Drafting

1. Drafting …And we ain’t talkin’ ‘bout NASCAR

2. Before you draft… • You should always work through the steps of the writing process. • Once you have brainstormed about your pre-writing and you have organized your thoughts, you’re ready to start writing! • Look over your organized thoughts or outline and consider: • Is the information in a sensible order? • Is there enough information? • Do I need to take out some extraneous information?

3. Drafting: Just do it! • Take a final look at your outline, then put it where you can’t see it. • When you write a draft, write QUICKLY – don’t think too much about what you’re writing. Just put your ideas on the page. You can fix mistakes later. • If you stop to fix mistakes, you’ll “break the flow” of your writing

4. FLOW • “Flow” refers to how smooth your writing seems to your audience. • Your brain will automatically try to create flow in your writing. • However, you’ve been trained to ignore your brain and focus on tiny things like mechanics (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.). • You want to IGNORE your impulse to fix and let your writing FLOW!

5. Writing a Draft • If you are stuck, an easy way to draft is to look back at, or add to, your outline: • Turn words and phrases into sentences and paragraphs!

6. Writing a Draft (1) • Roman numerals from your outline become topic sentences for paragraphs The first reason Mr. T is the best teacher ever is the fact that he is so funny.

7. Writing a Draft (2) • Capital letters become supporting sentences. The first reason Mr. T is the best teacher ever is the fact that he is so funny. He tells lots of jokes. He also does funny voices.

8. REMEMBER… • Review your organized ideas/outline. • Start writing. • DO NOT correct spelling, grammar, or other mistakes when writing your first draft. • Just get through it quickly!