Writing prompts from Donald M. Murray's Write to Learn--Chapter 11

Chapter 11     Read Writers' Writing

2. Select a short piece of writing (less than two pages) of a published work and read it aloud, making believe you are the author appearing at a reading in a bookstore or library. Tell the readers how you came to write the selection. What problems did you discover in writing it? How did you solve them? What other solutions did you consider? How would you write it differently today? Answer these and other questions about the selection as you believe the writer would answer.

4. [C]hoose three to five books of the same genre. . . . Sit down in a comfortable chair, and compare the opening paragraphs of each book to those of the others. What were the different approaches used by the authors? How different were the voices between the authors? For whom were the authors writing? Are the audiences different? How can you tell? What techniques do the authors use to draw the reader in? Did they succeed? Write your answers in your daybook or reading journal.

15. Preserve a special section in your daybook or reading journal for memorable, provocative, or disturbing passages from your readings. Share with the class, and talk about why you selected them. Did they make you think? Have you had experiences that gave them special meaning? Did you find them beautiful, ugly, upsetting? What struck you as particularly significant about these passages?


Murray, Donald. M. Write to Learn. Orlando: Harcourt Brace College, 1998.