Start Writing!—The Drafting Process

SECTION
Start Writing!
The Drafting Process
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LESSON
Drafting
Your Paper
LESSON SUMMARY
By now, you’ve done a lot of work on your assignment
and you’re probably feeling pretty ready to start writ-
ing. This lesson will show you how to get started
writing. It will explain the drafting process and give you
tips on how to begin a first draft of your paper. You will
learn how to write topic sentences and paragraphs.
You will also learn how to overcome writer’s block.
o, you have a topic and an outline and you’re ready to start writing. You know what you want to
say. And you have an idea of how you would like to say it. What’s next? Drafting.
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W
HAT
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S
D
RAFTING
?
Drafting means writing a rough, or scratch, form of your paper. It’s a time to really focus on the main ideas
you want to get across in your paper. When drafting, you might skip sections or make notes to yourself to
come back and add more examples in certain spots or to check your facts later. As you draft, you don’t need
to worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. You will have time to refine these mechanical parts of

your paper at a later stage.
You are probably familiar with the term rough draft. A rough draft is the first version of your paper. It
won’t be perfect and it won’t be final. It’s not the version you will show your audience. It’s not usually the
version you are graded on in class. It’s a start, though. And it will form the foundation for your final paper,
so it’s important that you do a good job even though you know it’s just a start.
Drafting Your Paper LESSON 5
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YOU MAY BE THINKING, “I have to write more
than one draft of my paper?” Your first draft is
usually considered a rough draft. It certainly won’t
be your best draft. So, how many drafts should you
plan to write? It will depend on the writing assign-
ment, your time frame, and essentially on you.
In a timed situation, you may have time to write
only one or two drafts. When given weeks or a semes-
ter to complete a writing assignment, you should plan
to have several drafts. That means, of course, that
you will have to begin early—waiting until the last
minute can cut into the number of drafts you can
write.
Don’t think for a minute that drafting is more work
than just writing your paper once. First, writing a
good paper takes time. As you become a better
drafter and writer, you will find that you are more effi-

cient and productive than you used to be. The results
of your work will be better, and you will spend less
time staring at blank pages, wondering what to do.
Finally, be sensible: although each draft will usually
be an improvement over the last draft, there is a point
of diminishing returns.
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RAFTING
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TRATEGIES
Open any book or newspaper, and you’ll see right away that the text is divided into paragraphs. Essentially,
your job in the drafting process is to translate your outline—along with other good ideas you have along the
way—into paragraphs. So let’s review paragraphs quickly.
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LESSON 5 Drafting Your Paper
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T
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B
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K
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Paragraphs usually begin with a topic sentence. The topic sentence tells the reader the main idea
of the paragraph. It doesn’t have to come first. And it might not even be stated explicitly in the
paragraph. But all the sentences in the paragraph should relate to one main idea. Do your reader a
favor and make it clear what your main idea is—this will avoid misunderstandings.
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Coherent paragraphs flow from sentence to sentence. This means that the sentences are linked to
each other logically. You might organize the sentences in a paragraph according to chronological
or sequential order, by cause and effect, by comparison and contrast, in order of degree, or in spa-
tial order.
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Good paragraphs include details that support the main idea. Supporting details include anec-
dotes, examples, facts, opinions, quotations, and/or statistics that back up the paragraph’s main
idea.
Let’s compare the paragraph below, in which a writer describes himself at work, with the elements of a
good paragraph listed above.
I am the kind of person who gets things done—
correctly, professionally, on time, on budget. My
supervisors trust important projects and tasks in
my hands, and coworkers often seek my advice on han-
dling situations at work. Clients with whom I work out-
side my office say that my expectations and the
materials I send them are very clear, organized, and
thorough. I have the reputation at work as someone
who works tirelessly to solve problems, always follows
through, and rarely takes no for an answer without
a valid explanation. I am analytical, focused, organized,
dependable, responsible, and determined to do a
good job. Overall, I am a very competent person.
Drafting Your Paper LESSON 5

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The
paragraph
begins with
a topic sen-
tence.
The
paragraph flows
from sentence to
sentence. He systemati-
cally describes the impres-
sions of each group of
people he interacts with
at work—supervisors,
coworkers,
clients.
The
paragraph
includes details
that support
the main
idea.
There are many ways to begin drafting a paper into paragraphs. One way is to translate the main points
of your outline into topic sentences, and then to develop each topic sentence into a paragraph. Or, you can
draft paragraph by paragraph, beginning with a topic sentence and then supporting it. You might use a graphic
organizer like this one to begin drafting.
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LESSON 5 Drafting Your Paper
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Introduction
________________________
____________________
________________
Thesis
Statement
_______
____
Topic Sentence 1 _____________________
Support Sentence 1 __________________
Support Sentence 2 __________________
Support Sentence 3 __________________
Concluding and Linking Sentence ________
Topic Sentence 2 _____________________
Support Sentence 1 __________________
Support Sentence 2 __________________
Support Sentence 3 __________________
Concluding and Linking Sentence ________
Thesis
Statement
___________
______________
Conclusion
____________________
________________________
____________________________
AS YOU BEGIN writing, feel free to try differ-
ent approaches and angles. This is a good

time to experiment with your writing tone, style,
and form. At the same time, you should focus on
➧ supporting your thesis statement
➧ presenting your information in an easy-to-follow
way
➧ staying on your topic
If you are finding it hard to do any of these three things,
then you might want to reconsider your thesis statement,
outline, or even your topic. Would adjustments to these
items make your drafting flow more smoothly?
PRACTICE
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1. Choose one of the thesis statements from Lesson 3, and write two or three topic sentences that you
could use for paragraphs in a rough draft.
2. Choose one of the thesis statements from Lesson 3, and write a paragraph that could go anywhere
in a rough draft.
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VERCOMING
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Everyone has a hard time getting started once in a while. Don’t waste time staring at a blank page and fret-
ting. Instead, try these techniques to get your draft started.
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Start where you feel inspired—you don’t have to start at the beginning. You can start in the mid-
dle or go on to a new section of your paper if you’ve gotten stuck in one spot.
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Try one of the prewriting strategies from Lesson 3. For example, you can freewrite on one section
of your outline or one paragraph of your paper.
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Summarize your main point. Write what you most want to say in as simple language as you can.
This might be as easy as revising your thesis statement or working on your favorite point in the
paper.
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Change your perspective. Begin your draft as a letter to someone else or write as if you were
someone else.
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Try something different. If you are used to composing on the computer, pick up a pen and paper
instead.
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Talk it out. Explain to someone else what you want to say. Bouncing your ideas off them can help
you clarify your thoughts. Besides, they might say things that will spur your writing.

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Visualize yourself writing successfully. Imagine that you are in a comfortable spot surrounded by
all the things you need to write—and are busy writing.
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Stop what you are doing. Go on to another assignment or another activity. Wait an hour or so, or
if you have time, a day or so, before returning to your writing. You’ll come back with a fresh out-
look and usually overcome the problem easily.
HERE ARE SOME good habits to start as you
draft.
➧ Refer to your thesis statement and your assignment
regularly. You might want to even keep them in view
as you write.
➧ Use your outline as a guide. As you write, go back to
your outline. It will help you stay focused and organized.
However, if while drafting you come up with a better idea
or better way to organize your ideas, don’t feel pinned
down by your outline. Be flexible.
➧ Keep a copy of each draft you write. Don’t throw
away something that you need later.
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LESSON 5 Drafting Your Paper
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➧ Make a slush file. If you come up with ideas or write
paragraphs that aren’t fitting into your paper, but you
like them, you don’t have to throw them away. Tuck
them away in a folder for later use. Your folder can be
a paper one or one on a computer disk that you can
search electronically. You may never come back to your
slush file, or you may need it later in the drafting or
revising stages of your paper. A slush file is also a good
place to start when you are looking for topic ideas for
new writing assignments or trying to overcome writer’s
block.
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