The page before Donald M. Murray’s “All Writing is Autobiography” warns readers that Murray’s opinion on writing is different from most other opinions. Prior to reading Murray’s article, I agreed with those opinions which included the rule: never use the word “I” in a formal paper. While writing this paper, I feel a strong urge to erase the words “I agreed” and rewrite the entire page in a more formal manner. Murray’s article changed my idea of the writing process by making me realize that every piece of writing is autobiographical whether or not an author is writing objectively through word choice, sentence structure, metaphors, and even punctuation. A reader can learn much about an author through his or her word choice. An author’s diction may seem more colloquial or more obscure and academic depending on his or her personality. Murray demonstrates how an author can use creativity by creating words when he uses the words “squenched and “companioned” in his poem “At 64, Talking Without Words.” Though these are not words one would find in a dictionary, they are understood by readers and aid in defining the author. Sentence structure is an important piece of writing. An author may utilize a run-on sentence or a one-worded sentence in order to create a point or emphasize one, however grammatically incorrect the sentence may be. Charlotte Brontë, for example, frequently uses run-one sentences in order to complete a thought without the interruption of a period. Authors may write about themselves through metaphors. In Murray’s poem “Black Ice,” he mentions the image of a fish almost haunting him. Although he never truly saw this fish, the whole poem “[became] autobiographical by being written” (Murray 61).
An author’s punctuation can also enable an author to write autobiographically without the use of the word, “I.” Emily Dickinson is an example of the personal nature of punctuation. Editors have limited her extensive use of dashes while also eliminating a portion of her autobiography. While people may have many different interpretations of her use of punctuation, it was put there for a particular purpose which only makes sense to Dickinson. While authors may utilize each of these elements in order to write their autobiographies, readers may also use them to interpret authors’ writings, therefore creating their own autobiography which Murray describes as “the terrible, wonderful power of reading” (Murray 65).