Drafting

As you rough out an initial draft, focus your attention on ideas and organization. You can think about sentence structure and word choice later. Writing tends to flow better when it is drafted relatively quickly, without many stops and starts.

Keep your prewriting materials—lists, outlines, freewriting, annotated sources, and so on—close at hand. In addition to helping you get started, such notes and blueprints will encourage you to keep moving.

NOTE:If you are writing from sources, you may find yourself stopping here and there as you attempt to integrate source material. Some writers find it more efficient to draft the paper completely in their own words and then pull in sources later. This strategy helps writers avoid unintentional plagiarizing.

For most kinds of writing, an introduction announces the main point, the body paragraphs develop it, and the conclusion drives it home. You can begin drafting, however, at any point. Some writers find it easier to draft the body first and save the introduction for later.

Related topics:

Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism (MLA), (APA), (CMS)

Integrating sources (MLA), (APA), (CMS)

Documenting sources (MLA), (APA), (CMS)