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(More customer reviews)This being my introduction to Donald Murray, I quickly found myself joining ranks with all those before me who were inspired by Murray's work and words. Part of me thinks that this collection should have been titled, THE QUOATABLE DON MURRAY because I found myself underlining every other sentence in this book! I believe what sets Murray apart from others is his diverse interests that inform his thinking about writing. Being interested in multiple mediums myself, I found this refreshing as I, too feel there lie connections between all types of expression: be it music, art or writing. Murray asserts that these connections can help us understand the process of how we come to capture and interpret what we are thinking.
THE ESSENTIAL DON MURRAY contains not only Murray's essays, but also serves as a compilation of excerpts from his "daybooks," sketches, photographs, poems, and quotes from other writers and artists that Murray found affirming. I particularly enjoyed looking over Murray's typed drafts, often littered with handwritten notes, a wonderful (and informative) opportunity to view the artist at work. Since Murray's manuscripts, etc. are now housed at the Polymer Institute, this book provides access to the best of that collection.
Perhaps what touched me most about this collection is Murray's honesty and courage. Even in his more instructional essays, he does not shy away from speaking (and writing) about the difficult moments of his life: being a paratrooper, understanding a rough childhood, coping with his daughter's death, with his own heart attack, and with growing old. Murray never gives the sense that these types of events are only reserved for certain genres. "All my writing - and yours - is autobiographical," something to be embraced, Murray asserts, not ashamed of. I take solace in these words because I feel that too many times we are asked to write as NOT ourselves, such as essays for classes or even publication.
THE ESSENTIAL DON MURRAY gave me heart to continue writing; to be selfish about it, make time for it, nurture and get brash with it. "I'm no George Orwell, but neither was George Orwell most days," that kind of unconditional encouragement is what I found throughout this book, and why it has a special place on my own writing desk.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Essential Don Murray: Lessons from America's Greatest Writing Teacher
Don Murray s mission was to demystify writing by revealing as much as possible about the habits, processes, and practices of writers. This book carries on his work and shows the evolution of his thinking by collecting his most influential pieces as well as unpublished essays, entries from his daybook, drawings, and numerous examples of his famous handouts.KEY WORKS ON WRITING IN ONE COLLECTIONWriting as Process: How Writing Finds Its Own Meaning The Listening Eye: Reflections on the Writing Conference Teaching the Other Self: The Writer s First Reader Write Before Writing Writing Badly to Write Well: Searching for the Instructive Line All Writing is Autobiography and more60 years of work and wisdom: THE ESSENTIAL DON MURRAYDon Murray on...teaching writing as process, not product Instead of teaching finished writing, we should teach unfinished writing, and glory in its unfinishedness. We work with language in action. We share with our students the continual excitement of choosing one word instead of another, of searching for the one true word. This is not a question of correct or incorrect, of etiquette or custom. This is a matter of far higher importance. understanding the writing process The process of making meaning with written language can not be understood by looking backward from a finished page. Process can not be inferred from product any more than a pig can be inferred from a sausage. It is possible, however, for us to follow the process forward from blank page to final draft and learn something of what happens. knowing the writer within There is always magic in this for me, and wonder because I do not know what I am going to say until it is said. The writer within is always a stranger, with a grin, a top hat and long, quick fingers which produce what was not there before. I shall never know this magic man well, although he has been with me for sixty years. He entices me with his capacity for surprise. doing the work of writing Writing is primarily not a matter of talent, of dedication, of vision, of vocabulary, of style, but simply a matter of sitting. The writer is a person who writes.
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