Writing an Essay Draft Properly – the Key to a Successful Essay

Before you complete an essay or any other academic paper, you make a draft of it. Often, you make several drafts, and the last one that is perfect becomes your essay. When students used papers and pens, it took more time than now, when we type the text on the computer and edit every draft in the same file to save time and effort. However, the draft is still an essential part of work.

How to write an essay draft – let’s do it step by step!

The draft is not an outline. An outline is a very detailed plan of your work with some ready elements, references, and transitions. You use that model to understand what you will write in your essay, and the order or all parts. The draft, in its turn, becomes the first attempt to embody the outline and make it the text.

Thus, you start to write the draft when you already have an outline. This connection defines the whole further process of writing.

• Examine your outline precisely and try to imagine the future essay. Most likely, you will have some form built on your mind from the outline. It will be the first rough draft of the piece.
• Sketch the introductory part of an essay. You will polish it at the end, but at this stage, you can specify the general direction of your work. Define the topic of your work, its importance – as you understand it and can prove, and the thesis statement. All these elements should also be present in the outline. Your goal is to shape them into the text paragraphs.
• Now you can transfer your concepts to paper. Following your outline, write the drafts of separate paragraphs. Don’t bother to complete the entire essay at once. The method of composing fragments and then building the text of them is helpful too.
• When you compose the full text, proceed to the conclusions. Make a summary of the previous paragraphs and answer the central question of whether you’ve proved your thesis statement. Use the information from the “Body” part to support the conclusions.

The initial essay draft is the foundation of the work. It can be so that it is very successful, so you can edit and proofread it and then submit for evaluation. But usually, you’ll go on working on that draft and enhance it until you are satisfied. Thus, reread the first draft, check how it matches your goals and task requirements, and proceed.

Important aspects of work for your consideration

It is not rare that you find more ideas or detect exciting connections in the process. Still, you need to be very careful about them. If the new approach can be useful for this particular essay, it is worth spending time on additional researches. But if it relates indirectly and won’t make your text stronger – it will be better to leave it for a while. Focus on the topic only. You will get another chance to share the rest of your knowledge and ideas on the matter.

Make notes during the process. No matter if you are in the middle of writing, or you are reading another source – records in the file will help you to organize the thought. Later you can decide if you use them in the essay or put aside.

Give yourself a good rest after completing the draft. The best way is to leave it overnight and get back on the next morning. This practice lets you refresh your mind before the revision.

Effective and harmful practices of writing, or Do and Don’t

All authors have their own ways and routines in the writing process. However, some universal rules help an absolute majority of students working on essays.

When you write the essay draft, pay attention to the following features:

• Make sure that your selection matches the size requirements. Initial drafts are often lengthy because students tend to apply to all their knowledge. So, revise the draft and shorten it – get rid of all unnecessary details.
• Set the deadline. Even if you have enough time, try your best to complete the work by the specified date and time. It helps you to organize your effort, and it also lets you avoid exhaustion.
• Write the first draft in freeform – don’t stick to some elements if you stumble upon them. Better is to leave them and go on writing. Then you will have time to dig into details.

Avoid the following things during the draft writing:

• Don’t procrastinate waiting for the right “writing mood” – it comes rarely. Open the text editor or use the paper sheet and a pen, if you prefer it – begin to write any idea related to the topic. It is the most efficient method of fighting writer’s block.
• Don’t waste your time on polishing the text in the process. When you stop and start to pick the best word choice or rewrite some sentences multiple times, you lose energy and rhythm. Ignore those issues and proceed to write till the end.
• Don’t start to correct the grammar errors in the process of writing. It breaks the working mode as well. Focus on completing the entire text – you will proofread it later.

The crucial thing is not to neglect the stage of writing an essay draft. It is essential and even obligatory for you to present an excellent paper in the final.