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A rough draft is an initial version of a piece of writing that serves as a starting point for further revision. When writing a draft, you don't need to focus too much on grammar, style, or perfect structure. The purpose of a rough draft is to get thoughts down on paper and prepare a foundation for the final version of your writing.

An excellent essay is not written in one go; it has many rough drafts behind it. What's a secret to writing a powerful sketch? In fact, there is no secret. It's just a matter of knowing how to organize your ideas correctly. Read on and you’ll find out how to sketch your perfect final piece and get essay help .

What Is Rough Draft: Meaning

The rough draft is your very first attempt to put text on paper. It is expected to be basic, imperfect, and incomplete. But at the same time, it is a piece of essential information for the final version. Don't be afraid to make grammatical mistakes, incorrect words, or confusing structure.  The idea is writing down all your thoughts in an outline. And you can correct errors at the very end.

What Is the Purpose of Rough Draft?

What is the focus and purpose of writing a rough draft? Drafts help you catch an idea and finish your essay on time. This is precisely a tool that is needed when fearing blank slate. It should not be perfect; it just should be as it is.  Its ultimate goal is getting your ideas across and giving yourself a boost to start writing. Preparing your work becomes much easier after you have your first sketch. But just writing an essay without it can take a lot of time. Using an outline, you can see what is missing and what can be changed. According to professional college essay writing service , flaws or plot holes can be avoided even before  material is written.

Rough Draft: What to Include

What should be included in your first draft? Draft helps you with an initial version of your final paper. So it should contain all sections that a usual essay has. However, this sketch is for you only, and no one will read it. Therefore, no one will mind if you modify it for yourself. You can skip some sections. But keep in mind that in your final work, everything should be according to  instructions.  If you are interested in what should be in your finished version of an essay, we suggest that you look through our article or order essay from experts.

How to Write Rough Draft: 5 Main Steps

Now let's take a look at how to write a rough draft. This is often the most extended and most laborious part of essay writing preparation.  The purpose is to complete actual content writing. We have prepared a guide, thanks to which you can organize your ideas in just 5 steps!

Step 1: Brainstorming Ideas for the Draft

Brainstorming is the beginning step in writing a draft. This is very important for identifying  ideas and content that you want to build your copy around.  Don't worry about structure or spelling. Just write whatever comes to mind. Do not neglect this step whether you are writing a thesis paper or a fiction book. Take a piece of paper or create a new word document on your computer. At the top, write your main topic. Then set a timer for 10 minutes and start writing whatever comes to mind. There is no need to reread what you have printed or to correct something. Just keep on writing. Then, underline or highlight phrases and sentences that could be used for a story. As you go through the following steps, you may have more ideas. But always start by jotting down as many ideas as possible.

Step 2: Do Prewriting

To start your rough draft essay, ask yourself six important questions. Take a new sheet of paper or create a new word document. Write the main story topic at top. Then answer 6 main questions in free-write form:

Now reread your answers. Perhaps you answered some questions with several sentences and left some unanswered. That may be the basis for your essay.

Step 3: Create an Outline

After brainstorming and attempts at writing first words, here comes a rough draft outline! It helps structure your content and put all of your previous work in logical form. Consider outline as a general plan for your broad sketch. This is just a picture of how everything will develop.

Step 4: Start Where You Want

How to start a rough draft? Don't be afraid to start your draft in the middle. This is especially useful if you keep thinking of a great first paragraph. Maybe you will begin with body paragraph parts. Starting in the middle will help you find proper words. You can also write conclusions first. Complete your introductory paragraph last. Then your introduction will be based on the context of your entire composition.

Step 5: Read Over and Revise Rough Draft

The final step of an essay rough draft is editing. This phase helps to polish all shortcomings and inaccuracies that you left while writing. Next, you need to thoroughly read a text. Edit any grammatical and spelling mistakes to get a final look. Well, that's all, done! Speaking about essay revision , we have a useful blog with all the necessary tips. Follow all the steps we advise.

How Long Should a Rough Draft Be?

Rough draft length should not differ much from final work's length. You can rewrite your drafts multiple times. This will help you choose the most suitable material from all options. This process gives you the ability to select from more comfortable material. Don't be afraid to change your ideas, because, in the end, you will still only leave the most suitable option.

How to Create Rough Draft: Helpful Tips

So, you start creating your first rough draft paper. Now we'll quickly give you the most critical advice when writing draft:

• Allow yourself to write imperfectly! As we said, your goal is to present all ideas. Don't worry about making mistakes. Don't expect perfection the first time.
• Focus on setting your raw ideas. Follow your plan. Don't be afraid to include new ideas. Draft can be your inspiration!
• Don't concentrate on finding the right word. Don't check your grammar for correctness. Instead, focus on the big picture.

Rough Draft Example

It is hard to provide only one essay rough draft example. Sketches can include so many different aspects. Let's quickly take a look at what they could be:

• It can be written entirely but with confusing ideas.
• It can be written in slang or shorthand, with hints to add content later.
• It can be written barely, but it outlines the central vision.
• It may be a masterpiece that looks like the final product. But some fragments of information may be irrelevant.

If you worry how your plan should look like, here is also a system called TEER:

• Thesis Here you state the idea and get attention.
• Example Provide life support for your view.
• Evidence Here you scientifically prove your thesis.
• Relevance statement Wrap up your essay with a description of why it is significant.

Rough Draft: Bottom Line

A rough draft is a sketch of your future essay.  It is critical for writing a successful paper. We've described how to write a draft in 5 steps together with tips and examples. So you are ready to try writing the best draft for your academic work. 

Yes, draft is essential in writing an essay. But you don't have to worry about it at all. Just say ‘ write my college essay ’ and order the whole academic paper from us. Our professional writers will do everything quickly and at the highest level.

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

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What is a rough draft , why do people use a rough draft , what to include in a rough draft, how long should a rough draft be , 1. start with brainstorming, 2. outline the ideas, 3. start writing, 4. take a short break, 5. write with your audience in mind, 1. find a quiet environment, 2. start in the middle, 3. do not worry about making mistakes, 4. refer to your outline when you get stuck , does a rough draft need citations , faqs on how to write a rough draft, we also recommend.

Do you think there is a piece of writing that comes to being without a draft?

Writing a rough draft is like taking the first step in bringing your ideas to life. It’s the part of the writing process where you don’t worry about perfection — you just get your thoughts down on paper. Whether you’re working on an essay, story, or any other type of writing, the rough draft is your chance to explore your ideas and figure out how to organize them.

In this guide, we’ll go through simple steps to help you write a rough draft, with examples and tips to make it easier. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect — it just has to be written!

A rough draft, often known as a first draft, is an incomplete piece of writing that represents your first attempt to put all of your ideas down on paper. It serves as a basis for the final product.

A rough draft is never meant to be perfect; it has grammatical errors, bad word choices, and structural difficulties. The goal is to complete a substantial amount of your project and then worry about resolving issues afterward.

The rough draft is the third step in the suggested writing process (out of five). It’s often the longest and most difficult phase, encompassing the majority of the actual “writing.”

READ ALSO: How to Write a Ballad in 17 Steps: Rules, Tips & Questions

Writing is challenging. Even if you have a gift for words, you are not immune to the issues that plague all writers, such as deadline fear, creative blocks, or a variety of psychological insecurities. When approached with the appropriate perspective, the rough draft can assist overcome these challenges by relieving stress. Remind yourself that it doesn’t need to be good, just be.

The final purpose of your rough draft is to get your ideas down and offer you something to work with. Finding the right term and arranging pieces in the ideal order is much easier after you’ve completed a first draft, although it can be difficult and time-consuming without one.

A rough draft also allows you to identify trouble areas that outlining and brainstorming alone cannot. Certain problems, such as organizational issues or plot holes, become apparent only after they are written down.

A rough draft is essentially a raw version of the complete assignment. So, everything you’d include in the final draft should go into the first draft.

Of course, the rough draft is only for the writer, so no one will stop you if you need to skip some sections or gloss over others—but you’ll have to address any shortcuts leading up to the final draft. 

SEE ALSO: How To Write A Counterclaim Like a Pro in Argumentative Writing

A rough draft should be about as long as the final version. Many writers tend to overdo their initial drafts. This can really work to your advantage, providing you more usable material to pick from. When editing, prioritize retaining the strongest sections of the rough copy. 

How To Write A Rough Draft

Writing a rough draft is an essential step in the writing process. It allows you to organize your thoughts, develop your ideas, and create a foundation for your final piece.

Here’s a guide on how to write an effective rough draft:

Check out the 16 Essential Tools for Writers | Elevate Your Writing Craft in 2024

For beginners, your first draft is not the first step. Beginning with the brainstorming process is critical for gathering and organizing all of the stuff you want to include in your writing, whether it’s innovative ideas for fiction or supporting evidence for nonfiction.

You will come up with new ideas while writing the rough draft, but it is always a good idea to gather as many as possible ahead of time.

After brainstorming, the outline process is critical for structuring your content and arranging everything logically. Consider your outline to be the rough draft for your rough draft or a plan for where everything belongs.

READ ALSO: How To Write a Murder Mystery Stories | 5 Top Tips

After outlining your ideas, you can begin your first draft with confidence. The most important tip for writing rough drafts is to give yourself permission to write imperfectly. As we’ve said, the goal of a rough draft is to get all your ideas down, not to write everything perfectly on your first try.

Instead of nitpicking, just focus on solidifying your raw ideas. Follow your outline as best you can, but also keep an open mind for new ideas—writing the first draft can be full of inspiration! 

Take small breaks to clear your head. This tip may be especially handy if you’re writing a lengthy report or essay. Still, if you’re antsy or can’t concentrate, take a pause to relax your thoughts, but don’t let it last too long.

If you take too much time away from your essay, you may have difficulty starting over. You may forget important details or lose momentum. Set an alarm to limit your break time, and then return to your desk to write.

To write successfully, you must keep your purpose and audience in mind. If your goal is to persuade, you will provide your facts and details most logically and convincingly possible for the specific audience you are addressing.

If your target audience is logical, points that employ reason, facts, documented knowledge, and the like will provide the persuasion to which those readers respond best.

Some writers find it useful to retain the purpose and audience at the top of each page, emphasized in some fashion, to remind them of the goals of each point.

READ ALSO: How To Write a Statement of Interest with Examples: Rules, Tips & Template

Tips On How To Write A Rough Draft

Here are a few tips to follow to write a rough draft:

Find a quiet area, the library, or at home to block out any distractions. Turn off or mute your cellphone. If you’re easily sidetracked by computer games, turn off your wifi and use pen and paper instead. Creating a peaceful writing space will allow you to focus on your rough copy.

You can also ensure that the room is adjusted to an appropriate temperature for sitting and writing. You might also play some classical or jazz music in the background to build the mood and bring a snack to your writing space so you can chew on something as you write.

It can be difficult to come up with a brilliant opening paragraph or a killer first line. Instead, begin at the center of the essay or story.

Perhaps you begin by addressing the body portions of your essay first, or you begin with your protagonist’s moment of complexity. Starting in the center can make it easier to get words onto the page.

You can also write the conclusion of the essay before writing the beginning. Many writing guides recommend writing your first paragraph last, as this allows you to build a fantastic introduction based on the entire work.

A rough draft is not the time to try to be perfect. Get messy during the rough draft process and be okay if you make mistakes or if the draft is not completely there yet. Write through clunky phrases and awkward sentences until you get into a flow. You can then address these issues once you have finished the rough draft.

You should also try not to read over what you are writing as you get into the flow. Do not examine every word before moving on to the next word or edit as you go. Instead, focus on moving forward with the rough draft and getting your ideas down on the page.

Related Post: How to Write a Book With No Experience for Beginners in 12 Steps

If you find you get stuck during the rough draft process, you can refer back to your outline to remember which content you are including at a certain point in the plot or in the body section of your essay.

You may want to take breaks if you find you are getting writer’s block. Going for a walk, taking a nap, or even doing the dishes can help you focus on something else and give your brain a rest. You can then start writing again with a fresh approach after your break.

We recommend it. It’s useful to have all the material you need for your final draft already in your first draft, including citations, so you can gauge the piece as a whole. 

Writing a rough draft allows you to flesh out your ideas, identify gaps in your argument, and organize your thoughts without worrying about grammar, spelling, or final presentation.

If you get stuck, skip the part that’s causing difficulty and move on to another section. You can always return to the challenging section once you’ve gained more clarity.

No, you don’t have to write in order. Focus on sections where you feel confident first. You can come back to the introduction or conclusion later.

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Putting Pen to Paper: How to Write a Rough Draft

You have done the research and written the outline of your paper. You are ahead of the deadline, and you want to stay that way. You turn on your computer, poise your fingers over the keyboard, and begin your rough draft. But what exactly is a rough draft? And just why do you need to write one in the first place?

Have you ever assembled a puzzle? Most of us begin by dumping all the puzzle pieces out of the box and then grouping the pieces by color and shape. It is likely that the jumble of puzzle pieces in no way resembles the picture on the puzzle box. But looking at the pieces, you can get an idea of how they will all fit together.

Writing a rough draft is similar to building a puzzle. Your outline and your research are a collection of ideas similar to that jumble of puzzle pieces. When you write your rough draft, you begin organizing how these ideas go together. Just as grouping similar puzzle pieces can give you an idea of what the final puzzle will look like, grouping your ideas in a rough draft gives you an idea of what your final draft will look like.

Getting a Rough Idea

You may think that rough drafts are not important. You have done the research, and you know what you want to say, so what is wrong with just writing? Nothing! In fact, that’s exactly how to write a rough draft. A rough draft is a means of getting started on your essay. When you start a rough draft, you are no longer just thinking about writing or planning on writing—you are doing it! Writing your rough draft helps you get your information and thoughts on paper. Once you have your rough draft, you can edit and polish ad nauseum until you have your wonderful final draft. But before that, you need to start somewhere.

Writing a rough draft also helps build discipline. While you may have managed to write an essay off the cuff in the past, it was bound to be a stressful experience. Who would want to do that again? Writing a rough draft helps you get your ideas on paper. You can always fix the spelling and grammar, refine your word choices, and add your own style and panache later. For now, sitting down and writing helps discipline your mind.

How to Write a Rough Draft

• The first step in writing a rough draft is just to get started. Collect your research notes and your outline (you did do the research and prepare the outline, didn’t you?).
• Follow your outline to help you prepare your introductory paragraph. This is where you should catch your reader’s attention with an interesting first sentence, but don’t worry if you can’t think of one yet. Inspiration may hit you at a later stage—that’s the wonder of writing a rough draft! Make sure that you introduce your topic and write your thesis statement . This will help you with the structure of your paper.
• Write the body of your essay. Remember that you will need, at very least, three paragraphs containing evidence that supports your thesis statement. At this point, don’t worry too much about making sure you have transitions between the paragraphs. Improving flow is something you can do in a later draft.
• Write your conclusion. This paragraph provides you with the opportunity to summarize your research and show how it supports your thesis statement. You should also restate your thesis statement.

Surviving the Rough Times

There are some things you can do to make sure that you don’t have a rough time writing your rough draft. These tips will help make the writing process a bit easier:

• Write in the active voice.
• Don’t stress out over every word. Just let your ideas spill onto the paper. If you can’t think of an appropriate word, just type the first word that pops into your head, and return to it later.
• Make sure your introduction not only introduces your topic but also provides some background information on the topic.
• Write a topic sentence for each of your body paragraphs. This sentence indicates the direction for each paragraph and will help you remain on subject.
• If you can, write some transition ideas in each of your body paragraphs so that they link together, but don’t agonize over them. It’s okay if you can’t think of these transitions at this stage.
• Look for any paragraphs where you feel that your proof is weak or you need more information to bolster your argument. You may need to go back and do more research to fill in any holes.
• Once you have completed your rough draft, take a break. You deserve it!

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How to Write a Rough Draft

Last Updated: February 6, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Michelle Golden, PhD . Michelle Golden is an English teacher in Athens, Georgia. She received her MA in Language Arts Teacher Education in 2008 and received her PhD in English from Georgia State University in 2015. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 303,513 times.

Writing a rough draft is an essential part of the writing process, an opportunity to get your initial ideas and thoughts down on paper. It might be difficult to dive right into a rough draft of an essay or a creative piece, such as a novel or a short story. You should start by brainstorming ideas for the draft to get your creative juices flowing and take the time to outline your draft. You will then be better prepared to sit down and write your rough draft.

Brainstorming Ideas for the Draft

• Freewrites often work best if you give yourself a time limit, such as five minutes or ten minutes. You should then try to not take your pen off the page as you write so you are forced to keep writing about the subject or topic for the set period of time.
• For example, if you were writing an essay about the death penalty, you may use the prompt: “What are the possible issues or problems with the death penalty?” and write about it freely for ten minutes.
• Often, freewrites are also a good way to generate content that you can use later in your rough draft. You may surprised at what you realize as you write freely about the topic.

• To use the clustering method, you will place a word that describes your topic or subject in the center of your paper. You will then write keywords and thoughts around the center word. Circle the center word and draw lines away from the center to other keywords and ideas. Then, circle each word as you group them around the central word.
• For example, if you were trying to write a short story around a theme like “anger”, you will write “anger” in the middle of the page. You may then write keywords around “anger”, like “volcano”, “heat”, “my mother”, and “rage”.

• If you are writing a creative piece, you may look for texts written about a certain idea or theme that you want to explore in your own writing. You could look up texts by subject matter and read through several texts to get ideas for your story.
• You might have favorite writers that you return to often for inspiration or search for new writers who are doing interesting things with the topic. You could then borrow elements of the writer’s approach and use it in your own rough draft.
• You can find additional resources and texts online and at your local library. Speak to the reference librarian at your local library for more information on resources and texts.

Outlining Your Draft

• You may use the snowflake method to create the plot outline. In this method, you will write a one line summary of your story, followed by a one paragraph summary, and then character synopses. You will also create a spreadsheet of scenes.
• Alternatively, you can use a plot diagram. In this method, you will have six sections: the set up, the inciting incident, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution.
• No matter which option you chose, you should make sure your outline contains at least the inciting incident, the climax, and the resolution. Having these three elements set in your mind will make writing your rough draft much easier.

• Act 1: In Act 1, your protagonist meets the other characters in the story. The central conflict of the story is also revealed. Your protagonist should also have a specific goal that will cause them to make a decision. For example, in Act 1, you may have your main character get bitten by a vampire after a one night stand. She may then go into hiding once she discovers she has become a vampire.
• Act 2: In Act 2, you introduce a complication that makes the central conflict even more of an issue. The complication can also make it more difficult for your protagonist to achieve their goal. For example, in Act 2, you may have your main character realize she has a wedding to go to next week for her best friend, despite the fact she has now become a vampire. The best friend may also call to confirm she is coming, making it more difficult for your protagonist to stay in hiding.
• Act 3: In Act 3, you present a resolution to the central conflict of the story. The resolution may have your protagonist achieve their goal or fail to achieve their goal. For example, in Act 3, you may have your protagonist show up to the wedding and try to pretend to not be a vampire. The best friend may then find out and accept your protagonist anyway. You may end your story by having your protagonist bite the groom, turning him into her vampire lover.

• Section 1: Introduction, including a hook opening line, a thesis statement , and three main discussion points. Most academic essays contain at least three key discussion points.
• Section 2: Body paragraphs, including a discussion of your three main points. You should also have supporting evidence for each main point, from outside sources and your own perspective.
• Section 3: Conclusion, including a summary of your three main points, a restatement of your thesis, and concluding statements or thoughts.

• For example, maybe you are creating a rough draft for a paper on gluten-intolerance. A weak thesis statement for this paper would be, “There are some positives and negatives to gluten, and some people develop gluten-intolerance.” This thesis statement is vague and does not assert an argument for the paper.
• A stronger thesis statement for the paper would be, “Due to the use of GMO wheat in food sold in North America, a rising number of Americans are experiencing gluten-intolerance and gluten-related issues.” This thesis statement is specific and presents an argument that will be discussed in the paper.

• Your professor or teacher may require you to create a bibliography using MLA style or APA style. You will need to organize your sources based on either style.

Writing the Rough Draft

• You may also make sure the room is set to an ideal temperature for sitting down and writing. You may also put on some classical or jazz music in the background to set the scene and bring a snack to your writing area so you have something to munch on as you write.

• You may also write the ending of the essay or story before you write the beginning. Many writing guides advise writing your introductory paragraph last, as you will then be able to create a great introduction based on the piece as a whole.

• You should also try not to read over what you are writing as you get into the flow. Do not examine every word before moving on to the next word or edit as you go. Instead, focus on moving forward with the rough draft and getting your ideas down on the page.

• For example, rather than write, “It was decided by my mother that I would learn violin when I was two,” go for the active voice by placing the subject of the sentence in front of the verb, “My mother decided I would learn violin when I turned two.”
• You should also avoid using the verb “to be” in your writing, as this is often a sign of passive voice. Removing “to be” and focusing on the active voice will ensure your writing is clear and effective.

• You may also review the brainstorming materials you created before you sat down to write, such as your clustering exercise or your freewrite. Reviewing these materials could help to guide you as you write and help you focus on finishing the rough draft.
• You may want to take breaks if you find you are getting writer’s block. Going for a walk, taking a nap, or even doing the dishes can help you focus on something else and give your brain a rest. You can then start writing again with a fresh approach after your break.

• You should also read the rough draft out loud to yourself. Listen for any sentences that sound unclear or confusing. Highlight or underline them so you know they need to be revised. Do not be afraid to revise whole sections or lines of the rough draft. It is a draft, after all, and will only improve with revision.
• You can also read the rough draft out loud to someone else. Be willing to accept feedback and constructive criticism on the draft from the person. Getting a different perspective on your writing will often make it that much better.

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• ↑ https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center/online-guide-to-writing/tutorial/chapter2/ch2-13
• ↑ https://writing.ku.edu/prewriting-strategies
• ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/writingprocess/outlining
• ↑ http://www.writerswrite.com/screenwriting/cannell/lecture4/
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/essay-outline/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/thesis-statements/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/rough-draft/
• ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/style/ccs_activevoice/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/revising-drafts/

About This Article

To write a rough draft, don't worry if you make minor mistakes or write sentences that aren't perfect. You can revise them later! Also, try not to read over what you're writing as you go, which will slow you down and mess up your flow. Instead, focus on getting all of your thoughts and ideas down on paper, even if you're not sure you'll keep them in the final draft. If you get stuck, refer to your outline or sources to help you come up with new ideas. For tips on brainstorming and outlining for a rough draft, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Rough Draft for an Essay?

Table of contents

• 1 Understanding the Purpose of a Rough Draft
• 2.1 Before You Begin: Pre-writing
• 2.2 Begin With a Freewriting Session 
• 2.3 Start With A Strong Opening
• 2.4 Speak Then Write
• 2.5 Avoid Stopping at Hard Points
• 2.6 Don’t Worry About Perfection
• 2.7 Write the Body First
• 2.8 Write Section by Section
• 2.9 Include Citations as You Go
• 2.10 Leave Notes for Yourself and Use Placeholders
• 2.11 Reviewing the Draft
• 3.1 Moving Forward: From Rough to Final Draft
• 4 Wrapping Up on Rough Draft Writing

When writing an essay, it’s difficult to decide whether to use a rough draft first or get to the writing part right after the research. That’s one of the main reasons a rough draft may seem less effective to students, but there’s an even bigger question here: H ow to write a rough draft for an essay?

Most students need to familiarize themselves with the pre-writing and freewriting processes, so we’ll explain them all in one place through this guide.

Here are the key points you’ll learn from our article:

• The importance of creating rough drafts before writing an essay, as it allows you to brainstorm, organize your thoughts, and refine your ideas, ultimately leading to a more coherent and well-structured final essay.
• Main tips and steps to take for writing.
• Valuable technique of freewriting allows your thoughts flow freely on paper, tap into creativity and generate ideas that you might not have considered otherwise.
• Complete the process with detailed steps to achieve a flawless draft.

We know that you may be in the temptation of finding someone to edit your work or simply hold back from creating a draft because of the time it takes. That’s why our expert PapersOwl team decided to help, so let’s start by elaborating on why a rough draft can be so important when writing a good essay.

Understanding the Purpose of a Rough Draft

Before we get into the matter of how to write draft outlines, let’s take a moment to explain its purpose. To most students, these can serve as a great first attempt or take on the subject, which lays out the structure and tone of the essay’s rough draft.

Creating a rough draft includes writing the introduction heading, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Precisely, it usually includes a single body heading which will become a foundation for all the body headings in the essay.

Writing the rough draft outline can help create key ideas that you’ll be further exploring in the essay, and it’s a perfect way of properly structuring the essay. Before writing it, you’ll need to do proper research and take a few other steps to prepare for writing the final form. We’ll discuss all these steps in detail to get you in the right direction when it comes to writing a helpful draft that will truly make writing easier.

To answer the question of how to write rough draft pieces, we’ll give you specific steps to take, from creating a first draft to its final form.

Practical Tips On Writing Your Own Rough Draft

Creating your own draft outline may seem challenging if you have never done it before, but if you follow a few simple rules, it becomes much easier. You can follow the listed steps for fast and efficient writing: 

Before You Begin: Pre-writing

Your first try to write a rough draft should start with some brainstorming. The best piece of advice is to thoroughly research the subject before you start writing your essay draft to create a good outline.

It means creating a basic structure of the draft, and after that, it becomes easy to make the necessary changes if edits are needed.

Begin With a Freewriting Session 

This one goes hand in hand with the pre-writing, since freewriting includes laying down all of your new ideas on paper. Here, you should pay less attention to the structure and the tone, simply write whatever comes to your mind about the topic.

Not only would you overcome writer’s block this way, but it also makes a great source for creating a draft or even a thesis statement later on. From all the ideas you write down in this stage, you can select the most prominent ones and create a proper format.

Start With A Strong Opening

The first draft should have a strong introduction that both introduces the main statement and topic but is also catchy enough. Here are some steps to creating a perfect opening line and intro for your rough draft example:

• The beginning should have a hook that grabs the reader’s attention and introduces the topic in the introductory paragraph.
• Provide context and background information for every point to help the target audience understand the subject when you write.
• Introduce the main thesis of the paper.
• Keep the intro paragraph concise and focused on the main topic.

Speak Then Write

Most students think you should start with the outline first, but the best first step is to speak before writing. This also refers to reading enough material on the subject to gain insight into the topic and get inspiration for a thesis statement.

You can speak aloud to prepare a rough draft in your head before putting it all down on paper. You can explore the main points this way and then proceed by freewriting before you start creating a draft layout.

Avoid Stopping at Hard Points

One thing that can prevent you from creating first drafts is stopping at hard points. We recommend that you make a note if you hit any sort of obstacle or if you don’t have enough inspiration for a certain section.

This way, you can keep the flow going to maintain your rhythm and confidence, and you won’t lose that inspirational moment. Creating a note can also help make you think about a certain session and come back to it to revise and make it better.

Don’t Worry About Perfection

To write a perfect draft, you must wonder what is a rough draft first. The thing is, most students spend too much time writing the first draft of an essay when it should be quick and simple. You must keep in mind that the final version can be drastically different from your first take.

Because of this, we recommend that you stop focusing on word count, headings, and other formatting guidelines at first. Just try to do some freewriting and brainstorm to lay down the ideas on which the draft will be based. You can then align the content with structural elements and create a final draft as the end result.

Write the Body First

This one depends on your writing style, but some writers find it easier to write the body of their essay or article before the introduction and conclusion. This allows them to define their arguments before framing them.

Rough draft writing should be about just that – creating the main arguments and exploring the main ideas that the final work will be based on. You can start with the middle, and we even advise you to write the conclusion first and leave the intro section for last. This will help you get into the tone and main ideas so you can come up with the perfect opening line in the same way.

Write Section by Section

Now that you know a bit more about starting your draft, you can create the first rough draft, one section at a time. After you write down the first few topic ideas, you move on by creating a body heading.

You can use the material you’ve prepared before that, only this time you can pay attention to details depending on if it’s the MLA or  APA research paper outline , style, word limits, formatting, and so on.

Don’t interrupt your own flow of thoughts by skipping between the sections. Write the body heading first, then the conclusion, and finally, move on to the introduction. Writing a draft this way helps create a perfect outline for each section that fits together as a whole.

Include Citations as You Go

The best way to go about writing the rough draft for a scholarly paper is to include citations along the way. There’s no need to overdo it here, you should just include a few citations of credible sources, possibly the ones you’ve used for inspiration and research before writing.

This may not even be as important for official reasons as it is to give you an idea of citations you’ll use in the final draft and to categorize your sources.

Leave Notes for Yourself and Use Placeholders

As you move your way from the first draft to the final one, you can leave a note as a reminder to yourself to come back to a certain section.

You can also leave a note for a certain section that you’ll return to later on if you run into writer’s block. You can use placeholders for formatting as well to make it easier to organize the text.

Reviewing the Draft

One of the most important steps for creating rough drafts is checking and revising if needed. Our recommended method is to read it around, as this can help figure out if certain sentences don’t read as well as you intended them to. We also recommend that you let someone else read it to give you a critique or feedback, which you can build on to make the essay’s first draft sound the best it possibly can.

Polish Your Essay to Perfection

If you need an expert’s hand to help with challenging sections of your essay, you can use the “ do my homework online ” service provided by our team. We can help you reduce stress if you are in a jam and get the work done by professional academic writers at your service through an example of a draft essay.

Of course, we’ll encourage you to complete your essay without any help as well, so let’s discuss the main steps of polishing your work.

First, confirm that everything while writing a rough draft is written right and prepare for the final draft. You have to ensure that your final essay draft is flawless! Here are some tips to get a perfect, polished essay after writing a rough draft.

• Take a break : Step away from your essay for a little while before you put words in their final form. This can help you approach the essay with fresh eyes and catch mistakes you might have missed before while writing. Make sure that all of your ideas are in logical order. 
• Focus on the thesis statement : Make sure your beginning is flawless by focusing on the  thesis statement . Look at the big picture and ensure it’s clear, concise, and supports the essay’s main argument in the body sections. If necessary, revise and refine the thesis statement for a compelling introduction. 
• Edit for structure and organization : Review the outline, word choices, and organization of the essay. Ensure that each paragraph flows logically and introduces new ideas. Ensure at least three paragraphs and direct quotes are in your final draft.
• Check for coherence : Make sure your essay is coherent and that each sentence and paragraph connects to the essay’s overall argument. Eliminate tangents or off-topic discussions, and make sure you are writing in your own style. Avoid passive voice when you write, and ensure you write the essay in active voice.
• Review for clarity and precision : Ensure your writing is clear and precise and in an active voice. Avoid jargon or overly complex language; use specific and descriptive words to convey your ideas when writing. Make sure to use quotation marks where required. 
• Proofread for grammar and spelling : Edit your essay for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Read the rough draft carefully, and consider using a grammar and spelling checker.
• Get feedback : Share your essay with a friend, teacher, or peer for feedback after writing. Consider their suggestions and make necessary revisions.
• Read it aloud : Read your work aloud to yourself to ensure that the outline flow well with the ideas and that each sentence makes sense. This can help you catch errors and identify areas that need improvement initially. 
• Follow the guidelines : Finally, ensure that your essay meets all the guidelines and requirements of the assignment in the final draft that’s written.

Tip: As writers do, make sure to add outside sources to support your ideas wherever required.

Working on a paper and drafting an essay can be challenging, especially if you have too much workload. In that case, you can get our services and be worry-free. We  assist students worldwide in writing essays in APA style, MLA style, or any other format on any subject. We work 24/7 and will prepare your rough draft or the whole paper without any excuses!

Moving Forward: From Rough to Final Draft

When it comes to the matter of rough draft vs final draft, it’s important to know that the initial form can always be further improved. Now that you have all it takes to write the first draft of an essay, you can keep improving and revising it to get the final shape and form you’ll be using to assist in your writing.

At this point, you should once again check the readability and flow, check for new ideas, or revise the content. Once the wiring is in its final shape, you can edit minor structural details and pay attention to spelling and the rough draft format. If you need assistance and the question “Can I  pay someone to edit my paper ” goes through your mind, our team is always available to help.

Wrapping Up on Rough Draft Writing

Creating an example of a draft essay or your first draft is tougher than it looks, but it can be done by following the right steps. In our opinion, a rough draft can significantly help as a base for your paper, and if done right, you will have a complete outline for it with only a few body sections to add.

Make sure to keep in mind the rough draft meaning when writing – it’s not about making a perfect outline from the first draft; it’s about setting up the main ideas as a base to build an essay upon.

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How to Write a Rough Draft for an Essay

March 29, 2024

Embarking on the journey to write a rough draft for an essay is not just a task but a pivotal step in effective writing. This guide is designed to be your companion in this endeavor, aiming to illuminate the path with clarity and precision. We will provide valuable insights and practical tips that will help you navigate the complexities of essay writing. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or taking your first steps in essay composition, understanding the importance of a rough draft is crucial.

It serves as the foundation upon which your ideas, arguments, and insights take shape and evolve. Remember, a well-constructed rough draft is more than just a preliminary version of your essay; it’s the backbone that supports and guides the development of a compelling, cohesive, and persuasive final piece. Our goal is to equip you with the tools and knowledge needed to craft a draft that effectively sets the stage for a powerful and impactful essay.

What is a Rough Draft?

A rough draft is an initial version of your essay. It’s not about perfection, but about getting your ideas on paper. Think of it as a sketch, where you outline your thoughts, arguments, and evidence, setting a foundation for refinement. In a rough draft, your focus should be on developing a coherent structure and fleshing out your arguments. It’s where you connect your ideas, arrange them logically, and ensure they support your thesis. Don’t worry about getting everything right at this stage; the goal is to lay down a solid framework. You can revise and polish your work in subsequent drafts.

This stage is also an excellent opportunity to experiment with different perspectives and approaches. Think of the rough draft as a creative space where your ideas can evolve and grow before they are finely tuned into the final version. Remember, the key is progress, not perfection.

What to Include in a Rough Draft?

In your rough draft, emphasize the connection between your thesis statement and the supporting arguments. Each argument should be backed by relevant evidence, such as data, examples, or quotations. This stage is not just about listing your ideas; it’s about weaving them into a coherent narrative. The introduction should present your thesis and set the tone and context of your essay. The body is where you delve into the details, presenting and elaborating on each argument in its own paragraph, ensuring each point logically leads to the next.

The conclusion then serves as a mirror, reflecting on your thesis and the journey of your arguments, summarizing the key points without introducing new information. While attention to grammar and style is secondary at this stage, maintaining a clear and logical flow is paramount. Remember, a rough draft is your roadmap for further refinement, laying the groundwork for a polished, compelling final piece.

Preparing for the Rough Draft

Preparation is key. Understand your topic, know your audience, and define your thesis. These steps provide a clear direction, making the drafting process smoother and more focused.

Gathering and Organizing Your Research

When gathering and organizing your research, focus on the diversity and relevance of sources. Seek books, academic journals, reputable websites, and expert interviews that offer varied perspectives on your topic. As you take notes, categorize them in a way that aligns with different aspects of your thesis. This helps in creating a well-rounded argument. Utilizing tools like digital bibliographies or note-taking apps can streamline this process. It’s crucial to keep track of your sources for proper citation and to avoid plagiarism.

Organizing your research methodically bolsters the credibility of your essay and makes the writing process more efficient. By having a clear and comprehensive grasp of your research material, you can seamlessly integrate facts and viewpoints to write a rough draft for an essay, ensuring a robust and persuasive argument.

Writing the Introduction of Your Essay

Writing the introduction of your essay is a critical step in engaging your audience from the outset. Start with a hook that captivates the reader’s interest – this could be a striking statistic, a thought-provoking question, a relevant quote, or a brief anecdote that ties into your main topic. Next, clearly and succinctly present your thesis statement. This is the heart of your essay, outlining your central argument or perspective. Then, briefly outline the structure of your essay. This preview should include the main points or arguments you plan to cover, arranged logically.

Key elements to include in your introduction are:

• The Hook: Engage the reader and pique their curiosity.
• Background Information: Provide context to your topic, making it accessible to the reader.
• Thesis Statement: Clearly state your main argument or the purpose of the essay.
• Outline of Main Points: Give a snapshot of the structure of your essay to orient the reader.

Remember, a compelling introduction draws the reader in and sets the tone for the rest of your essay, laying a foundation for a coherent and persuasive argument.

Developing the Body Paragraphs

In developing the body paragraphs of your essay, focus on clarity and depth. Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that clearly states the main idea or point you will discuss. This sentence is a mini-thesis for the paragraph and should tie back to your thesis statement. After introducing the main idea, present your supporting evidence, which could include data, quotations, examples, or research findings. Ensure that your evidence is relevant and effectively illustrates your point.

Once you’ve provided evidence, analyzing and interpreting it is essential. Explain how this evidence supports your main idea and relates to your thesis. This analysis demonstrates your critical thinking skills and helps the reader see the connections between your evidence and your argument.

Remember these key components for each body paragraph:

• Topic Sentence: Introduce the main idea of the paragraph.
• Supporting Evidence: Include facts, quotes, and data that back up your point.
• Analysis: Explain the significance of your evidence and how it supports your main idea.
• Transition: Smoothly connect to the next paragraph or idea.

By methodically constructing each body paragraph with these elements, you ensure that your essay is informative and cohesive, guiding the reader through your arguments with clarity and purpose.

Crafting a Strong Conclusion

A strong conclusion is vital to write a rough draft for an essay effectively. This final section should not merely restate the points you’ve already made. Instead, it should revisit your thesis statement in the context of the evidence and arguments you’ve presented throughout the essay. Reflect on how your insights have developed or been reinforced, providing a deeper understanding of your thesis. Then, leave the reader with something to ponder, be it a thought-provoking question, a call to action, or a potential implication of your findings.

This approach not only reinforces the main arguments of your essay but also encourages further thought or discussion. A powerful conclusion serves as the final stitch in the tapestry of your essay, tying all the pieces together and providing a sense of completeness and closure to your work. As you write the rough draft of your essay, consider how each part of your argument builds towards this concluding section, ensuring that it resonates with your reader and effectively encapsulates the essence of your thesis.

Enhancing Your Argument

To enhance your argument, focus on depth, perspective, and persuasiveness. Start by reviewing your thesis and supporting arguments, ensuring they are robust and well-reasoned. Incorporate diverse perspectives to add depth and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the topic. Use logical reasoning and sound evidence to strengthen your argument, making it more compelling. It’s also beneficial to anticipate and address potential counterarguments within your essay. This shows critical thinking and fortifies your position.

Additionally, using persuasive language and rhetorical techniques can make your argument more convincing. However, ensure that your persuasion is grounded in facts and logic, not just emotional appeal. Refining your argument involves a careful balance of evidence, reasoning, and persuasive writing skills, all aimed at presenting a convincing and well-supported case.

Editing and Proofreading

Editing and proofreading are crucial steps in finalizing your rough draft. Begin by reading your essay for overall clarity and coherence. Check if the essay flows logically from the introduction through the body to the conclusion. Pay attention to the structure of each paragraph; each should have a clear main idea and contribute to the overall argument. Then, focus on sentence-level clarity.

This involves correcting grammatical errors, clarifying ambiguous statements, and refining awkward phrasing. Be meticulous about word choice, ensuring each word adds value to your argument. Proofreading is the final step, where you look for and correct surface spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors. It’s often helpful to read your essay aloud or have someone else review it, as fresh eyes can catch errors you might have overlooked. You transform your rough draft into a polished, coherent, and grammatically accurate essay through careful editing and proofreading.

Once your rough draft is complete, stepping away for a while is a crucial point to write a rough draft for an essay. This break allows you to return with a fresh perspective, which is essential for effective revision. When you revisit your draft, focus first on the overall structure. Check that your arguments flow logically and that each paragraph transitions smoothly to the next. Ensure that your thesis statement is clearly articulated and that each section of your essay reinforces it.

During revision, scrutinize each sentence for clarity and precision. Remove any ambiguities or complex jargon that might confuse the reader. Moreover, aim for conciseness by eliminating redundant words or phrases. Every sentence should serve a purpose, whether advancing your argument, providing evidence, or elaborating on a point.

Here are the key steps to follow in the revision process:

• Structural Review: Ensure logical flow and effective organization.
• Clarity Check: Simplify complex language and clarify any ambiguities.
• Conciseness: Remove unnecessary words or redundant phrases.
• Argument Strengthening: Make sure each part of your essay contributes to your thesis.

Remember, good writing is re-writing. Be prepared to revise multiple times, making your essay cohesive and compelling. This process is where your rough draft transforms into a refined, impactful work.

Reflecting on the Writing Process

After completing the next steps in your essay, take a moment to reflect on the writing process. This reflection is an opportunity to consider what you’ve learned and how you’ve grown as a writer. Assess the strategies that worked well, such as your approach to organizing research or developing arguments, and note areas for improvement. Reflecting on challenges you encountered and how you overcame them can provide valuable insights for future writing endeavors.

Additionally, consider how your understanding of the topic has evolved through the research and writing process. This reflection not only aids in personal growth but also enhances your skills for future academic or professional writing tasks. It’s a chance to appreciate your journey from the initial idea to the final draft, recognizing the effort and dedication involved in crafting a well-thought-out essay.

Final Words

To write a rough draft for an essay is indeed to embark on a creative and intellectual journey, one that challenges and hones your writing skills. This guide has served as your compass, offering direction and insight to help you navigate the intricacies of crafting a rough draft. From gathering and organizing your research to developing your arguments and refining your writing, each step is crucial in forming the foundation of a persuasive and well-argued essay.

As you embrace this process, allow your ideas to flourish on paper, knowing that each word you write brings you closer to expressing your thoughts in their most impactful form. Remember, the rough draft is not the end, but a significant milestone in your academic or personal expression journey. The skills you develop and the insights you gain will improve your current essay and be invaluable in your future writing endeavors.

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Rough Drafting: Writing

• Embrace the Chaos
• Get Words Down
• Delegate to Future You
• Know Your Goal Style
• Pick Your Medium
• Set the Scene

Overview of rough drafting

The first draft of an essay or other written assessment is often referred to as the  rough draft.  We call it  rough  for a reason: it's normal for the earliest version of an essay to be disjointed, underdeveloped, or otherwise messy.

We argue that the messiness isn't just normal: it's a good thing. When you embrace the rough drafting stage as a time to explore content, test out structural options, inventory your ideas, and play  with the writing, it can lead to insights you might not discover otherwise.

Guide contents

The tabs of this guide will support you in completing rough drafts of assignments and understanding how you work best as a writer. The sections are organised as follows:

• Get Words Down  - Explore practical methods and suggestions to begin producing content.
• Delegate to Future You  - Learn vital strategies to maintain your momentum now and simplify your editing later.
• Know Your Goal Style -   Discover what makes a writing goal effective and how to follow through.
• Pick Your Medium - Reflect on the benefits and limitations of writing by hand, voice dictation, apps, and more.
• Set the Scene - Experiment with environmental factors such as company and space for maximum drafting efficiency.

Let's get started

Embracing the chaos of an imperfect rough draft can benefit your writing. Accepting this premise in theory is a start, but putting it into practice is trickier – to help you out, in this section, we will cover practical tips and approaches to get started on a rough draft.

The priority: make words happen

Many students feel self-conscious or even ashamed when their work is in a rough state. They want their writing to be engaging, logically structured, and well-supported from the very first attempt. That's a nice fantasy, but in reality, those unrealistic expectations can lead to procrastination and writing anxiety.

'Whether it's a vignette of a single page or an epic trilogy like The Lord of the Rings , the work is always accomplished one word at a time.' – Stephen King ¹

To state it rather unacademically, when we produce a first draft, our goal is to  make words happen.  That's it. Our goals shift as we get deeper into the process: as we transform that first draft into a second draft or the second into a third, we begin to make structural changes, refine our arguments, incorporate additional evidence, and more.

The rough draft, though? Again, this is simply where you make words happen.

Find your bearings

For most people, the writing process begins with activities like research/reading, invention, planning, and just plain  thinking . Amidst all those activities, writers sometimes lose track of the assignment's specific aims. Therefore, when you sit down to begin your draft, carefully re-read the assignment prompt , first.

• Do your rough plans and ideas align with the stated goals?
• Do you understand the key content/literature well enough to begin writing? (You don't need to be 100% finished with your research – focus on whether you know enough to make a meaningful start.)

Next, study any invention or planning items you have completed (e.g. mind maps, outlines , bulleted lists, and so on). Even writers who prefer to dive right in might benefit from jotting down a few important moves they plan to make in the draft (i.e., 'Define theory of XYZ'; 'Analyse the two case studies'; 'Explain method used').

Finally, choose a general starting point for your drafting: it does not have to be the beginning! You might find it easiest to begin with the introduction , but many people prefer to draft the body of the essay first.

Draft in a natural voice

You might struggle to start drafting because you fear your words aren't good enough or 'academic' enough. It's true that academic writing should aspire to clarity, precision and accuracy; however, those qualities rarely come to fruition in the first draft. Instead, you achieve clarity, precision and accuracy as you  edit subsequent drafts of the work.

Therefore, we recommend giving yourself permission to  write in a natural voice  while producing your first draft. This frees you to focus on  what  you want to say and  why , rather than fretting over exactly  how  you will say it.

The table below identifies and illustrates some common qualities of writing in a natural voice. It then shows how the voice can be changed later with editing. [ NOTE: Some disciplines accept the use of first-person pronouns, so the first example applies only to fields where 'I', 'my', etc. are discouraged.]

If you tend to pick away at your sentences, struggling to make each one sound just right before you move to the next, you might find it challenging to adopt this freer method of drafting. We encourage you to give it a try, though. When you truly accept rough drafts as works-in-progress – subject to all manner of changes and edits, later – the focus can shift to ideas and content rather than superficial phrasing concerns.

Freewriting and freespeaking

Freewriting techniques help produce raw material for essays, and they can also kickstart your writing if the work has lost momentum. Most simply,  freewriting  refers to writing without stopping for a set period of time (often ten minutes). No pausing to think, no backspacing, no editing: you have to move forward and keep writing until the timer goes off.

Freespeaking  follows the same premise, but you speak aloud instead of writing silently. The 'Pick Your Medium' tab of this guide shares some practical techniques for using dictation/voice methods if you wish to try this.

• Remember that the goal of drafting is to produce content, discover ideas, and make connections.
• Before you start drafting, revisit the assignment prompt and your planning/invention materials.
• Give yourself permission to write the first draft in your most natural voice.
• Consider gamifying your drafting process with some freewriting or freespeaking exercises.

An overview of placeholders

A placeholder, as the name implies,  stands in place of something else  within the rough draft. Using placeholders – or related techniques such as colour-coding and notes to self – not only eases the rough drafting process, but streamlines the writing activities that follow.

How placeholders work

Simply put, you can use a placeholder when you want to keep drafting for now, but know you need to return to a specific issue, later. Using a placeholder in your rough draft can help in two main ways:

• It encourages you to keep writing rather than going down a rabbit hole (i.e., getting distracted or diverted) every time an obstacle or question arises.
• It makes other writing activities like research and editing easier because you can sort your placeholders, like with like, and work systematically.

In practice, this means that you avoid disruption and draft more continuously. When you would normally be tempted to stop and make something 'perfect' (no such thing), you instead deploy a placeholder technique and keep going.

Forms and categories of placeholders

We will first explore the literal forms that placeholders can take. We will then cover common categories of use (i.e., 'stuff you flag' via a placeholder). 

Typical forms

Placeholders and notes to self can take whatever form makes sense to you. Here are some good options:

• Bracketed words or abbreviations  – As you're rough drafting, add a keyword or abbreviation in brackets [[LIKE THIS]] . Boldface helps it stand out. You can CTRL+F to find the brackets '[[' anywhere in your document, so it's easy to jump from one to the next as you edit later.
• Colour highlighting  – You can highlight sentences/words that you definitely want to revisit. Develop a manageable coding system (i.e., yellow = 'wow that sentence is way too long,' blue = 'find a better word to use there,' etc.).
• Comments or tags  – You can use the 'Comment' feature in Word to leave keywords or notes to self throughout the draft. Viewing all your comments together in the editing pane makes it easy to work through them systematically, later.
• Bullet points  – You can insert a bullet point or two to mark a spot in the rough draft that needs development or additional ideas, quickly summarising what's needed alongside the bullet(s).

Common categories

As we look at some common categories of placeholders, we will use the bracketed keyword technique to illustrate them. However, you could use other methods like Word comments or highlighting to indicate the same ideas.

• Expand/develop  – This is a good one to use if you have started to present a promising idea in your rough draft, but you need to reflect a while or do more research to fully develop it [[DEV. FURTHER]] .
• Fact check  – A placeholder like [[FACT CHECK]] or [[ACCURATE?]] is helpful when you must return to the literature to verify something. This lets you keep drafting while guaranteeing you will remember to double-check.
• Add evidence  – Use placeholders like this to mark claims you plan to strengthen by introducing evidence from the literature [[ADD LIT]] or a data set [[DATA NEEDED]] .
• Citation missing  –  Don't  assume you will remember to add all your citations later. If a fact, idea, or data point in your draft requires attribution, leave a [[CITATION]] placeholder. Your future self will thank you!
• Move 'missing'  – This one reminds you to go back and add anything you skip over in the rough draft, such as transition sentences [[MISSING transit]] , takeaway points, definitions of key terms, etc.
• Phrasing and word choices  – Remember, your rough draft will be full of clunky, weird sentences: that's 100% okay, so don't try to mark  every  sentence with a potential issue. But if a particular sentence or word is bothering you so much that you can't move on, try adding a placeholder like [[AWK]] (for 'awkward'), [[SMOOTH]] (for 'smooth out this cumbersome phrasing'), or [[W.C.]] (for 'word choice'). Flagging it will let you feel secure enough to continue drafting.

Making it work for you

The key thing to remember is that placeholders should make your writing life easier , not harder. With that in mind, here are some questions to consider as you develop your own placeholder techniques:

Is the method logical to you ?

• Don't work against your own instincts. For example, if using different colours to mark issues feels strange and difficult to track, that isn't your method!

Is the method manageable ?

• Aim for clarity and simplicity. Creating twenty different keyword codes is comprehensive, sure, but that system will be tough to memorise and stick to. Keep it simple and consistent.

Can you easily see or find your placeholders?

• You shouldn't  need to squint, zoom in, etc. Use abbreviations/punctuation you can 'find' via the CTRL+F shortcut, such as the double brackets in our earlier examples. If highlighting, colour enough text for it to stand out.
• Don't make placeholders out of words or acronyms that you use frequently in the actual writing. That will complicate any 'find' searches you do.

Does your system let you group 'like with like' and form a game plan?

• Make sure you can logically group your placeholders to simplify the next writing activities you do.

Editing's best friend

Let's say your first draft of an essay is complete. The rough draft is very rough, but that's okay: editing, supplementary research, and proofreading will whip the essay into shape. Great! But...where do you start? What needs to be done?

While drafting, we give our memories more credit than we should. Problems feel obvious to us in the moment , so we assume they will be just as obvious later on. (Spoiler: they won't be.)

This is where  placeholders  come to the rescue, providing a great starting point to address editorial concerns like these:

• Which claims in your draft still require data/literature to back them up?
• Have you incorporated any attributable information that still needs to be cited?
• What ideas or moves are missing from the draft (e.g. definitions, transitions, topic sentences, counterarguments...)?
• Did you feel particularly unsure about any words or phrases you used in the rough draft?

You will make changes, additions, and cuts unrelated to your placeholders, of course, but reviewing and grouping your placeholders can help you form a re-drafting and editing game plan (i.e., first, I'll do supplementary research on ABC and XYZ; next, I'll synthesize that new info into the draft; then, I'll fact-check...).

Placeholders in practice

Placeholders can be used in many writing contexts beyond academic essays: CVs, personal statements, business presentations, job performance reviews, email newsletters, wedding speeches, you name it.

In fact, we used placeholder strategies while writing the online guide you're currently reading! As shown in the below snip of the guide's overview tab, our strategies included...

• Keywords  – We used a small selection of keyword tags including 'missing', 'image here', and 'example needed' to flag areas where copy or content still needed to be developed.
• Emphasis  – We used brackets and caps-lock to distinguish our keyword tags from the surrounding text, with blue highlighting for further emphasis.
• Coding  – We kept our coding simple, but with enough options to suit the project. Blue was only used to indicate gaps (e.g. missing text, examples, or images), for example, whereas yellow meant phrasing edits might be required.

These techniques allowed us to keep the rough draft of the webpage moving along. Rather than staring at a wall for 30 minutes agonising over what might make a good example of some idea, we typed ' [EXAMPLE NEEDED] ' and continued working on the next passage. When a good example dawned on us later, the placeholder made it quick and easy to pick back up in the correct spot.

Same draft, two approaches

If you are having trouble picturing how placeholders can ease the drafting process, let's have a look at one writer, 'Maria,' as she works on her dissertation two different ways. Click below to expand the first scenario:

  Scenario #1  

Maria has started drafting her dissertation but isn't getting much written so far. She has two hours to write this afternoon. She types one sentence, then types another: 'I will use an intersectional and mixed-methods approach to insure the data is fair.' She re-reads it:  insure?  Is that right? She pulls up Google and searches 'insure or ensure.' The first hit adds 'assure' to the mix, too! Ugh. She reads the article and decides 'ensure' is correct – but the article is on an American site, maybe it's different in the UK? She finds a UK website and, yes, it's supposed to be 'ensure.'

But now she's worried about a bigger problem: isn't 'intersectional' related more to theories she's using, whereas 'mixed-methods approach' is about her data analysis? Is she supposed to talk about those in the same sentence? Well, last week she read a study that used mixed methods, so maybe she can read that and see how they framed it. She opens EndNote...nope, not that article...not that article...not that article...okay, there it is. Except the article doesn't say anything about theories in the introduction: is Maria doing this totally wrong?

She also wrote ' I will use,' and she can't remember if her supervisor said she  should  or  shouldn't  use the first-person for her dissertation, so she pulls up Blackboard and starts digging through folders to see if there's a handbook or something. Eventually she remembers that information was shared via email, not Blackboard, so she opens Outlook. Before she can find the email from her supervisor, Maria sees an email she sent to herself yesterday, with an article attached that she thought could be relevant to her dissertation. She opens the article and starts reading it...then keeps reading it...then remembers to search for that supervisor email...but nope, she can't find it. Forget it. She pulls up Word again and deletes the whole sentence.

At the end of Maria's two-hour 'rough drafting' session, she has written precisely... one sentence.

Maria probably doesn't feel great about that writing session. She bounced between many discrete activities in the writing process: rough drafting, proofreading, researching, analyzing assignment parameters, more researching, etc.

Some writers can get the work done while bouncing around in this way, but for many of us, it's more efficient to  identify the nature of each writing session and stick to it.  For example: 11:00-12:00 is rough drafting; 12:00-13:00 is lunch; 13:00-14:30 is research time; break; 15:00-16:00 is rough drafting.

What if Maria were to use some placeholder techniques? Click below to see how that might work.

  Scenario #2  

Maria has started drafting her dissertation but isn't getting much written so far. She has two hours to write this afternoon. She types one sentence, then types another: ' I will use an intersectional and mixed-methods approach to insure [W.C.] the data is fair.' Maria can't remember if first-person pronouns are permitted, so she highlights that phrasing. She always mixes up insure  and ensure , so she adds 'W.C.' for 'word choice.' She will check on those things later.

She knows she needs to expand on those ideas, so she continues typing, 'In terms of the project, intersectional refers to the theoretical lenses I am applying. I will analyse the interviews through not only a feminist lens [SPEC?]  but the social model of disability, too, which posits that [QUOTATION/CITATION]. ' The 'SPEC' note is a placeholder because Maria is deciding between two particular theorists: she'll get more 'SPECIFIC', later. She remembers circling a short but helpful definition of the social model of disability in an article, but she doesn't want to get distracted pawing through EndNote, so she adds a placeholder and keeps writing...and keeps writing...

At the end of Maria's two-hour rough drafting session, she has written  five paragraphs.

Maria should feel great about this writing session! She will need to revisit those five paragraphs and do considerable editing, later, but the point to remember is that  you can't improve what doesn't yet exist.

Moreover, the placeholder and colour-coding techniques that Maria has deployed will make it easier to coordinate her approach to editing. She can group related placeholders (e.g. notes to cite some literature; notes to check word choice; etc.) and focus on one similar set of actions at a time, making the process efficient.

• Placeholders can help you push forward with a rough draft instead of letting perfectionism or worry win out.
• There are different ways to use placeholders and notes to self: play around to build a system that works for you.
• These techniques are valuable not only for producing the rough draft, but for the re-drafting and editing processes .

The power of mini-goals

With written assignments, don't think in terms of one big goal, i.e., 'Finish and submit essay by 15th January.' Instead, use mini-goals to ensure you are making enough progress to hit  incremental or staggered deadlines.  On this page, we'll explore how goal setting options work, including the potential benefits and drawbacks; then we will cover ways to hold yourself accountable to goals.

'Goal Setting for Academic Writing' learning sequence

If you are struggling with managing your writing and getting things done, the learning sequence embedded below may help. It should take you about  30 minutes  to complete, and it includes a combination of videos, recaps of key points, and small activities to help you out. There is an accessibility link if you need to adjust colour contrast, screen reader, or other features.

Alternately, check out our goal setting YouTube playlist here , or scroll down to keep reading!

The three keys to effective writing goals

Mini-goals when rough drafting are generally quantity-based, time-based, or content-based.  Read the subsections that follow to learn how to use these elements in combination.

Length/quantity-based goals

With this approach, you aim to draft a certain number of words, lines/sentences, paragraphs, or pages per writing session or per day. If a 1,500-word essay is due in a few weeks, for example, you could research during the first week, then draft 300 words per day (Monday to Friday) in the second week. This would give you a 1,500-word rough draft, with one more week remaining to re-draft and edit.

If typing your rough draft, you can use 'word count' features to track your progress. If writing by hand, a paragraph or page target will be easier to follow.

• PROS  – Quantity goals compel you to actually write rather than sitting there overthinking. Breaking a big project like a 10,000-word dissertation into little 'chunks' (draft two paragraphs today; draft 150 words tomorrow; etc.) keeps you on track and makes the work feel more manageable.
• CAUTION   – Shift gears if too many writing sessions lead only  to 'fluff' or filler material while using quantity-based goals. This might signal the need to try a different goal method; it could also mean you need to engage in more invention activities or research before rough drafting.

Time-based goals

With this approach, you aim to rough draft for specific amounts of time. Plan your week in advance, setting realistic goals for each day by considering your other obligations, where you will be, anticipated energy levels, etc.

If you will be drafting for an hour or more, use a Pomodoro timer to break the time goal into shorter chunks with breaks between. For example, 'two hours of drafting' could be reframed as 'four 25-minute Pomodoro cycles.' See the quick video below for an explainer on this technique.

• PROS  – Time-based goals help you integrate drafting practices into your daily and weekly routine, which can gradually transform writing from 'random, stress-spiking intrusion' to 'normal habit.' Scheduling the decided goal into your calendar ups the odds that you will sit down to write during the blocked-out time. 
• CAUTION   – Shift gears if you are leaving too many so-called 'writing sessions' without having  written  (i.e., you 'wrote for two hours' yesterday and 'wrote for three hours' today, but have four sentences to show for it). Try combining a quantity-based or content-based goal with your time goal to remind yourself to make words happen .

Content-based goals

Students can use content-based goals for any assignment, but this method becomes crucial with extended writing at the postgraduate level . Why? Simply put, the bigger a writing project is, the more likely you are to stare at the blank page and say, 'I have no idea what to write today.'

It's important to develop a solid outline or mind map for this method because you build your mini-goals around achieving specific 'moves' or tackling specific content/ideas . That word 'specific' is key, as you can see in the examples below:

BAD content-based goal: In today's writing session, I will work on my literature review.

GOOD content-based goal:  In today's writing session, I will synthesize three different scholars' definitions of the term 'viral marketing.'

Just reading the first goal feels overwhelming: 'work on' is vague, and 'literature review' is far too broad to provide meaningful direction. The revised goal specifies the move the writer will make: synthesis (i.e., critically weaving together multiple sources). Additionally, it specifies the content/idea the writer will cover: the definition of 'viral marketing.'

To reiterate, content-based goals won't work unless you have some idea where the writing is headed, so invest time in invention and organisation activities.

• PROS  – Building your mini-goals around writing moves and content/ideas helps keep your rough drafting relevant, making this a good choice for writers who tend to stray from the assessment brief. You enter each drafting session with a clear idea of what you need to accomplish.
• CAUTION   – An overly rigid approach to content-based goals can prevent exploration of important insights that arise when you are rough drafting, so take time to reflect between each goal in case your plan needs to evolve.

But I don't wanna... (i.e., accountability)

If you are one of those magical people with a magically healthy sense of magical self-motivation...well, good for you! Skip this section. For the rest of us mere mortals, sticking to our writing goals can be a challenge. Here are some ideas to help:

Get it in your calendar as a real thing

It's easy for 'work on rough draft' to get bumped down, down, down your priority list until suddenly the essay is due...tomorrow. Drafting goals shouldn't be loose intentions that float invisibly around your head: they should be recorded and scheduled. Add your drafting sessions to the calendar you use most, and set up alarms and reminders.

Set yourself up for success

Know thyself, know thyself, know thyself: what distracts you when you're trying to draft? Identify the distractions, and do everything you can to eliminate or mitigate them. For example, if social media's siren call always gets to you, stop trying to succeed with willpower alone: leave your phone in a library locker or give it to a trusted friend until your writing session is over. See the 'Pick Your Medium' tab of this guide for more suggestions on tailoring how you write.

Lean on external accountability

In the 'Set the Scene' tab of this guide, we discuss drafting with an accountabili-buddy or writing group. It can be so helpful if you need to 'show up' not only for yourself, but for peers. For extra motivation, create a shared document where each of you log progress towards your drafting goals; this can be as basic as a table of the weekdays where you type 'Y' if you met the goal or 'N' if you didn't. Give encouragement, get encouragement: everyone wins.

Visually represent your achievements

This is a simple one, but it feels great: create a way to visually mark each goal you hit. Tap into your inner child and slap gold star stickers onto the calendar. Draw a thermometer on a piece of paper with the word-count total at the top; colour it in each day as you creep closer to the goal. Put each mini-goal in the To-Do app and relish in that 'ping' sound when you mark it complete.

Make a writing ritual

Cultivate a little ritual that tells your brain, 'It's time to write.' Buy a special tea or coffee that you only brew for writing. Or designate an ugly (but oh-so-comfy) jumper your official 'Making Words Happen Jumper.' Or do some sun salutations while singing 'Wrecking Ball' at the top of your lungs. It doesn't have to be dignified: it's your writing ritual.

Devise a reward system

Rewards that are contingent on perfection tend to be demotivating, so if you try this route, do reward yourself for a 'pretty okay' job: 100% goal-hitting is not realistic. Did you hit most your goals in a week? Perhaps you and your partner agree to binge some bad reality TV on the weekend. Complete your rough draft well ahead of the deadline? Treat yourself to an at-home spa day, or watch some rugby at the pub. For some people, it works to intersperse mini-rewards while writing, i.e., 'For every 45 minutes I draft, I'll give myself 15 minutes of TikTok.'

Being SMART

You can mix and match categories of rough drafting goals to create goals that are SMART: Specific, Motivating, Attainable, Relevant, and Trackable .

• Make a goal more specific by adding a content-based detail.
• Make a goal more  motivating by adding a reward or reflecting on the positive outcomes of achieving it.
• Make goals  attainable by adapting them to match realities of your schedule and study/writing habits.
• Make goals relevant by verifying that your planning materials reflect the assignment aims.
• Make goals trackable  with quantity-based mini-deadlines.

Writers who thrive within familiar routine may benefit from finding the goal style that works for them, then sticking with it. Individuals who respond better to variety may benefit from rotating between goal styles if one approach starts to feel stale.

Drafting goals can also evolve throughout the academic year. For example, a postgraduate researcher might respond well to primarily time-based drafting goals for much of the year. However, in the two months preceding a progression review deadline, they might layer on additional elements to build SMART drafting goals tailored to the submission requirements.

• Experiment with setting goals for your rough drafting based on quantity, time, or content written.
• Effective rough drafting goals are specific and realistic: goals that are vague or unattainable risk demotivating you.
• Setting mini-goals with staggered deadlines is vital when working on an extended piece like a dissertation or thesis, so use shorter assessments as opportunities to refine your goal-setting skills.

Pick your medium

When it comes to writing medium, your best bet is to experiment with various options . Most students default to typing in digital documents, but this isn't the only way to produce a rough draft.

Below, we will explore common drafting mediums and tools in terms of pros (i.e., benefits some writers will experience) and words of caution (i.e., potential 'cons,' many of which can be mitigated).

Typing (laptop/computer)

• THE METHOD  – Log into a computer, fire up a Word doc, and get started: you know the drill!
• It's simple to leave notes or placeholders in the text (see the 'Delegate to Future You' tab for more on this).
• Fast typing = fast drafting.
• Cloud storage enables access from any compatible device.
• Copy/paste lets you easily shuffle content around while drafting.
• You don't need to spend time typing it up later.
• If you freeze up at the sight of a cursor blinking on a blank page, try typing 'It's okay if this draft is terrible' at the top of the document, in bold. Doing so is strangely liberating!
• Long stints at the computer tire the eyes and body. Set a Pomodoro timer to remind yourself to take breaks.
• The call of the internet can be very, very distracting. Explore productivity apps/extensions that limit notifications, or bar internet access altogether, while drafting.
• Your work can be lost if you don't follow IT best practices. Never  rely exclusively on local storage, i.e., saving the file to your desktop. Back it up   via cloud storage or other options.

• THE METHOD  – You only need a pen and a notebook for this one. Project notebooks with tabbed sections are great for staying organised. You can also keep one notebook for planning/invention (outlines, mind maps, etc.) and one for drafting, then set the plan and your draft side by side while working.
• Writing by hand can quiet the perfectionistic inner voice that makes drafting difficult.
• Going device-free reduces digital distractions.
• The ritual of sitting down with a favourite notebook and pen transitions you into a writing-focused headspace.
• You have an excuse to buy cute stationery. (Kidding...kind of.)
• Getting hands-on with your draft can enhance your sense of ownership and engagement .
• You can draft in laptop-unfriendly locations (e.g. beach, forest, museum bench), with no worries about battery life and WiFi.
• If you don't make a regular habit of typing up what you have handwritten, a backlog builds up. Create a recurring 'Transcription Time' event in your calendar; use it to type up your week's writing.
• Notebooks can be lost, damaged, or misplaced. At the end of each drafting session, take quick pictures of your handwritten pages as an extra safeguard. Return your notebook to the same spot after every use to reduce the odds of misplacing it.
• Notebooks aren't secure. Warning: if your drafting involves confidential information or sensitive data, you must follow the university's research data management and privacy policies .

• THE METHOD  – Many students never consider this option, but talking is, indeed, a way to write . The first variation is to record yourself talking and transcribe it later. Just use the voice memo app in your phone to record thoughts and ideas as they come to you. The second variation uses speech-to-text technology , which transcribes your words automatically as you speak. Microsoft Word has a 'Dictate' feature; other dictation software and apps are available, too.
• Have you ever been frustrated because you can explain an idea in conversation, but you freeze or go blank when you try to write it down, later? Here's your perfect workaround: forget about big bad scary WRITING, and just...talk.
• Voice memos let us record flashes of inspiration wherever they occur (e.g. treadmill, bathtub, an annoyingly long queue at Nando's, the New Forest).
• You can squeeze some writing into a busy schedule by dictating during breaks at work, on your commute, etc.
• Writing by voice gives you a break from texting, typing, and staring at a screen.
• If using voice memos, immediately re-name your recordings (e.g. 'fallout of financial crisis' or 'Stranger Things character analysis') to avoid creating a sea of files with names like '20230713_7623.wav.'
• Delete each voice memo once you've transcribed it to prevent confusion. Follow the recurring 'Transcription Time' guidance in the handwriting section, above.
• Phones can be damaged, lost, or misplaced. Change your settings so recordings back up to cloud storage.
• If it's annoying to listen to your own voice as you transcribe, put your phone on speaker and let your computer 'listen' and type it up. You can also feed your sound files to a programme that automatically transcribes speech.

Apps and software

• Does drafting in your discipline call for mathematical formulas or other elements that a basic word processor doesn't handle well? If so, Overleaf/LaTeX  might make drafting easier.
• Are you writing a dissertation , thesis, or other lengthy work, and finding it frustrating to manage a substantial manuscript? If so, software tailored to long-form writing, such as Scrivener, might be a fit.
• Are you prone to digital distractions while drafting, or do wish you had a cleaner interface to work in? Search for 'focus writing apps' and see what's available.
• Do you like to dictate a lot of your content? Word does have 'Dictate,' but dedicated voice-to-text software provides more functionality.
• Could you benefit from assistive technology when drafting? Check the university's assistive technology software guidance for more.
• IT solutions exist for many logistical elements of rough drafting that we find frustrating or lacking.
• Working in apps that make sense to  you  saves time and frustration.
• Please don't mistake 'writing apps' for generative AI such as ChatGPT!  When we refer to 'writing apps,' we mean apps that let you type, record, organise, store, and annotate  your own writing .   We are  not  endorsing AI that generates text for you (see the university's guidance on academic responsibility and Artificial Intelligence Tools ).
• Many free writing apps exist, but others require a one-off or monthly payment. Take advantage of 7-day trials and/or free versions of apps to test them out before you commit any money.
• All software comes with a learning curve. Give yourself adequate time to learn the ins and outs of new apps (i.e., don't launch Scrivener for the first time when your thesis is due in three weeks!).
• Make sure it's straightforward to reformat/export your writing into the file format required for submission.

Mixing and matching

Though you might settle on one preferred medium, many writers like a 'mix and match' approach. The medium that works best varies with a range of factors from day to day: how distracted you feel; your energy levels; your location; how open or busy your schedule is; your confidence in the content; the aims of the drafting at hand; whether you feel 'blocked'; and more.

If you are working on an extended piece of writing such as a thesis or dissertation , it can be especially beneficial to vary your writing medium. Approaching words in a different way can motivate or reengage us when a project starts to feel tedious.

• Reflect on your typical writing medium and whether it lets you engage with rough drafts as you would like.
• Consider both digital and 'old school' methods to produce content: as long as it lets you put words together, it's valid.
• Remember that switching up your writing medium can have positive results when you're feeling stuck or demotivated.

Tailoring your writing scene

What does 'university student writing an essay' look like? Several students gathered together in the library, each working on their laptops and pausing to chat now and then? A lone student sat in a bustling café, scribbling in a notebook?

We encourage you to experiment with your writing practice when it comes to environment, from when and where you write, to whether you write alone or amidst others. T his page will help you set your scene for productive rough drafting.

Pick your company

It is surprising how influential having some company – or having no company at all! – can be on our writing activities. For example, some writers find it easiest to rough draft in a public study area alongside friends, but better to  edit  at home alone. Other writers prefer the opposite! Test out different combinations to figure out what works for you.

Flying truly solo

• For this option, try rough drafting when you are all by yourself. This often means drafting in your bedroom or another study area at home, but it could mean being out in nature with a notebook. Up to you!

Solo-ing among fellow solos

• For this option, try rough drafting in a space where people nearby are also working solo: for example, study pods in the library or Building 100, a work-friendly café with lots of small tables, a computer lab, etc.
• Writers drawn to this style don't want their work interrupted with conversation, but they do feel motivated by the awareness that everyone around them is working, too.

Pairing with an accountabili-buddy

• For this option, find one peer to join you for drafting sessions as an accountabili-buddy (i.e., an accountability buddy). Their presence helps you stay focused, and in turn, you help them stay focused.
• This practice helps ensure you are drafting regularly rather than procrastinating, getting distracted on your phone, etc. Read up on the concept of 'body doubling' to stay focused if this sounds appealing!

Gathering the writing group

• For this option, draft alongside a few peers on a regular basis. Writing groups vary in size, but four to six people total tends to work well.
• Major benefits of writing groups can include increased productivity, reduced procrastination, reduced anxiety, and an enhanced sense of community .

Matching task and company

• The company (or lack thereof) that works best for you whilst rough drafting might not suit other writing activities. For example, you might draft 'solo among fellow solos' in the library but bounce ideas off peers while editing.
• Figuring out your preferences takes trial and error. Reflect on not only your levels of productivity and focus, but your emotional and social wellbeing: after all, a tiny boost in productivity isn't worth it if you feel overwhelmed, disconnected, etc.

Reflect on environment

Environment goes hand in hand with company. You want to feel physically comfortable , but not so comfortable you fall asleep; you want to feel mentally stimulated , but not to the point of distraction. Here, we consider how factors in the environment influence your senses of focus and inspiration.

Vast rooms, great heights, and cozy nooks

• Compare how it feels to draft in a large, airy space with how it feels to draft in a cozier, den-like space.
• Try drafting with visual stimuli minimised: for example, at a desk facing a wall. Then, try drafting somewhere with more action or a view: for example, sat near a window on a building's 6th floor.

Noise levels and types

• Fewer writers thrive in absolute silence than you might imagine.
• When it comes to noise, think not only about volume levels, but the qualities  of what you are hearing: is the soundscape consistent or unpredictable; ambient or self-curated; musical or music-free; etc.?
• For a quick experiment, try drafting in one of the library's designated 'quiet zones,' then try drafting on a floor that allows talking: which worked better for you?
• A decent pair of headphones can be a great investment in your writing. Explore online options for 'white noise,' 'focus music,' 'study soundtracks,' etc.
• Cue up recordings of actual cafes, train stations, rainforests, zoos, laundromats, and other spaces if the ambient vibe helps you concentrate.

Public vs. private

• Public spaces tend to spark a greater sense of accountability. No one in the library will come over and chastise you if you stop working, but...it kind of feels like they will, doesn't it? Likewise, when you leave the house specifically to go somewhere and write, you feel more driven to follow through.
• Private spaces have benefits, too. You can stretch, pace around, and talk to yourself. You can create as much writing mess as needed. No one will judge you for wearing a dragon onesie while drafting (you do you, friend). Plus, the coffee is much cheaper!

Night owls, early birds, and...midday geese?

• Experiment with what time of day you write: again, the results may surprise you.
• Some writers swear by drafting first thing in the morning because their minds feel clear and undistracted.
• Other writers let their ideas incubate throughout the day and draft best at night.
• Others, still, experience an energy spike in the afternoon that lets them focus well on drafting.
• There is no right or wrong in terms of  productivity 'sweet spots' in the day: there is only what works best for you .

Customising environments

Small adjustments can make any environment work better for you if you take time to reflect on which factors are making the drafting feel easier and which factors are hampering you. For example...

• If seeing people walking around, gesturing, etc. is nice but the noise is too much, try silencing headphones.
• If the sounds of everyone typing and chattering in the library are great but you feel exposed or visually distracted, use a jacket to turn a study pod into your own little 'writing cave.'
• If your writing group meets in a private house for the cheap snacks and 'yay we can wear onesies' factor, but the house is too quiet, take turns picking ambient soundtracks or instrumental playlists for background noise.

• Rough drafting doesn't need to be a solo activity: consider whether some company is a good fit.
• Experiment with environmental variables – space, privacy, sound, time of day, etc. – to discover your individual blends for inspiration and focus.
• Remember that different writing activities may call for different combinations of company and environment: don't be afraid to mix things up and see what works.

• Last Updated: Jun 28, 2024 12:17 PM
• URL: https://library.soton.ac.uk/rough_drafting

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From Draft to Done: A Full Breakdown of the Writing Process

By Micah McGuire

So you’ve decided to write a story and hope to publish it. For write-to-publish newbies, you might want to know what you’re getting into, especially if you’re working on a large project like a novel. It’s natural to wonder: how many drafts will it take before my story is ready to publish?

Unfortunately, you’re more likely to answer “how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop?” before knowing how many drafts you’ll need before publication. Here’s why.

A rose by any other name: What’s in a draft?

The biggest problem with breaking down the writing process from first to last draft can be linked back to one little detail:

How do you define a draft?

There are as many ways to define the word “draft” as there are writers. Which means every writer’s version of “the writing process” will look different. It’s impossible to say: “oh, writing a novel will take five drafts.”

Because the definition of “draft” can vary so much, it’s useful to think about drafting on a spectrum:

• The fewest drafts: Only rewrites count
• Middle-of-the-road: The fiction patching method
• The most drafts: Every change counts

Keep reading for more on how this draft spectrum works.

Only rewrites count

The minimalist take on drafting. By this definition, only full rewrites of a piece count as a true draft. Which means when saving a manuscript to a file, you wouldn’t alter the file name until you completely rewrite that chapter, section, or piece.

The advantage here lies in simplicity: you have fewer files to juggle since you’re saving to the same file over and over. But you may risk losing details from earlier drafts because of the repeat saves. Plus, for larger projects like novels, you need to divide your manuscript into parts and have a file system in place to keep track of your revisions.

The fiction patching method

While this started as more of a joke between writers on social media, it’s a great middle-of-the-road way to think about drafting. It takes cues from software versioning , noting that not every change means a new draft. Smaller changes are like patches (the version’s third number) and rewrites might be closer to updates (the second number) rather than a new version release/new draft (the first number).

So draft names might look like this:

• Draft 0.1: Outline
• Draft 1.0: Rough Draft
• Draft 1.5: Rough draft with some rewrites
• Draft 2.0: Rough draft fully rewritten with feedback from critique partners
• Draft 2.0.1: Rewritten rough draft with a minor tweak (or “patch”) to the protagonist’s motivation

Here, you can always revisit an older version to review details you want to re-emphasize in rewrites. But, it’s easy to end up with dozens if not hundreds of files and you’ll have to decide what constitutes a “patch,” an update and a brand new release ahead of time to stay consistent with naming.

Every change counts

Taken to its extreme, this approach to drafting may seem silly. Why would anyone count every change as a new draft? But most writers favor a less extreme version of this approach. It’s how we end up with draft names like “Final draft” and “Final draft I swear,” and “No really this is the last draft.”

Fortunately, this means you’ll never lose a detail again and you have complete control over naming conventions. However, you can end up with hundreds of files in a blink. And, if you’re not careful with what you name each file, it may take some detective work to figure out which one is the most recent version.

So, where do you fall on the drafting spectrum? Keeping it in mind can help you estimate the number of drafts you might need before publishing your story.

From outline to finished product: the writing process

Now that you have a better understanding of what the word “draft” means to you, you can look at the writing process with fresh eyes.

While it’s impossible to say how many drafts a manuscript takes, it is possible to break the writing process down into stages . We can define the process in 5 stages:

• The rough draft
• Content edits
• Proofreading

Try not to think of this as a step-by-step process. It’s more like a series of loops as each one of these stages may require multiple revision rounds. Sometimes, the process can feel like one step forward and two steps back, but each round will strengthen your manuscript.

Let’s look at each stage.

1. Outlining

2. the rough draft, 3. content edits, 4. line edits, 5. proofreading.

We couldn’t talk about the writing process without touching on outlining. Planners, applaud and cheer as much as you’d like—just make sure not to upset your color-coded highlighter sets.

Pantsers, resist the urge to skip this. It still applies to you, even if you think it doesn’t.

Like a draft, there are thousands of ways to define the term “outline.” But whether you fall on the planner detailed scene-by-scene index card method or the pantser “I know the ending. How I get there is up to the characters” end of the spectrum, you need some form of an outline.

The point of an outline is to ensure your writing produces a story with a plot. Otherwise, you risk writing pages and pages in which your characters run around and do things but never advance the plot.

So at the bare minimum, an outline requires you know:

• Who your protagonist is
• Who your antagonist is
• Why the protagonist and antagonist have a problem with each other (otherwise known as your central conflict)
• Where the story starts
• Where the story ends

Pantsers, breathe a sigh of relief: you don’t have to answer any of these questions in detail for it to count as an outline. You just need to know where you’re starting and where you’re going. You don’t even need to use a pen and paper— try these three fun outlining methods .

Spend as much or as little time on this stage as you’d like.

But once your outline is complete, you can move onto what most of us think of as the “real” writing: drafting.

This is the most crucial aspect of writing a story. Fortunately, it’s also the one stage that’s impossible to get wrong.

There’s one goal to a rough draft: get the story out of your head and onto a page in a somewhat comprehensible form. That’s the only focus. So if you’re writing, you’re succeeding.

Most writers face perfectionist paralysis in the rough draft stage. We think that because the writing doesn’t match what we see it in our heads, it’s bad. Or the story’s going to be bad. Or we’re bad writers.

If you’re in the analysis paralysis camp, invoke Anne Lamott’s “Sh*tty First Drafts” rule . To quote the late great Terry Pratchett, “the first draft is you telling yourself the story.”

So don’t judge it. Or better yet, accept that it’s bad. Cringe, wince, make faces. Just get it down on the page. Because you can’t edit a story that’s floating around in your head.

So you’ve finished your rough draft. Take a moment to celebrate! Your story is out of your head and onto the page.

Next up: editing.

Writers usually see editing as a terrifying mountain or a fun challenge. But there’s no denying it’s a monumental job, no matter how long or short your story is.

Because the scope of editing can be overwhelming, it’s easiest to break the process up into steps. Those steps are:

Here’s a breakdown of each.

A content edit is just what it sounds like: a pass editing the content and story of your work. This is the place to catch plot holes, character inconsistencies, and scenes that are a bit of a slog. For some, it’s easier to think of this as a “rewriting” round rather than an “editing” round since you’re making large-scale changes.

Sometimes, content edits are obvious on a read-through of a rough draft. Yet the longer you’ve worked on a piece, the harder it is to spot those editing opportunities.

Self-editing

Each draft you write marks progress in your writing abilities. When you read back over the first few scenes you wrote, you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come. This is why the self-edit is so important. You need to apply your newfound skills and perspective to your manuscript so that it’s the best it can be before you open it up for feedback.

The first step is to use an editing software like ProWritingAid to help you spot issues with overly long sentences, awkward constructions, unruly dialogue tags, and pacing. Using an editing tool at this stage helps you to get the most out of any human beta-readers and editors you may reach out to down the line.

Some reports give you the tools to visualise your draft at a glance to see where you need to focus. The Sentence Length Report shows you all of your sentences in a handy bar chart so you can cut long, winding sentences down to size. This will help keep your ideas clear and avoid any readability issues.

Other reports let you get to work directly on your manuscript, like the Overused Words Report. This report highlights words that are often overused in published writing. These are words like could , just , and feel that point to vagueness or telling rather than showing.

The report lets you pick out these words and change them to make sure your description is doing the work it needs to to immerse your readers.

Learn how to approach the self-edit, and how ProWritingAid can help .

Critique partners and beta readers Once your first self-edit is complete, you’ll need a fresh set of eyes to help direct your efforts. Enter critique partners and beta readers. On the surface, it may sound like critique partners and beta readers do the same thing: they both read through your work and provide feedback. However, there’s some nuance that separates the two: Critique partners are writers who read like writers. But beta readers are writers or readers who read like readers. Because your critique partners are fellow writers, they’re great at spotting technical issues, like: Weak character motivations Stilted dialogue Clichéd descriptions Continuity errors Getting this technical feedback is especially helpful before handing your story off to readers, so it’s best to let your critique partners read a story before jumping into a beta reading round. As a bonus, your critique partners can spot these issues and help you figure out ways to fix them while you’re both “talking shop.” Beta readers, on the other hand, are fantastic for getting feedback on emotional reactions to your story, like: Whether a certain character was likable or not If certain chapters felt too fast or too slow Whether the conflict kept them engaged If they found themselves wanting to read more Here, you’re getting close to how a reader would react to your story once it’s published. Use their feedback to determine if the story prompts the response you intended it to and edit accordingly. Now, a quick note on the biggest difference between beta readers and critique partners: the detail level of their suggestions. If beta readers aren’t writers themselves, they may not be able to articulate the specifics of what they dislike in the story. Their feedback can be vague, amounting to: “I don’t like this scene, but I’m not sure why.” The best way to identify problem spots is to look at the feedback of all of your beta readers. If multiple readers have an issue with a scene or section, it’s a good indicator to pay close attention on editing. Critique partners, however, can usually pin-point issues with laser precision, but may go overboard with their suggestions. Feedback may seem harsh and critique partners with a domineering streak may make “my way or the highway” style fix suggestions. So it’s ultimately a fine balance. Note where you can improve and keep that in mind during your content edits, but also trust your gut instinct. In the end, it’s your story. Once you’ve gone through a round or two (or more) of content edits, it’s time to move to line edits. These edits ensure your story is as strong as possible when it’s published. You’re examining your story, sentence by sentence, to catch dialogue issues, problems with the flow of a paragraph, and weak sentences that need rewriting. If you’d like to hire a professional editor, this is a great stage to do it. But, if you’d prefer to tackle this edit yourself, ProWritingAid can make your process run much more smoothly. Check out our guide to six of the key reports that can make your line edits easy. The proofreading stage is what most writers think of when they think of “editing.” Here, you’re checking for spelling and grammatical errors and ensuring consistency. Think of it as a final polish. While some writers may hire a professional editor to proofread, it’s not a necessity, especially if you’re looking to publish traditionally. Often, a friend with a good eye for grammar can catch trouble spots on their read through. And ProWritingAid’s spelling and grammar reports can point out any little details they may have missed. With your proofreading sweep complete, congratulations! Your story is ready to share with the wider reading world. Now, it’s time to move on to publishing or querying process. If you’re looking to self publish your story, check out our webinar on the 7 Processes of Publishing . And for those who want to query, Jennifer Xue’s guide covers the process in depth . Are you prepared to write your novel? Download this free book now: The Novel-Writing Training Plan So you are ready to write your novel. excellent. but are you prepared the last thing you want when you sit down to write your first draft is to lose momentum., this guide helps you work out your narrative arc, plan out your key plot points, flesh out your characters, and begin to build your world.. Be confident about grammar Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send. Micah McGuire As ProWritingAid’s Growth Marketing Manager, Micah’s approach to marketing combines her three favorite things: writing, user research, and data analysis. Previously, she managed PR and partnerships for startup GrowthMentor. A geek about all things science, but especially her former field of study, microbiology, and neuroscience, she’s always on the lookout for ways to incorporate fascinating new research into writing. Much of her previous freelance work analyzes the science of productivity, creativity, and how we can better understand the intersection of the two to lead richer lives. Outside of work, you can usually find her baking or typing away at her latest science fiction or fantasy project. Get started with ProWritingAid Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via: College Essay Writing Techniques: How to Write a Rough Draft Not sure what to do with your brainstorming notes and freewriting? 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Luckily for you, CEA's Founder and Chief Advisor, Stacey Brook, is here to help you make sure your essay stands out. 10 Things You Should NEVER Write in Your College Essay In this video, we will walk you through the top 10 DON'Ts of the college admissions essay writing process, so you can submit your Common App personal statement and school-specific supplemental essays with the utmost confidence! This video will teach you: what not to write under any circumstance (or most circumstances), the mistakes applicants make without even realizing, and more! How to Turn your Outline into a Stellar Essay Structuring a winning college admissions essay is hard. Should you start with the ending and then catch the reader up? Or throw them head first into the action and explain later? And where exactly should you put all of great sentences, you've come up with thus far? In this video, we'll teach you everything you need to know about turning your outline into a rough draft! Freewriting, Topic Selection, and the First Draft Freewriting is the key to an amazing college application essay - especially the first draft! Fill up you blank page (or text box) with these tips for getting started (and never stopping) on your way to personal statement success. Freewriting 101: How to Freewrite for Your College Essay Freewriting is, at its core, just as it sounds: the act of writing freely. It is the exercise of jotting down whatever comes to mind, without judgment or worrying about the final product. Because the college admissions essay holds so much weight, many students struggle with the 'no judgement' part. This video will show you how to put your inner critic aside and let the writing flow. How do You Know When You’ve Found THE Winning Topic? [TAKE THE TEST] How do you know when you've found THE topic? You know, the topic that will rule all other topics. The one that will make admissions officers laugh or cry...or both? 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Our Approach & Team Undergraduate Testimonials Postgraduate Testimonials Where Our Students Get In CEA Gives Back Undergraduate Admissions Graduate Admissions Private School Admissions International Student Admissions Common App Essay Guide Supplemental Essay Guide Coalition App Guide The CEA Podcast YouTube Tutorials Admissions Stats Notification Trackers Deadline Databases College Essay Examples Academy and Worksheets Waitlist Guides Get Started Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices. 8.3 Drafting Learning objectives. Identify drafting strategies that improve writing. Use drafting strategies to prepare the first draft of an essay. Drafting is the stage of the writing process in which you develop a complete first version of a piece of writing. Even professional writers admit that an empty page scares them because they feel they need to come up with something fresh and original every time they open a blank document on their computers. Because you have completed the first two steps in the writing process, you have already recovered from empty page syndrome. You have hours of prewriting and planning already done. You know what will go on that blank page: what you wrote in your outline. Getting Started: Strategies For Drafting Your objective for this portion of Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” is to draft the body paragraphs of a standard five-paragraph essay. A five-paragraph essay contains an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. If you are more comfortable starting on paper than on the computer, you can start on paper and then type it before you revise. You can also use a voice recorder to get yourself started, dictating a paragraph or two to get you thinking. In this lesson, Mariah does all her work on the computer, but you may use pen and paper or the computer to write a rough draft. Making the Writing Process Work for You What makes the writing process so beneficial to writers is that it encourages alternatives to standard practices while motivating you to develop your best ideas. For instance, the following approaches, done alone or in combination with others, may improve your writing and help you move forward in the writing process: Begin writing with the part you know the most about. You can start with the third paragraph in your outline if ideas come easily to mind. You can start with the second paragraph or the first paragraph, too. Although paragraphs may vary in length, keep in mind that short paragraphs may contain insufficient support. Readers may also think the writing is abrupt. Long paragraphs may be wordy and may lose your reader’s interest. As a guideline, try to write paragraphs longer than one sentence but shorter than the length of an entire double-spaced page. Write one paragraph at a time and then stop. As long as you complete the assignment on time, you may choose how many paragraphs you complete in one sitting. Pace yourself. On the other hand, try not to procrastinate. Writers should always meet their deadlines. Take short breaks to refresh your mind. This tip might be most useful if you are writing a multipage report or essay. Still, if you are antsy or cannot concentrate, take a break to let your mind rest. But do not let breaks extend too long. If you spend too much time away from your essay, you may have trouble starting again. You may forget key points or lose momentum. Try setting an alarm to limit your break, and when the time is up, return to your desk to write. Be reasonable with your goals. If you decide to take ten-minute breaks, try to stick to that goal. If you told yourself that you need more facts, then commit to finding them. Holding yourself to your own goals will create successful writing assignments. Keep your audience and purpose in mind as you write. These aspects of writing are just as important when you are writing a single paragraph for your essay as when you are considering the direction of the entire essay. Of all of these considerations, keeping your purpose and your audience at the front of your mind is the most important key to writing success. If your purpose is to persuade, for example, you will present your facts and details in the most logical and convincing way you can. Your purpose will guide your mind as you compose your sentences. Your audience will guide word choice. Are you writing for experts, for a general audience, for other college students, or for people who know very little about your topic? Keep asking yourself what your readers, with their background and experience, need to be told in order to understand your ideas. How can you best express your ideas so they are totally clear and your communication is effective? You may want to identify your purpose and audience on an index card that you clip to your paper (or keep next to your computer). On that card, you may want to write notes to yourself—perhaps about what that audience might not know or what it needs to know—so that you will be sure to address those issues when you write. It may be a good idea to also state exactly what you want to explain to that audience, or to inform them of, or to persuade them about. Writing at Work Many of the documents you produce at work target a particular audience for a particular purpose. You may find that it is highly advantageous to know as much as you can about your target audience and to prepare your message to reach that audience, even if the audience is a coworker or your boss. Menu language is a common example. Descriptions like “organic romaine” and “free-range chicken” are intended to appeal to a certain type of customer though perhaps not to the same customer who craves a thick steak. Similarly, mail-order companies research the demographics of the people who buy their merchandise. Successful vendors customize product descriptions in catalogs to appeal to their buyers’ tastes. For example, the product descriptions in a skateboarder catalog will differ from the descriptions in a clothing catalog for mature adults. Using the topic for the essay that you outlined in Section 8.2 “Outlining” , describe your purpose and your audience as specifically as you can. Use your own sheet of paper to record your responses. Then keep these responses near you during future stages of the writing process. My purpose: ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ My audience: ____________________________________________ Setting Goals for Your First Draft A draft is a complete version of a piece of writing, but it is not the final version. The step in the writing process after drafting, as you may remember, is revising. During revising, you will have the opportunity to make changes to your first draft before you put the finishing touches on it during the editing and proofreading stage. A first draft gives you a working version that you can later improve. Workplace writing in certain environments is done by teams of writers who collaborate on the planning, writing, and revising of documents, such as long reports, technical manuals, and the results of scientific research. Collaborators do not need to be in the same room, the same building, or even the same city. Many collaborations are conducted over the Internet. In a perfect collaboration, each contributor has the right to add, edit, and delete text. Strong communication skills, in addition to strong writing skills, are important in this kind of writing situation because disagreements over style, content, process, emphasis, and other issues may arise. The collaborative software, or document management systems, that groups use to work on common projects is sometimes called groupware or workgroup support systems. The reviewing tool on some word-processing programs also gives you access to a collaborative tool that many smaller workgroups use when they exchange documents. You can also use it to leave comments to yourself. If you invest some time now to investigate how the reviewing tool in your word processor works, you will be able to use it with confidence during the revision stage of the writing process. Then, when you start to revise, set your reviewing tool to track any changes you make, so you will be able to tinker with text and commit only those final changes you want to keep. Discovering the Basic Elements of a First Draft If you have been using the information in this chapter step by step to help you develop an assignment, you already have both a formal topic outline and a formal sentence outline to direct your writing. Knowing what a first draft looks like will help you make the creative leap from the outline to the first draft. A first draft should include the following elements: An introduction that piques the audience’s interest, tells what the essay is about, and motivates readers to keep reading. A thesis statement that presents the main point, or controlling idea, of the entire piece of writing. A topic sentence in each paragraph that states the main idea of the paragraph and implies how that main idea connects to the thesis statement. Supporting sentences in each paragraph that develop or explain the topic sentence. These can be specific facts, examples, anecdotes, or other details that elaborate on the topic sentence. A conclusion that reinforces the thesis statement and leaves the audience with a feeling of completion. These elements follow the standard five-paragraph essay format, which you probably first encountered in high school. This basic format is valid for most essays you will write in college, even much longer ones. For now, however, Mariah focuses on writing the three body paragraphs from her outline. Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” covers writing introductions and conclusions, and you will read Mariah’s introduction and conclusion in Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” . The Role of Topic Sentences Topic sentences make the structure of a text and the writer’s basic arguments easy to locate and comprehend. In college writing, using a topic sentence in each paragraph of the essay is the standard rule. However, the topic sentence does not always have to be the first sentence in your paragraph even if it the first item in your formal outline. When you begin to draft your paragraphs, you should follow your outline fairly closely. After all, you spent valuable time developing those ideas. However, as you begin to express your ideas in complete sentences, it might strike you that the topic sentence might work better at the end of the paragraph or in the middle. Try it. Writing a draft, by its nature, is a good time for experimentation. The topic sentence can be the first, middle, or final sentence in a paragraph. The assignment’s audience and purpose will often determine where a topic sentence belongs. When the purpose of the assignment is to persuade, for example, the topic sentence should be the first sentence in a paragraph. In a persuasive essay, the writer’s point of view should be clearly expressed at the beginning of each paragraph. Choosing where to position the topic sentence depends not only on your audience and purpose but also on the essay’s arrangement, or order. When you organize information according to order of importance, the topic sentence may be the final sentence in a paragraph. All the supporting sentences build up to the topic sentence. Chronological order may also position the topic sentence as the final sentence because the controlling idea of the paragraph may make the most sense at the end of a sequence. When you organize information according to spatial order, a topic sentence may appear as the middle sentence in a paragraph. An essay arranged by spatial order often contains paragraphs that begin with descriptions. A reader may first need a visual in his or her mind before understanding the development of the paragraph. When the topic sentence is in the middle, it unites the details that come before it with the ones that come after it. As you read critically throughout the writing process, keep topic sentences in mind. You may discover topic sentences that are not always located at the beginning of a paragraph. For example, fiction writers customarily use topic ideas, either expressed or implied, to move readers through their texts. In nonfiction writing, such as popular magazines, topic sentences are often used when the author thinks it is appropriate (based on the audience and the purpose, of course). A single topic sentence might even control the development of a number of paragraphs. For more information on topic sentences, please see Chapter 6 “Writing Paragraphs: Separating Ideas and Shaping Content” . Developing topic sentences and thinking about their placement in a paragraph will prepare you to write the rest of the paragraph. The paragraph is the main structural component of an essay as well as other forms of writing. Each paragraph of an essay adds another related main idea to support the writer’s thesis, or controlling idea. Each related main idea is supported and developed with facts, examples, and other details that explain it. By exploring and refining one main idea at a time, writers build a strong case for their thesis. Paragraph Length How long should a paragraph be? One answer to this important question may be “long enough”—long enough for you to address your points and explain your main idea. To grab attention or to present succinct supporting ideas, a paragraph can be fairly short and consist of two to three sentences. A paragraph in a complex essay about some abstract point in philosophy or archaeology can be three-quarters of a page or more in length. As long as the writer maintains close focus on the topic and does not ramble, a long paragraph is acceptable in college-level writing. In general, try to keep the paragraphs longer than one sentence but shorter than one full page of double-spaced text. Journalistic style often calls for brief two- or three-sentence paragraphs because of how people read the news, both online and in print. Blogs and other online information sources often adopt this paragraphing style, too. Readers often skim the first paragraphs of a great many articles before settling on the handful of stories they want to read in detail. You may find that a particular paragraph you write may be longer than one that will hold your audience’s interest. In such cases, you should divide the paragraph into two or more shorter paragraphs, adding a topic statement or some kind of transitional word or phrase at the start of the new paragraph. Transition words or phrases show the connection between the two ideas. In all cases, however, be guided by what you instructor wants and expects to find in your draft. Many instructors will expect you to develop a mature college-level style as you progress through the semester’s assignments. To build your sense of appropriate paragraph length, use the Internet to find examples of the following items. Copy them into a file, identify your sources, and present them to your instructor with your annotations, or notes. A news article written in short paragraphs. Take notes on, or annotate, your selection with your observations about the effect of combining paragraphs that develop the same topic idea. Explain how effective those paragraphs would be. A long paragraph from a scholarly work that you identify through an academic search engine. Annotate it with your observations about the author’s paragraphing style. Starting Your First Draft Now we are finally ready to look over Mariah’s shoulder as she begins to write her essay about digital technology and the confusing choices that consumers face. As she does, you should have in front of you your outline, with its thesis statement and topic sentences, and the notes you wrote earlier in this lesson on your purpose and audience. Reviewing these will put both you and Mariah in the proper mind-set to start. The following is Mariah’s thesis statement. Here are the notes that Mariah wrote to herself to characterize her purpose and audience. Mariah chose to begin by writing a quick introduction based on her thesis statement. She knew that she would want to improve her introduction significantly when she revised. Right now, she just wanted to give herself a starting point. You will read her introduction again in Section 8.4 “Revising and Editing” when she revises it. Remember Mariah’s other options. She could have started directly with any of the body paragraphs. You will learn more about writing attention-getting introductions and effective conclusions in Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” . With her thesis statement and her purpose and audience notes in front of her, Mariah then looked at her sentence outline. She chose to use that outline because it includes the topic sentences. The following is the portion of her outline for the first body paragraph. The roman numeral II identifies the topic sentence for the paragraph, capital letters indicate supporting details, and arabic numerals label subpoints. Mariah then began to expand the ideas in her outline into a paragraph. Notice how the outline helped her guarantee that all her sentences in the body of the paragraph develop the topic sentence. If you write your first draft on the computer, consider creating a new file folder for each course with a set of subfolders inside the course folders for each assignment you are given. Label the folders clearly with the course names, and label each assignment folder and word processing document with a title that you will easily recognize. The assignment name is a good choice for the document. Then use that subfolder to store all the drafts you create. When you start each new draft, do not just write over the last one. Instead, save the draft with a new tag after the title—draft 1, draft 2, and so on—so that you will have a complete history of drafts in case your instructor wishes you to submit them. In your documents, observe any formatting requirements—for margins, headers, placement of page numbers, and other layout matters—that your instructor requires. Study how Mariah made the transition from her sentence outline to her first draft. First, copy her outline onto your own sheet of paper. Leave a few spaces between each part of the outline. Then copy sentences from Mariah’s paragraph to align each sentence with its corresponding entry in her outline. Continuing the First Draft Mariah continued writing her essay, moving to the second and third body paragraphs. She had supporting details but no numbered subpoints in her outline, so she had to consult her prewriting notes for specific information to include. If you decide to take a break between finishing your first body paragraph and starting the next one, do not start writing immediately when you return to your work. Put yourself back in context and in the mood by rereading what you have already written. This is what Mariah did. If she had stopped writing in the middle of writing the paragraph, she could have jotted down some quick notes to herself about what she would write next. Preceding each body paragraph that Mariah wrote is the appropriate section of her sentence outline. Notice how she expanded roman numeral III from her outline into a first draft of the second body paragraph. As you read, ask yourself how closely she stayed on purpose and how well she paid attention to the needs of her audience. Mariah then began her third and final body paragraph using roman numeral IV from her outline. Reread body paragraphs two and three of the essay that Mariah is writing. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper. In body paragraph two, Mariah decided to develop her paragraph as a nonfiction narrative. Do you agree with her decision? Explain. How else could she have chosen to develop the paragraph? Why is that better? Compare the writing styles of paragraphs two and three. What evidence do you have that Mariah was getting tired or running out of steam? What advice would you give her? Why? Choose one of these two body paragraphs. Write a version of your own that you think better fits Mariah’s audience and purpose. Writing a Title A writer’s best choice for a title is one that alludes to the main point of the entire essay. Like the headline in a newspaper or the big, bold title in a magazine, an essay’s title gives the audience a first peek at the content. If readers like the title, they are likely to keep reading. Following her outline carefully, Mariah crafted each paragraph of her essay. Moving step by step in the writing process, Mariah finished the draft and even included a brief concluding paragraph (you will read her conclusion in Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” ). She then decided, as the final touch for her writing session, to add an engaging title. Writing Your Own First Draft Now you may begin your own first draft, if you have not already done so. Follow the suggestions and the guidelines presented in this section. Key Takeaways Make the writing process work for you. Use any and all of the strategies that help you move forward in the writing process. Always be aware of your purpose for writing and the needs of your audience. Cater to those needs in every sensible way. Remember to include all the key structural parts of an essay: a thesis statement that is part of your introductory paragraph, three or more body paragraphs as described in your outline, and a concluding paragraph. Then add an engaging title to draw in readers. Write paragraphs of an appropriate length for your writing assignment. Paragraphs in college-level writing can be a page long, as long as they cover the main topics in your outline. Use your topic outline or your sentence outline to guide the development of your paragraphs and the elaboration of your ideas. Each main idea, indicated by a roman numeral in your outline, becomes the topic of a new paragraph. Develop it with the supporting details and the subpoints of those details that you included in your outline. Generally speaking, write your introduction and conclusion last, after you have fleshed out the body paragraphs. Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted. Welcome to the new OASIS website! We have academic skills, library skills, math and statistics support, and writing resources all together in one new home. Walden University Faculty Portal Writing a Paper: Drafting Drafting refers to actually writing the words of the paper. As part of the writing process, you will write multiple drafts of your paper. Each rough draft improves upon the previous one. The final draft is simply the last draft that you submit. Related Webinar Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] . Previous Page: Organizing Your Thoughts Next Page: Introductions Office of Student Disability Services Walden Resources Departments. 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Notes From a Writer's Desk: How to Build a First Draft from an Outline Share this page You’ve decided to write a paper or fellowship application, but now it’s time to start drafting. There are almost no sights more intimidating to an academic than a blank page that you hope will soon be filled with brilliant arguments and turns of phrase. However, you don’t need to start with complete sentences and paragraphs. Arranging scattered words and phrases into an outline and gradually filling it in can get you to your goal. In fact, this approach may help you keep the big picture in mind as you write, allowing you to stay focused on your main ideas and overarching argument even as you delve into the weeds. Here are some steps and strategies for assembling an outline and massaging it into a first draft: What are the key points that you must get across? For a thesis, you might start with the headings in a chapter outline; for a research paper introduction, you may write down broad topics constituting the background of your work, gradually zeroing in on your research question. For a personal statement, a key point might be a life experience that sets you apart as a scholar, or for a research proposal, an aim that you mean to accomplish in the lab. Jot down the key stories and their significance as bullet points. Right now, completeness and order don’t matter as long as you’ll be able to understand what you wrote at a later point. Organize subtopics as indented bullet points under your main ideas. Later on, these ideas might become body sentences in a paragraph or become their own paragraphs. Think about order and transitions. Shift your bullet points into an order that lets your points build and compound upon one another. It’s easier to see issues in the progression of ideas at this stage, when they are in their shorter, undeveloped form, than later on, when they have expanded into full paragraphs. Next, consider how each bullet point connects to the previous one and play with transitions. If it supports the previous point, add phrases such as, “In addition to” or “Not only . . . but also.” If the ideas are contradictory, add “Despite” or “However.” Set up citations and use key references as scaffolding.   Integrating citation software into your word processor is a beneficial administrative task that is best to complete during the outline stage. Despite the initial time investment and technical hiccups you may have to work through, this step will save you many hours in the future. Do this task toward the end of an early writing session, or on a day when you’re perhaps stuck or waiting for feedback. Whether you use Mendeley, EndNote, PaperPile, Zotero, or another citation manager, having the scaffolding of key literature in place can help you stay organized and save you from scrambling for sources during a later stage. Important references can also serve as landmarks as you go. Ask for feedback early. If writing collaboratively, get your coauthors’ or advisor’s feedback on your outline so that you can agree on the big picture. What order should the ideas follow? Do they have ideas to add or subtract to the piece? This practice doesn’t guarantee that you won’t need to make large, structural edits later, but it will kick off this piece in an organized, logical manner. There are many ways to begin a first draft. Gradually fleshing out a rough outline was what worked best for me when writing research reports and my dissertation. It isn’t pretty—few first draft strategies are—but it helped me bypass the initial feeling of being overwhelmed as well as overcome instances of writer’s block. Try it, and whether you love it or hate it, you’ve come closer to figuring out a writing practice that works for you. Ready to book an appointment with FWC staff? Access the  FWC intake form . Get the Latest Updates Join our newsletter, subscribe to colloquy podcast, connect with us, related news. Notes From a Writer's Desk: Meet the Writing Specialists! The Fellowships & Writing Center is excited to introduce its cohort of postdoctoral fellows for the 2024–25 academic year. We welcome three new and two returning members to our team of specialists from across the disciplinary and geographical landscapes of the University.  Notes From a Writer's Desk: Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of August August in New England signals the height of summer heat, and with it, the tendency to move at a slower pace. But for those of us who live by the academic calendar, the laziness of August quickly yields to a bubbling sense of urgency as the fall term approaches. Notes From a Writer's Desk: Summer by the Charles A few hours in a kayak on the Charles is, for me, a uniquely refreshing summer activity. Between instinctual stroke after stroke on the tranquil waters, my mind can relax, thoughts meander, and ideas flow.  Notes From a Writer's Desk: Summer Writing & Research Plans Summer is a time to exhale and refresh our minds before evaluating and resetting our goals. After the hustle and bustle of the academic year, what kinds of projects might you tackle over the summer and how might you move forward with them? Fellowships & Writing Center The Fellowships & Writing Center helps students heighten the impact of their research. Revising Drafts Rewriting is the essence of writing well—where the game is won or lost. —William Zinsser What this handout is about This handout will motivate you to revise your drafts and give you strategies to revise effectively. What does it mean to revise? Revision literally means to “see again,” to look at something from a fresh, critical perspective. It is an ongoing process of rethinking the paper: reconsidering your arguments, reviewing your evidence, refining your purpose, reorganizing your presentation, reviving stale prose. But I thought revision was just fixing the commas and spelling Nope. That’s called proofreading. It’s an important step before turning your paper in, but if your ideas are predictable, your thesis is weak, and your organization is a mess, then proofreading will just be putting a band-aid on a bullet wound. When you finish revising, that’s the time to proofread. For more information on the subject, see our handout on proofreading . How about if I just reword things: look for better words, avoid repetition, etc.? Is that revision? Well, that’s a part of revision called editing. It’s another important final step in polishing your work. But if you haven’t thought through your ideas, then rephrasing them won’t make any difference. Why is revision important? Writing is a process of discovery, and you don’t always produce your best stuff when you first get started. So revision is a chance for you to look critically at what you have written to see: if it’s really worth saying, if it says what you wanted to say, and if a reader will understand what you’re saying. The process What steps should i use when i begin to revise. Here are several things to do. But don’t try them all at one time. Instead, focus on two or three main areas during each revision session: Wait awhile after you’ve finished a draft before looking at it again. The Roman poet Horace thought one should wait nine years, but that’s a bit much. A day—a few hours even—will work. When you do return to the draft, be honest with yourself, and don’t be lazy. Ask yourself what you really think about the paper. As The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers puts it, “THINK BIG, don’t tinker” (61). At this stage, you should be concerned with the large issues in the paper, not the commas. Check the focus of the paper: Is it appropriate to the assignment? Is the topic too big or too narrow? Do you stay on track through the entire paper? Think honestly about your thesis: Do you still agree with it? Should it be modified in light of something you discovered as you wrote the paper? Does it make a sophisticated, provocative point, or does it just say what anyone could say if given the same topic? Does your thesis generalize instead of taking a specific position? Should it be changed altogether? For more information visit our handout on thesis statements . Think about your purpose in writing: Does your introduction state clearly what you intend to do? Will your aims be clear to your readers? What are some other steps I should consider in later stages of the revision process? Examine the balance within your paper: Are some parts out of proportion with others? Do you spend too much time on one trivial point and neglect a more important point? Do you give lots of detail early on and then let your points get thinner by the end? Check that you have kept your promises to your readers: Does your paper follow through on what the thesis promises? Do you support all the claims in your thesis? Are the tone and formality of the language appropriate for your audience? Check the organization: Does your paper follow a pattern that makes sense? Do the transitions move your readers smoothly from one point to the next? Do the topic sentences of each paragraph appropriately introduce what that paragraph is about? Would your paper work better if you moved some things around? For more information visit our handout on reorganizing drafts. Check your information: Are all your facts accurate? Are any of your statements misleading? Have you provided enough detail to satisfy readers’ curiosity? Have you cited all your information appropriately? Check your conclusion: Does the last paragraph tie the paper together smoothly and end on a stimulating note, or does the paper just die a slow, redundant, lame, or abrupt death? Whoa! I thought I could just revise in a few minutes Sorry. You may want to start working on your next paper early so that you have plenty of time for revising. That way you can give yourself some time to come back to look at what you’ve written with a fresh pair of eyes. It’s amazing how something that sounded brilliant the moment you wrote it can prove to be less-than-brilliant when you give it a chance to incubate. But I don’t want to rewrite my whole paper! Revision doesn’t necessarily mean rewriting the whole paper. Sometimes it means revising the thesis to match what you’ve discovered while writing. Sometimes it means coming up with stronger arguments to defend your position, or coming up with more vivid examples to illustrate your points. Sometimes it means shifting the order of your paper to help the reader follow your argument, or to change the emphasis of your points. Sometimes it means adding or deleting material for balance or emphasis. And then, sadly, sometimes revision does mean trashing your first draft and starting from scratch. Better that than having the teacher trash your final paper. But I work so hard on what I write that I can’t afford to throw any of it away If you want to be a polished writer, then you will eventually find out that you can’t afford NOT to throw stuff away. As writers, we often produce lots of material that needs to be tossed. The idea or metaphor or paragraph that I think is most wonderful and brilliant is often the very thing that confuses my reader or ruins the tone of my piece or interrupts the flow of my argument.Writers must be willing to sacrifice their favorite bits of writing for the good of the piece as a whole. In order to trim things down, though, you first have to have plenty of material on the page. One trick is not to hinder yourself while you are composing the first draft because the more you produce, the more you will have to work with when cutting time comes. But sometimes I revise as I go That’s OK. Since writing is a circular process, you don’t do everything in some specific order. Sometimes you write something and then tinker with it before moving on. But be warned: there are two potential problems with revising as you go. One is that if you revise only as you go along, you never get to think of the big picture. The key is still to give yourself enough time to look at the essay as a whole once you’ve finished. Another danger to revising as you go is that you may short-circuit your creativity. If you spend too much time tinkering with what is on the page, you may lose some of what hasn’t yet made it to the page. Here’s a tip: Don’t proofread as you go. You may waste time correcting the commas in a sentence that may end up being cut anyway. How do I go about the process of revising? Any tips? Work from a printed copy; it’s easier on the eyes. Also, problems that seem invisible on the screen somehow tend to show up better on paper. Another tip is to read the paper out loud. That’s one way to see how well things flow. Remember all those questions listed above? Don’t try to tackle all of them in one draft. Pick a few “agendas” for each draft so that you won’t go mad trying to see, all at once, if you’ve done everything. Ask lots of questions and don’t flinch from answering them truthfully. For example, ask if there are opposing viewpoints that you haven’t considered yet. Whenever I revise, I just make things worse. I do my best work without revising That’s a common misconception that sometimes arises from fear, sometimes from laziness. The truth is, though, that except for those rare moments of inspiration or genius when the perfect ideas expressed in the perfect words in the perfect order flow gracefully and effortlessly from the mind, all experienced writers revise their work. I wrote six drafts of this handout. Hemingway rewrote the last page of A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times. If you’re still not convinced, re-read some of your old papers. How do they sound now? What would you revise if you had a chance? What can get in the way of good revision strategies? Don’t fall in love with what you have written. If you do, you will be hesitant to change it even if you know it’s not great. Start out with a working thesis, and don’t act like you’re married to it. Instead, act like you’re dating it, seeing if you’re compatible, finding out what it’s like from day to day. If a better thesis comes along, let go of the old one. Also, don’t think of revision as just rewording. It is a chance to look at the entire paper, not just isolated words and sentences. What happens if I find that I no longer agree with my own point? If you take revision seriously, sometimes the process will lead you to questions you cannot answer, objections or exceptions to your thesis, cases that don’t fit, loose ends or contradictions that just won’t go away. If this happens (and it will if you think long enough), then you have several choices. You could choose to ignore the loose ends and hope your reader doesn’t notice them, but that’s risky. You could change your thesis completely to fit your new understanding of the issue, or you could adjust your thesis slightly to accommodate the new ideas. Or you could simply acknowledge the contradictions and show why your main point still holds up in spite of them. Most readers know there are no easy answers, so they may be annoyed if you give them a thesis and try to claim that it is always true with no exceptions no matter what. How do I get really good at revising? The same way you get really good at golf, piano, or a video game—do it often. Take revision seriously, be disciplined, and set high standards for yourself. Here are three more tips: The more you produce, the more you can cut. The more you can imagine yourself as a reader looking at this for the first time, the easier it will be to spot potential problems. The more you demand of yourself in terms of clarity and elegance, the more clear and elegant your writing will be. How do I revise at the sentence level? Read your paper out loud, sentence by sentence, and follow Peter Elbow’s advice: “Look for places where you stumble or get lost in the middle of a sentence. These are obvious awkwardness’s that need fixing. Look for places where you get distracted or even bored—where you cannot concentrate. These are places where you probably lost focus or concentration in your writing. Cut through the extra words or vagueness or digression; get back to the energy. Listen even for the tiniest jerk or stumble in your reading, the tiniest lessening of your energy or focus or concentration as you say the words . . . A sentence should be alive” (Writing with Power 135). Practical advice for ensuring that your sentences are alive: Use forceful verbs—replace long verb phrases with a more specific verb. For example, replace “She argues for the importance of the idea” with “She defends the idea.” Look for places where you’ve used the same word or phrase twice or more in consecutive sentences and look for alternative ways to say the same thing OR for ways to combine the two sentences. Cut as many prepositional phrases as you can without losing your meaning. For instance, the following sentence, “There are several examples of the issue of integrity in Huck Finn,” would be much better this way, “Huck Finn repeatedly addresses the issue of integrity.” Check your sentence variety. If more than two sentences in a row start the same way (with a subject followed by a verb, for example), then try using a different sentence pattern. Aim for precision in word choice. Don’t settle for the best word you can think of at the moment—use a thesaurus (along with a dictionary) to search for the word that says exactly what you want to say. Look for sentences that start with “It is” or “There are” and see if you can revise them to be more active and engaging. For more information, please visit our handouts on word choice and style . How can technology help? Need some help revising? Take advantage of the revision and versioning features available in modern word processors. Track your changes. Most word processors and writing tools include a feature that allows you to keep your changes visible until you’re ready to accept them. Using “Track Changes” mode in Word or “Suggesting” mode in Google Docs, for example, allows you to make changes without committing to them. Compare drafts. Tools that allow you to compare multiple drafts give you the chance to visually track changes over time. Try “File History” or “Compare Documents” modes in Google Doc, Word, and Scrivener to retrieve old drafts, identify changes you’ve made over time, or help you keep a bigger picture in mind as you revise. Works consulted We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback. Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman. Elbow, Peter. 1998. Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process . New York: Oxford University Press. Lanham, Richard A. 2006. Revising Prose , 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman. Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s. Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education. Zinsser, William. 2001. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction , 6th ed. New York: Quill. You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill No. 10/16 Olubunmi Johnson Close, Fagbile Estate, Isolo-Ijegun Way. Lagos, Nigeria. [email protected] 24/7 Care Centre +234-810-375-1847 Home for Everything Writing. Discovery call, the importance of a rough draft. A rough draft is a document that has the idea you want to portray but lacks quality and accuracy. There is a reason why it is called a rough draft , and you will find out more as you read this article to the end. If you must write your book, for example, then you must be patient to bring your ideas to life. You can do this by first getting them out of your head and on paper the basic ingredients of the work. Your book at its basic form could be called a rough draft. Rough draft is what it is, rough. In agreement with this, John Dufresne, an American author, said, ‘The purpose of the first draft is not to get it right but to get it written’. The ideas you put down may be disorganised or lack the professionalism you desire at first, but be patient; it will all make sense soon. You will have the time to fill in more details and restructure every sentence to reflect quality. A rough draft is an integral part of writing, and the following are a few reasons why: 1. You start your writing process: Like they say, starting is the most essential yet challenging aspect of any project – including writing. After doing your research, the thought of writing may seem scary or confusing at first. However, writing down everything that comes to your mind creates a pattern you can follow as you proceed. The ideas you pen down may lack quality in punctuation, grammar or presentation, but by penning them down, you can say that your writing process has begun. 2. It lets your creativity express itself.  When you know your writing is allowed to look its worst as a rough draft, you become willing to give your creativity free rein. You become free to explore characters and writing styles because you understand that the planned out book or content can take a different turn in the course of the writing refinement. As a writer with a rough draft, it is okay to make mistake. 3. You can feel and touch your ideas. With a rough draft in your hands, you have a better understanding of your ideas: what to add or remove, how to proceed, if you should follow the structured outline or create a new one. The story may even change totally because you are now more aware of better ways to present your idea. Creating drafts will help you visualise your book or article and gauge how much more work you still need to do. However, if you are in haste to get it over and done with, you can always contact us . We have talented writers who can write long and short-form content with an impressive turnaround time. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. You may use these <abbr title="HyperText Markup Language">HTML</abbr> tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong> Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Pardon Our Interruption As you were browsing something about your browser made us think you were a bot. There are a few reasons this might happen: You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser. You're a power user moving through this website with super-human speed. You've disabled cookies in your web browser. A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. Additional information is available in this support article . To regain access, please make sure that cookies and JavaScript are enabled before reloading the page. 358 COMMENTS Rough Draft: Why It's Important and How to Write Step 3: Create an Outline. After brainstorming and attempts at writing first words, here comes a rough draft outline! It helps structure your content and put all of your previous work in logical form. Consider outline as a general plan for your broad sketch. This is just a picture of how everything will develop. Tips for Writing a Powerful Rough Draft The most important tip for writing rough drafts is to give yourself permission to write imperfectly. As we've said, the goal of a rough draft is to get all your ideas down, not to write everything perfectly on your first try. This is because if you're focusing on finding the right word or making sure your grammar is correct, it means you ... How To Write A Rough Draft: Step-by-step Guide, Examples & Tips 3. Do not worry about making mistakes. A rough draft is not the time to try to be perfect. Get messy during the rough draft process and be okay if you make mistakes or if the draft is not completely there yet. Write through clunky phrases and awkward sentences until you get into a flow. Rough Drafts Rough Drafts. In this section of the Excelsior OWL, you have been learning about traditional structures for expository essays (essays that are thesis-based and offer a point-by-point body), but no matter what type of essay you're writing, the rough draft is going to be an important part of your writing process. It's important to remember ... Putting Pen to Paper: How to Write a Rough Draft There are some things you can do to make sure that you don't have a rough time writing your rough draft. These tips will help make the writing process a bit easier: Write in the active voice. Don't stress out over every word. Just let your ideas spill onto the paper. If you can't think of an appropriate word, just type the first word that ... How to Write a Rough Draft: 14 Steps (with Pictures) 1. Make a plot outline. If you are writing a creative piece, such as a novel or a short story, you should sit down and create a plot outline. This can be a basic outline and does not need to be very detailed. Having a plot outline to refer to can help you get organized for the rough draft. How to Write a Rough Draft for an Essay? 1 Understanding the Purpose of a Rough Draft. 2 Practical Tips On Writing Your Own Rough Draft. 2.1 Before You Begin: Pre-writing. 2.2 Begin With a Freewriting Session. 2.3 Start With A Strong Opening. 2.4 Speak Then Write. 2.5 Avoid Stopping at Hard Points. 2.6 Don't Worry About Perfection. 2.7 Write the Body First. How to Write a Rough Draft for an Essay Next Steps. Once your rough draft is complete, stepping away for a while is a crucial point to write a rough draft for an essay. This break allows you to return with a fresh perspective, which is essential for effective revision. When you revisit your draft, focus first on the overall structure. Check that your arguments flow logically and that ... Rough Drafting: Writing If a 1,500-word essay is due in a few weeks, for example, you could research during the first week, then draft 300 words per day (Monday to Friday) in the second week. This would give you a 1,500-word rough draft, with one more week remaining to re-draft and edit. If typing your rough draft, you can use 'word count' features to track your progress. 23 Ways to Improve Your Draft words. Be specific: Words like things, very, stuff, and interesting are vague. Search for words or sentences in your essay that could be replaced with more specific words. You also may want to add more specific details to strengthen your argument. For example, "Barbies are bad for people" might be revised to "Barbies are harmful to young ... 12.1 Creating a Rough Draft for a Research Paper Apply guidelines for citing sources within the body of the paper and the bibliography. Use primary and secondary research to support ideas. Identify the purposes for which writers use each type of research. At last, you are ready to begin writing the rough draft of your research paper. Putting your thinking and research into words is exciting. From Draft to Done: A Full Breakdown of the Writing Process Draft 1.0: Rough Draft. Draft 1.5: Rough draft with some rewrites. Draft 2.0: Rough draft fully rewritten with feedback from critique partners. Draft 2.0.1: Rewritten rough draft with a minor tweak (or "patch") to the protagonist's motivation. College Essay Writing Techniques: How to Craft a Rough Draft College Essay Writing Techniques: How to Write a Rough Draft. ... In this video, we will walk you through the top 10 DON'Ts of the college admissions essay writing process, so you can submit your Common App personal statement and school-specific supplemental essays with the utmost confidence! This video will teach you: what not to write under ... 8.3 Drafting Exercise 1. Using the topic for the essay that you outlined in Section 8.2 "Outlining", describe your purpose and your audience as specifically as you can. Use your own sheet of paper to record your responses. Then keep these responses near you during future stages of the writing process. Drafting Writing a Paper. Drafting. Print Page Report a broken link. Drafting refers to actually writing the words of the paper. As part of the writing process, you will write multiple drafts of your paper. Each rough draft improves upon the previous one. The final draft is simply the last draft that you submit. 5 Reasons Drafts Are Important to Writing As someone who has migrated from writing one story in-a-go to placing their full faith in drafts, here are the reasons I've discovered all writers should befriend them. 1. Drafts help you organize your ideas into words. I rewrote an entire draft of a 1600 word article and hit publish on the final story on the same day. Notes From a Writer's Desk: How to Build a First Draft from an Outline There are many ways to begin a first draft. Gradually fleshing out a rough outline was what worked best for me when writing research reports and my dissertation. It isn't pretty—few first draft strategies are—but it helped me bypass the initial feeling of being overwhelmed as well as overcome instances of writer's block. Revising Drafts Sometimes it means shifting the order of your paper to help the reader follow your argument, or to change the emphasis of your points. Sometimes it means adding or deleting material for balance or emphasis. And then, sadly, sometimes revision does mean trashing your first draft and starting from scratch. How to Revise: A Step-by-Guide to Revising Your Writing Revising gives you a second chance to zoom out and catch mistakes you missed the first time, plus reading a rough draft can reveal some mistakes you hadn't anticipated. No matter which type of essay you're writing, the methods for revising an essay still tend to follow the same guidelines, covered in the next section. Narrative and fiction ... The Importance of a Rough Draft A rough draft is an integral part of writing, and the following are a few reasons why: 1. You start your writing process: Like they say, starting is the most essential yet challenging aspect of any project - including writing. After doing your research, the thought of writing may seem scary or confusing at first. PDF Rough Drafts without Tears: A Guide to a Manageable Procedure for one receives an essay from the same student twice. Two problems can arise immediately here: (i) some students will fail to complete a draft altogether; (ii) other students, having com-pleted a draft, will fail to bring three copies of it to class. In the case of (i) I tend to simply leave offending students out of the exchange Interactive 4B The Rough Draft EN1150 Flashcards A rough draft is. a first attempt at writing a finished copy. Once you have finished writing your rough draft, the next step is. A complete rough draft includes : The first version of your introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion developed from your outline. The goal of writing a rough draft is to________. Genre Analysis Essay Rough Draft (pdf) McBride 3 parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. The body is full of cause and effect and problems and solutions. A speech should organize the main and supporting points into an order you believe will have the greatest impact on your listeners. A great speech should have an audience and a speaker with high knowledge and a strong voice so they can have the audience's attention. essay homework paper phd project resume review study thesis