Writing Guides For Newbies

5 WAYS TO

DRAFT

Properly

1. Make a mess and clean it up in later

The first draft should be messy, rough, and amenable* to change,

allowing you to remold your structure with successive drafts. Write

bullet points, sentence fragments, and temporary paragraph

headings. Avoid trying to write perfect sentences and paragraphs

(polishing). Don’t worry about being repetitive or boring. Avoid

making your writing eloquent, stylistic, or succinct* in the first

draft: you can revise and improve your writing as you rework later

drafts.

2. Avoid adding minute details

Adding minute details to a specific sub-topic in a first draft can be a

form of procrastination from writing about your key points. Aim to

produce a first draft that reflects your main ideas without

explaining them in minute detail. There is no point adding too much

detail in the first draft as you may change your mind about what

you want to say. Allowing yourself to change your mind about what

you write is another important reason why you should avoid

writing perfect sentences in your early drafts.

AMENABLE: EASY TO CONTROL; WILLING TO BE INFLUENCED BY SOMEBODY/SOMETHING.REMOLD: TO CHANGE SOMETHING SUCH AS AN IDEA, A SYSTEM, ETC.
**SUCCINT: EXPRESSED CLEARLY AND IN A FEW WORDSELOQUENT: ABLE TO USE LANGUAGE AND EXPRESS YOUR OPINIONS WELL, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE SPEAKING IN PUBLIC