Making Meaning Clear- Murray

After reading Murray’s: Making Meaning Clear, I have figured out that most writers don’t know their meaning after their first draft. They must revise it over and over again to get the meaning of what they’re writing. Revision is the most satisfying part of writing because it allows the writer to understand their piece more clearly. The teacher can only give the student guidelines and then it’s the student that determines what their writing means. Murray gives principles on how this can be done better, and they include building on strength, cut what can be cut, simplicity is best, and the writing will tell you how to write. Build on strength means the writer is searching the text for the meaning. They do this by looking for how the writing is being developed how they can make it work better. When people revise their work, they should be looking for how their piece can be better and extending the strength of their work, rather than making corrections on it. Cut what can be cut means the piece a writer is working on has one purpose. If you aren’t focused on that purpose, cut that out. What Murray means by simplicity is best is writing has clear and simple as you can. It can still have a complex message, but it needs to be clear and to the point. Lastly, the writing will tell you how to write means discovering the voice that comes from that particular piece you are working on. Do not compare this piece to past pieces you have written.

A good piece of writing, I believe, says only one thing. Or to put it in a different way, the many things that are said in a piece of writing all add up to a single meaning,” (Murray, 36). Murray also says you should reread your piece as many times as you need to. There is no certain amount of times you must read it, however, as long as you find focus, form and voice. Focus is reading your piece as fast as you can, as if you are the reader. As you read you are supposed to ask yourself questions such as what does this piece of writing mean, is new information needed, and are all the readers questions answered? Form is reading the piece again, but slower. This time the writer should read their piece in different sections of meaning, rather than looking at the whole piece. This time you should ask yourself questions such as is the title on target, how can I get out of the way of the reader and show not tell, and does the lead catch the reader in three seconds or less? Finally, voice. This is when the writer reads their piece slowly- line by line. The meaning becomes clearer. This is when the writer should ask questions like can the piece be read aloud, does each paragraph make one point, and has the right word been found?