Drafting an Essay Lesson #10

Drafting Essays Break down your writing task into small segments. Expect to write more than one draft A first sentence, first page, or first draft represents your attempt to organize into words your thoughts, ideas, feelings, research findings, and more. It’s likely that some of that first try will not succeed your goals. That’s okay- having writing on paper or on screen that you can change, add to, and cute means you’re part of the way there. As you revise, you can fill in gaps and improve your writing and thinking.

Dealing with Writer’s Block Great ways to get writing again: Think of the assignment as a problem to be solved. Try to capture that problem in a single sentence: “How do I…?” “What is the best way to…?” “What am I trying to do in…?” Think of a solution to the problem, and then stop thinking about it. If you can’t solve it, do something else; give yourself time. Stop trying: take a walk, take a nap, do something else. Come back in half an hour, refreshed. Get a fresh piece of paper and FREEWRITE, or try LOOPING or LISTING

Consider Your Focus Your writing should have a clear point, and every part of the writing should support that point. Here are some questions that can help you see if your draft is adequately focused: What is your THESIS? How does the BEGINNING focus attention on your main point? Does each paragraph support or develop that point? Do any paragraphs or sentences stray from your focus? Does the ENDING leave readers thinking about your main point? Is there another way of concluding the essay that would sharpen your focus?

Check for Clarity Nothing else matters if readers can’t understand what you write. So clarity matters. Following are some questions that can help you see whether your meaning is clear and your text is easy to read: Does your TITLE announce the subject of your text and give some sense of what you have to say? If not, would it strengthen your argument if the title were more direct? Do you state your THESIS directly? If not, how will readers understand your main point? Does your BEGINNING tell readers what they need to understand your text, and does your ENDING help them make sense of what they’ve just read? How does each paragraph relate to the ones before and after? Do you make those relationships clear- or do you need to add TRANSITIONS?

Check for Clarity Do you vary your sentences? If all the sentences are roughly the same length and follow the same subject- verb- object pattern, your text probably lacks any clear emphasis and might even be difficult to read. If you introduce materials from other SOURCES, have you clearly distinguished quoted, paraphrased, or summarized ideas from your own? Have a look at the words you use. Concrete words are generally easier to understand than abstract words. If you use too many abstract words, consider changing some of them to concrete terms. Do you DEFINE all the words that the readers may not know? Does your punctuation make your writing more clear, or less? Incorrect punctuation can make writing difficult to follow, or, worse, change the intended meaning.