. I do, however, have access
to records
even so
student papers
from the good old days
between World War
nd World War 11, and I will document my case
with objective evid cc. I will lighten up the statistics with quotes from
students and tea ers about the good old days, and a few anecdotes of
my own, such
the day the teacher was removed from class because
her engagern t had been announced. There was no evidence that shed
done it y
but the engagement announcement showed she intended
to do it.
arried women teachers were against the law in most school
district and many teachers had to support their parents and could not
affor to get married during the Depression because they would lose
th
jobs. They were caught in a trap. No wonder Miss Carey broke a
r er slamming the desk every few weeks and jammed had students,
yseif included, rump down into a wastebasket.

fore
he
ted
ans,
urses

were
ore
en
rmal
aty
nt to
age

* Column. Writers need a sketch to control the abundance of material

they accumulate before beginning a draft. Donald Graves, who studies
the writing of children and also writes himself, draws a column down
the left side of a page. He puts everything that might possibly be in the
article or chapter in that column. Then he draws three additional columns
and heads the first one beginning, the second one middle, and the
third one end. F-fe places items in each column. Obviously some things
are left out, and new items occur to him that have not been in the
left-hand column.

3S

HIJV[IIN. lIR1ubI: [(IL [1

kI5 IlIIk I [VLI!i\;

ng the finished roduct,

* Buy. All iese sketches are a vvay of visualizi
. ( )ne teresting way
vvav ot drawing a map ot what may be explored
impact [lie parts of
[lie
on
d
base
is
that
h
to do this is to draw a sketc
t be represented by i
an article will have on the reader. Ihe lead migh
t be as large, and one
box that takes i quarter of the page. Ihe end migh
h
would show that the
sketc
Flie
large.
as
st
or two turning points almo
er, and tha ii it next
first pa ragri ph has enormous m pact on lie read
t have little iinpa t.
six pages, [or example, before a major turning poin
r knows those points
the point ot the sketch is to make sure the write
er to them.
of impact and then discovers how to get the read
tantly experiments, adapt
* Rex plus celu,un. the working writer cons
s. In outlining the chapters
ing techniques he or she learns trom colleague
hat ft he page. then, with
ii
in
u
cot
and
for one book I made ( ;r,Wes lefth
the lead, and the end.
title,
the
br
box
the other half, I made a sizable
lefthand side and
the
on
ence
sequ
The space in between was [or the
king through this sketch
the documentation on the right-hand side. Wor
a more interesting one
helped me make a much better book --and
than I could have imagined.

the reader must have

* Rcndurs fucstu)us. \nticipating the questions
tive and satisfying piece ot
answered if the writer is to produce an effec
this section on planning
writing is a technique I have mentioned earlier in
on on revising. It is also a
and will mention in Chapter 3 in the secti
st way to do this is to
good way to make a sketch of a book. the easie
e the readers five questions
draw a line down the center of the page, spac
ers in the right. You
or so in the left column, and sketch in the answ
around until you are able
may have to number and move the questions
ask them.
to anticipate the order in which the reader will
rs make a sketch that
* Brncktt. Many people working with compute
se the extremes within
works from right to left and uses brackets to enclo
I used this technique
a subject or problem to be solved. For example,
organizing. I put
for a chapter on writers block that I had difficulty
top of the page 1 put
writers block at the left of the page, then at the
Then I worked out the
good and at the bottom of the page had.
In the end I wrote a
extremes of good and bad in a series of brackets.
intended before I did the
piece that was exactly the opposite of what I
block and the benefits
sketch. I wrote about the importance of writers
for the writer.
may he written is to draw
* Tree. Another way to see ahead to what
may branch out and
trunk
the
ect
a tree that shows how the subj
grow in many directions.

39

duct,
way
its ot
1w a
i ne
it the
next

dapt
ipters
with
end.
e and
,ketch
inc

* Shapt. We have all seen shaped poems, in which the typography

mi tafts the subject
a poem about a bird appears in t he Iiape ol a
bird Shape is important to a writer, and its helpful for me, sometimes,
to sketch the shape of the piece of writing. It may be a triangle, a fever
chart, stairsteps, a -,idewavs cone leading to one point, or its reverse
expanding [rom one point. These sketches may help me see the structure
I may attempt in the writing.

* List. Lists are a powerful tool, and the simple list may he the best
way to sketch what is written, The writer can start by putting down
everything that has to he in the piece of writing, and then either num
bering or renumbering to achieve a working order. The writer usually
also uses arrows and circles and lines to maneuver the parts of the piece
into a coherent and logical order. I used a variation of a list in sketching
this book by writing increasingly detailed tables of contents. Fhat helped
me see where all the small parts of a large topic
how to teach writing
might fit so they would be available to a teacher in a logical order.

have
ccc of
nning
also a
is to
stions
t. You
re able

:h that
within
hnique
I put
,e1 PUt
te
did the
enefits

o draw
iut and

* Sten beard. Most him writers make a sketch by using three-hytive

inch cards. Each one will have a word or a few lines about a potential
scene in the movie. The writer pins those up on a corkhoard and moves
them around until they are in the best dramatic order. I have found this
technique helpful for nomfiction writing. The writer puts each element
that may be in the final piece of writing down on a card or slip of paper,
and then plays around with them until the writer has a sketch to follow
in the writing of the piece. Often certain elements are discarded and
new ones added.

* Feldtrs. If the writer is doing a complicated research subject it is

often helpful to set tip a series of file folders. Then notes, tear sheets
and copies of articles, even books, can be placed in folders, and those
folders can be moved around as the writer works towards an effective
sketch of the book. The earliest sketches of this hook took place in that
way in my file drawer.
* Outline. The formal outline can be a helpful way for some writers
to sketch the subject. The advantage of a system of Roman numerals,
Arabic numbers, capital letters and small letters is that it allows a detailed
form of planning. An early version of the table of contents helped me
see this book, and I used a whole symphony of typographical marks to
divide topics into subtopics, then divide them again and again.
The danger of a traditional outline is that the writer will take it too
seriously. It was helpful for me to make a detailed outline for this book,
but it was important for me in drafting the book to loosen up and

3()

(111 if

II LJII11SI; IHL PRO(E* Jifi )1Y OF tiIiJO

y and
;mprovse 1mm that outline, the way a jazz musician uses a melod
a azi tradition 1mm which to depart in pertorming.
writing
Remember that the amount of planning for a given piece of
as wcll
writer
the
ot
nce
experie
and
style
will depend on the cognitive
y
a
militar
not
is
g
Writin
task.
writing
as the nature and familiarity of the
the
by
writing
h
throug
d
marche
be
not
exercise, and students should
meaning
nunibers. Each piece of writing should be searching for its own
along,
ing
follow
writer
the
with
g,
meanin
and its own way of expressing
that
ery
of
discov
s
proces
natural
the
with
helping but not intertering
.
takes place in all good writing