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The Craft of Revision » (5th Edition)

Book cover image of The Craft of Revision by Donald M. Murray

Authors: Donald M. Murray
ISBN-13: 9780838407158, ISBN-10: 0838407153
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Cengage Learning
Date Published: March 2003
Edition: 5th Edition

Author Biography: Donald M. Murray

Book Synopsis

Pulitzer Prize winning author Donald M. Murray takes a lively and inspiring approach to writing and revision that does not condescend but invites the student into the writer s studio. This revision guide covers the entire writing process and is inexpensive enough to supplement any writing course.

Booknews

In this revision of the 1998 edition, Murray (emeritus, English, U. of New Hampshire) guides students in the "getting the words right" process from writing to rewrite to letting go. A new chapter treats reading writing in process. Includes exercises, and interviews with and case histories of published writers and students. First published in 1991. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	Preface	vii
Chapter 1	Write to Rewrite	1
	Why Do We Fear Rewriting?	2
	Write to Rewrite	3
	How Do I Find Something to Write About?	4
	How Do I Create a Discovery Draft?	9
	How Do I Make an Instructor's Idea My Own?	14
	Notes on Writing the Personal Essay	17
	How to Get the Writing Done: Tricks of the Writer's Trade	21
	Interview with a Published Writer: Elizabeth Cooke	26
Chapter 2	Rewrite to Collect	32
	Diagnosis: Too Little Information	34
	The Importance of Information	38
	The Qualities of Effective Information	39
	The Basic Forms of Information	45
	Where Do You Find Information?	46
	Writing with Information	54
	Interview with a Student Writer: Jennifer Erin Bradley-Swift	57
Chapter 3	Rewrite with Voice	64
	What Is Voice?	65
	Hearing Your Own Voice	66
	Diagnosis: No Voice	69
	Hearing the Writer's Voice	70
	Hearing Your Voice	74
	Case History of a Professional Writer	80
Chapter 4	Rewrite to Focus	85
	Diagnosis: No Focus	86
	Say One Thing	89
	Frame Your Meaning	94
	Set the Distance	96
	The Importance of Focus	98
	Interview with a Published Writer: Christopher Scanlan	98
Chapter 5	Rewrite for Form	103
	Form Is Meaning	105
	Diagnosis: Ineffective Form	110
	Form Communicates Meaning	111
	Discovering the Form of the Draft	112
	Design Your Own Form	116
	Case History of a Student Writer: Maureen Healy	119
Chapter 6	Rewrite for Order	140
	Diagnosis: Disorder	141
	Answer the Reader's Questions	144
	Outline after Writing	146
	Interview with a Student Writer: Kathryn S. Evans	148
Chapter 7	Rewrite to Develop	154
	Diagnosis: Superficial	155
	Techniques of Development	156
	Rewriting Starts with Rereading	160
	Read What Isn't Written	162
	Rewrite within the Draft	168
	Emphasize the Significant	169
	Pace and Proportion	171
	A Professional Case History	173
	Interview with a Student Writer: Karen R. Emmerich	179
Chapter 8	Rewrite to Edit	185
	Twenty Ways to Unfinal a Draft	186
	The Attitude of the Editing Writer	188
	Interview Your Draft	190
	Solutions to Common Editing Problems	194
	The Craft of Editing	200
	A Student Case History: Roger LePage Jr.	201
Chapter 9	Reading Your Reader	218
	Why We Need Readers	219
	The Danger of Readers	221
	Reading the Writer in Process	223
	Reading Writing in Process	223
Chapter 10	Rewrite At Work	230
	Tips for Completing Common Workplace Writing Tasks	232
	Interview with a Published Writer: Dana Andrew Jennings	247
Chapter 11	The Craft of Letting Go	256
	Why Writers Don't Let Go	257
	How to Let Go	259
	When You Let Go	260
	Index	263