Drafting

Reread Journal Entries and Notes From Collecting and Shaping

Before you start drafting, review your material so you aren’t writing cold. Stop and reread everything you’ve written on your subject. You’re not trying to memorize particular sentences or phrases; you’re just getting it all fresh in your mind, seeing what you still like and discarding details that are no longer relevant.

Reobserve Your Subject If necessary, go back and observe your subject again. One more session may suggest an important detail or idea that will help you get started writing.

Reexamine Purpose, Audience, Dominant Idea, and Shape

After all your writing and rereading, you may have some new ideas about your purpose, audience, or dominant idea. Take a minute to jot these down in your journal. Remember that your specific details should show the main point or dominant idea, whether you state it explicitly or not.

Next, if the shaping strategies suggested an order for your essay, use it to guide your draft. You may, however, have only your specific details or a general notion of the dominant idea you’re trying to communicate to your reader. In that case, you may want to begin writing and work out a shape or outline as you write.

Drafting With the above notes as a guide, you are ready to start drafting. Work on establishing your ritual: Choose a comfortable, familiar place with the writing tools you like. Make sure you’ll have no interruptions. Try to write nonstop. If you can’t think of a word, put a dash. If you can’t remember how to spell a word, don’t stop to look it up now—keep writing. Write until you reach what feels like the end. If you do get stuck, reread your last few lines or some of your writing process materials. Then go back and pick up the thread. Don’t stop to count words or pages. You should shoot for more material than you need, since it’s usually easier to cut material later, when you’re revising, than to add more if you’re short.