Murray’s approach to teaching writing is similar to my own. I think that we as teachers have to show our students not just how to write but how to think of writing as a process. Writing doesn’t just happen; it is an experience (arguably good or bad, depending on your viewpoint) that is underrated, under-taught, and underappreciated. I have told my students many times to plan out their essays and thesis statement before writing. I believe planning is essential and can come in many different forms. Several of my students have showed me their prewriting with bullet points and little thought bubbles and I think they are good approaches to the essays.
I think Murray is a little off the mark when it comes to his assumptions on how much time students should spend on prewriting, writing, and rewriting. He states that prewriting should take 85% of the writer’s time, while writing and rewriting should take 1% and 14%. Even as a graduate student I have never spent that amount of time prewriting my essays. I think he’s really overshooting on this point. I think that writing should take the majority of the time, with prewriting taking the least amount. It is important that writing remains the writer’s focus.
Stacey I agree with your thoughts about teaching students the value of pre-writing and Murray’s overshooting of the time that should take.
I use class time for writing out direct and simplified responses to prompts. The remainder of the period, our “pre-writing” time is spent in conversation about the assigned reading material. I think that time spent pre-writing should focus on not just responding to material but to understanding it.
If Murray would agree with my sentiments, perhaps that could explain the 85% of time spent pre-writing. Maybe?