Donald Murray All Writing Is Autobiography

All Writing Is Autobiography
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All Writing Is Autobiography
After reading Donald Murray's article titled ‘All writing is Autobiography,' I have come to understand that writing is more about expressing our experiences and perceptions. Writing revolves around the author's life experiences. I have always wondered what inspires writers and how they come up with captivating stories, however, after reading Murrays' article, I now know the answer. According to his argument, people have different experiences and perceptions of the world; this is what inspires them to share these experiences through writing.
Donald justifies his arguments telling readers about his own experience as a writer; having published many forms of poetry, newspaper columns, newsletter, fiction and non-fiction and other textbooks, Donald's vast experience as a writer proves how writing by design is autobiographical. He talks about writing poems and how his imagination reflects some of his desires which he can only express through writing.
He shares one of his poems he wrote titled ‘Black Ice,' the poem is about his past encounters which he modifies to make it more engaging. In reality, Donald is the only child, but in the poem, he mentions a brother named Alex. It does not matter if Donald had never seen anyone drowning, falling through the ice or there might not have been thin ice on the pond or any fish as he describes in his poem. His imagination forms part of his life experience. With a few imaginary thoughts, the poem becomes his autobiography.
Donald implies that since the ideas of the poem are based on his imagination, this becomes part of him and qualifies to be his thoughts. Donald admits that our past experiences these include people we have met, the many endeavors we have gone through and the important lessons we have gathered from them is all we need, and these are what we read in books and articles.
Through writing, people share out these experiences to convey their experiences. Donald gives an example of his poem, and then analyzes the poem to justify why it does not necessarily matter whether some events are true or imaginary; his imaginary events become the source of inspiration for his poem.
Murray further justifies his argument, citing how academic and nonfiction writing are autobiographical. Even though Donald is known to be the best non-fiction writer, fictions writing and poetry act as avenues for freeing himself from the small truths of life. In one of his non-fictional book "Write to Learn," he organizes his thoughts in a way that presents information that makes the book autobiographical.
Using a unique technique called layers; he describes fiction writing as a process where he puts oil paint to build up a story, layer after layer. He paints his story combining different elements to attract the readers' emotions. He further emphasizes that writing is autobiographical because it shows personal experiences that are combined with imagination to develop original and exciting pieces o...