The explanations and practices in this section will prepare you to write a good draft essay.

Draft the Body of the Essay

Use your plan for your essay as you begin to write your draft. The plan should include your thesis statement, the primary support points for your thesis, and supporting details for your primary support points.

First, draft complete paragraphs that support your thesis. Each should contain a topic sentence (usually the first sentence in the paragraph) that presents a primary support point as well as supporting details. At this point, draft the body of your essay; you will write the introduction and conclusion later. In general, essays have at least three body paragraphs, and they may have many more, depending on your assignment and purpose.

If you are having trouble with a word or sentence as you draft, make a note to come back to it and then keep going.