Drafting
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The prewriting stage of the writing process ends* and you begin drafting when you determine your focus, audience, and purpose. There was some information about this on the prewriting page, but I'll go into more depth about focus, audience, and purpose here. You may want to start drafting once you have your focus, or idea, but without considering audience and purpose, too, you will spend more time writing early drafts to develop a thesis. This is writing time you could spend in focused prewriting that would lead to better mid-process rough drafts sooner.
*Keep in mind that writing is a process as a whole, and while we're dividing it into major stages (Prewriting, Drafting, Revision), you may go back and forth between stages even as you're within them. So, just because you're drafting now doesn't mean you won't need to take 5 or 10 minutes tomorrow to brainstorm a few more good ideas to add to your paragraphs. |
Drafting as a process
Drafting is the second stage of the essay-writing process. You draft your ideas to communicate them to others, and you do so for a variety of reasons. Academically, you're usually writing to explain or to argue.
Focus: What is your Controlling idea, or Thesis?
When we discuss an essay's focus, we're discussing its dominant idea, or thesis. What is the main idea? How is that idea developed through the paragraphs? How does that idea progress from paragraph to paragraph? How is that idea supported within each paragraph? As you can see, it isn't important just to have a thesis, or controlling idea for your essay. You must also consider how you will organize the support for that idea.
Consider it this way: if you're making a claim or arguing a point, how will you prove its validity? You cannot just state it. You must show your work--like math!--to let your readers know that your idea is credible and worth believing. Your focus is closely related to the choices you make about your essay's audience.
Now, when you develop your dominant idea, are you developing an essay's thesis? Do you have enough supporting ideas to create topic sentences for your essay's body paragraphs? Or is your dominant idea too narrow, and you can only write a paragraph? In the early drafting process, you need to ensure you have chosen an essay-length idea, not a paragraph-length main idea. Your focus, again, is closely related to the choices you make about your essay's purpose.
Consider it this way: if you're making a claim or arguing a point, how will you prove its validity? You cannot just state it. You must show your work--like math!--to let your readers know that your idea is credible and worth believing. Your focus is closely related to the choices you make about your essay's audience.
Now, when you develop your dominant idea, are you developing an essay's thesis? Do you have enough supporting ideas to create topic sentences for your essay's body paragraphs? Or is your dominant idea too narrow, and you can only write a paragraph? In the early drafting process, you need to ensure you have chosen an essay-length idea, not a paragraph-length main idea. Your focus, again, is closely related to the choices you make about your essay's purpose.
How do you develop your essay's thesis statement?
You may have ended your prewriting with a thesis statement in complete sentence format. If so, hurray! However, you may have determined only a topic, a general idea for your essay. Now is the time to develop your thesis statement so you can build your first draft. There are two types of thesis statement that you may use within the introduction of your essay.
In the final draft of your essay, you may write a direct or an indirect thesis statement. When you're beginning to draft, it is better for you to use a direct thesis. With a direct thesis written on paper or on screen, you'll have a sentence to examine again and again as you write to ensure you're building your paragraphs to support your idea.
To get your direct thesis statement, consider your narrowed topic from prewriting and your assigned essay format.
Example: Your general topic is "cars" and your narrow topic is the convertible you've been reading about in your latest car magazine. Your next step is to consider the essay format in which you'll write.
To get your direct thesis statement, consider your narrowed topic from prewriting and your assigned essay format.
Example: Your general topic is "cars" and your narrow topic is the convertible you've been reading about in your latest car magazine. Your next step is to consider the essay format in which you'll write.
- If you're writing a description essay, consider the important qualities of the make and model of the convertible and how to best describe them to your readers.
- If you're writing a process essay, consider what steps you can share with your reader. Do you want to write about buying a convertible? Do you want to write about taking a Saturday road trip in that convertible?
- If you're writing a comparison/contrast, consider the convertible's make and model. Would you want to compare this year's model to a prior generation? Would you want to compare this convertible to one produced in the same year but by a different company? Once that decision is made, determine the points of comparison between the vehicles.
When you write your direct thesis statement, you will always have an opinion about your topic. Write your opinion in concrete terms as precisely as possible. You do not want your readers to be confused about the main idea of your essay.
Audience: Who needs your information? Why are they reading?
You're writing academically, most likely for an assignment. Your main audience is your instructor, but you have a secondary audience of classmates and possible additional audiences to consider if they're assigned. When you take a quiz, your only audience is your instructor. When you complete a discussion or participate in a peer review, your audience is the instructor and your classmates. When assigning essays, occasionally I'll determine an audience like this one: "classmates, instructor, and knowledgeable citizens curious about your view on this topic."
You can make some general assumptions about your audience while beginning your draft and then tailor your draft for your audiences as you finalize your argument later.
You can make some general assumptions about your audience while beginning your draft and then tailor your draft for your audiences as you finalize your argument later.
- Your readers want to learn more about your topic than what they already know.
- Your readers may know something--perhaps a lot--about your topic already, so avoid sharing common knowledge.
- Your readers want to learn your views about your topic and how/why you developed these views.
- Your readers are looking for varied writing examples for ideas on how to complete the same assignment.
Purpose: Why are you writing?
Why are you writing? In general, people write for two reasons: explication and persuasion. When writing academically, you are developing an opinionated thesis, so your paragraphs and essays will include both. Let's define our terms now.
Explicate * verb
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Persuade * verb
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(Definitions from Merriam-Webster)
Writing to Explicate (or Explain)
Writing to explicate is writing to explain a thought, analyzing it logically so your audience gains new information and insight. What is your idea about your topic? Why do you think this? What evidence do you have to support this idea?
You cannot merely summarize someone else's ideas or announce your own. You must show a progression (or a logic) to how you've developed your view about your chosen topic so your audience understands your thoughts and can think they are credible given the facts you present to support them.
You cannot merely summarize someone else's ideas or announce your own. You must show a progression (or a logic) to how you've developed your view about your chosen topic so your audience understands your thoughts and can think they are credible given the facts you present to support them.
Writing to Persuade (or Argue)
Writing to persuade is writing to argue your opinion, to create change in your reader. Like writing to explain, you must share your idea about your topic and provide the logic and evidence for your idea. In addition, you must expand upon this to make a request of your readers. Once the readers know what you know and recognize the credibility of your idea, what do you want them to know, believe, or do?
You cannot merely state that you are accurate, your cause is worthy, and that your readers should do as you require. You also cannot merely rage against your opposition. In academic arguments, you build your case through a progression of points so your readers are moved to change.
You cannot merely state that you are accurate, your cause is worthy, and that your readers should do as you require. You also cannot merely rage against your opposition. In academic arguments, you build your case through a progression of points so your readers are moved to change.
Writing for Practice
Writing to explain and writing to persuade are content-related goals and can be very broad in scope. You keep these in mind so your paragraphs contain the correct general focus for your topic.
The final basic goal to consider is the reason why you're reading my webpage: you're in a class. You're writing to practice creating academic essays in a variety of formats with varied research requirements. The scope for this goal is usually much narrower because your instructor will provide your objectives to meet. Most writing samples require a writing format, a length requirement, a formality, and a research requirement.
The final basic goal to consider is the reason why you're reading my webpage: you're in a class. You're writing to practice creating academic essays in a variety of formats with varied research requirements. The scope for this goal is usually much narrower because your instructor will provide your objectives to meet. Most writing samples require a writing format, a length requirement, a formality, and a research requirement.
Related Presentations
Why Third Person?
Plural and Possessive Nouns |
As you draft academically, you want to verify that you're meeting the requirements for your assignment to earn as many points possible.
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The Standard 5-paragraph essay format
Once you've considered your intentions for writing, and you have a plan to meet your assignment requirements, you need to complete your first rough draft. If freewriting was part of your prewriting process, you may have written a fair amount of content already. No matter how much or how little writing you've done, it is time now to take your ideas and create a complete essay.
What's with all the boxes and arrows on that "The Five Paragraph Essay" chart?
The chart above is a visual representation of a standard 5-paragraph essay. It shows the major components and how the ideas within an essay progress from beginning to end. It also shows how each part of the essay connects back to the thesis.
Let's begin with the BOLD WRITING IN CAPITAL LETTERS. These are the sections that list the required content in an academic essay: the title, introduction, body, and conclusion. Beneath each item is descriptive content about it. Here is more detailed information about each section of your essay.
What's with all the boxes and arrows on that "The Five Paragraph Essay" chart?
The chart above is a visual representation of a standard 5-paragraph essay. It shows the major components and how the ideas within an essay progress from beginning to end. It also shows how each part of the essay connects back to the thesis.
Let's begin with the BOLD WRITING IN CAPITAL LETTERS. These are the sections that list the required content in an academic essay: the title, introduction, body, and conclusion. Beneath each item is descriptive content about it. Here is more detailed information about each section of your essay.
![Picture](/uploads/6/5/2/7/65277909/published/5p-title.jpg?1564428617)
Title: The title is often an overlooked portion of an essay, but it acts as an attention-getter for a reader, just like any other title. What makes us pick up a book at the library? What makes us click on one particular item over another when scrolling through the vast options online? The title does! An academic title should relate thematically to the topic being shared. It can describe the essay's topic, like "No More Chain Restaurants in Rockdale County!" It can have the very common two-part structure: "Egyptian and Mayan Pyramids: A Study" Because this title is not your thesis, it can ask a question, perhaps rhetorically, as in "What is societal benefit in making some college courses free?" Another option for a title is to announce the writing method used: "An Argument Against Chain Restaurants in Rockdale County" or "Contrasting Egyptian and Mayan Pyramids" or "Social Effects of Making Some College Courses Free." (This last format is useful in ensuring you're meeting an assigned writing prompt if you have trouble with focus.) No matter what you title your essay, the title should be unique to your essay and should relate something about your topic and your opinion to your audience. Avoid titles like "My ENGL Essay" or naming your essay after the assignment or after a literary work you're discussing. You may want to wait to write your title until after you've written your essay.
![Picture](/uploads/6/5/2/7/65277909/editor/5p-intro.jpg?1564428609)
Introduction: The introduction of a 5-paragraph essay is a full paragraph with a topic sentence and supporting details, just like any paragraph you write. In this case, though, you will wait to share your topic sentence. An essay begins with supporting details as the lead-in sentences. The lead-in sentences draw in the readers, just like the title does. What information can you share, briefly, to get your readers interested in your essay's argument? Will you begin with an engaging quotation? Will you give a definition or an example or a surprising fact? Will you contradict the audience's current knowledge to lead them to something new? Once you've introduced your general topic for the essay, you can then offer your specific main idea for the paragraph and essay. This is your thesis. Notice it is in RED on the above chart. It is meant to be noticed because it is the most important sentence in your introduction and in the essay. In the thesis statement, you give your narrowly focused opinion and/or argument about your topic. If you like, or if it is assigned, you can even include an essay map. An essay map is a list of topics you'll use in the essay to support your thesis. This list may be included as part of the thesis sentence or it may be an independent sentence. Either way, the order in which the topics are presented in the map is the order in which you organize your body paragraphs.
![Picture](/uploads/6/5/2/7/65277909/published/5p-body.jpg?1564428648)
Body: The body of a 5-paragraph essay contains three paragraphs. They work together to begin, expand upon, and conclude your support for your thesis. No arguable content belongs in the introduction or in the conclusion, so all of your support for your thesis belongs in this section of your essay. The way you organize these three paragraphs depends on your thesis and on the essay format assigned. If you write an example essay, you might choose to write your least important example first and end with your most important example. For a process essay, you'd break your steps into three major distinctions: first describing these actions, then describing what follows, and ending with a final stage in the process. A persuasive essay might begin with a paragraph acknowledging and then arguing against an opposing view and then sharing a less convincing view before ending with a more convincing view in support of your thesis argument.
- Individual Paragraphs: Above I described the body section of the essay, but you can still consider separate paragraphs of the body, too. These each must be developed fully with topic sentences and supporting details--as you would expect for any paragraph. The topic sentences must relate directly to the thesis idea; otherwise, the paragraph will be off topic, the essay's argument will be underdeveloped, and the essay may lack unity. If you used an essay map in the introduction, you will probably use the terms within that list as part of your topic sentences. An essay map of "Chains are detrimental to unique local architecture, have little interest in partnering with other local businesses, and do not create the same atmosphere in their restaurants like family-owned operations" could easily be turned into three separate opinionated topic sentences for three body paragraphs. What kind(s) of supporting details can you write in these paragraphs? That depends on the topic sentences and the type of essay assigned. If you are writing a research paper, then you'll write more formally with examples and research. If you're writing a less formal narrative, you can rely on personal experiences to support your topic sentences. No matter which type(s) of details you offer and how many details you include within a paragraph, every detail should support the topic sentence.
![Picture](/uploads/6/5/2/7/65277909/published/5p-conclusion.jpg?1564428677)
Conclusion: The conclusion paragraph in a 5-paragraph essay is also a standard paragraph with a topic sentence and supporting details. This paragraph is important to give a sense of finality to the topic. No further arguments and no new information is allowed in this paragraph. If you add more points to this paragraph, you have added a 4th body paragraph and have not written a conclusion paragraph for your essay. Or, you've blended a 4th body paragraph and a conclusion paragraph. Please keep your body paragraphs separate from your conclusion paragraph. The most common way to conclude an academic essay is to summarize the essay's ideas. When you create a summary conclusion, you remind your readers of the main points within your essay in the order in which you presented them. This is a fine way to conclude, but please keep your audience in mind. They're college classmates who have only read 4 paragraphs. Do they need you to summarize 4 paragraphs? For longer or more complicated essays, a summary makes sense. For shorter essays, you should consider another conclusion format. With a call to action conclusion, you give your readers something to do with the information you've presented. With their new understanding gained from your essay, what can they now know, what can they now believe what can they now do? Make a recommendation! Or, similar to the call to action, give the audience a question to ponder conclusion so they can continue thinking about your ideas and perhaps begin talking about them with others.
Unity and Coherence: We've now gone through all of the bold writing in capital letters on the 5-Paragraph Essay Chart above, but there were some words that I skipped in my (lengthy) explanations here. Transition Statement! The paragraphs should not read as standalone entities. You're writing a 5-paragraph essay, not 5 paragraphs. Connect the ideas in your paragraphs for your readers by using effective transitions.
Now follow the progression of the blue arrows. Did you know you can write your essay's paragraphs in any order you choose? You don't need to write your introduction paragraph first if you have a good thought right now for how to develop the supporting details in a body paragraph. Some students even find that they prefer to begin by writing the conclusion so they know where their essay will wind up. No matter the order in which you write these paragraphs, the arrows remind you of the order in which your audience reads these paragraphs. As you draft, remember your readers. Arrange the paragraphs in the best order to share your ideas and add your transitions so your readers can follow your train of thought.
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No matter which type of transition you use to connect the ideas in your paragraphs, make sure your readers understand how your ideas are progressing through the body paragraphs to reach the main idea in your thesis. Videos
What is an Introduction Paragraph? What is a Body Paragraph? What is a Conclusion Paragraph? Writing the Five Paragraph Essay Classroom Handouts The Paragraph Flow Chart The Five-Paragraph Essay Flow Chart Sample Essay Format (Only if you truly need it! Please don't!) |
Finally examine the large red word. That word is thesis statement. It is the largest, brightest, bold term on the chart. It must be important, right? Also, look at all of those lovely red arrows. In the last paragraph, I mentioned that you can write in whatever order you like as long as you get your content written for all 5 paragraphs and that you keep your audience in mind. That content must be driven by your thesis. Moving from blue arrow to blue arrow, all paragraphs must develop your thesis' point. Conversely, all paragraphs also follow the red arrows as every element within every paragraph must directly relate back to the thesis. Each topic sentence supports a portion of the thesis idea. Each supporting detail explains or proves the topic sentence that supports a portion of the thesis. Each transition shifts from one sub-category of the thesis to the next sub-category of the thesis. The introduction leads to the thesis; the body develops its ideas; the conclusion finalizes your thoughts on it.
That's a description of a 5-paragraph essay, so how do you write one?
I've outlined the components of an essay, so you now know what you must write. The trick is in the writing. How do you get from the list of ingredients to the final product? Some students need a recipe to follow. Or, to continue the imagery I've used in my clip art, some students need to know how to tend their garden of ideas to make their essays bloom--or take their impressions of their ideas, focus on making them more concrete, and then developing them clearly for their readers. (Ha! I got there! Yay for me.)
Many students like to begin with freewriting as a prewriting technique. This is an excellent, excellent way to get your ideas on page. However, for a formal essay and a new academic writer in college, I'd suggest you avoid freewriting as a start to your drafting process. Use your freewriting to get ideas, but do not use your freewriting as a draft. It is too chaotic and disorganized as anything more than idea generation--which is why it should be considered prewriting.
My advice is for writers new to essays or who need a refresher on the standard essay to conclude the prewriting stage with an outline in the essay format assigned. Organize your topic ideas that support your thesis to develop the framework of your essay. The outline doesn't need to be formal with Roman Numerals and many sub-categories if you prefer something more organic and natural; however, the structure of your outline should follow the structure of your assignment.
My advice is for writers new to essays or who need a refresher on the standard essay to conclude the prewriting stage with an outline in the essay format assigned. Organize your topic ideas that support your thesis to develop the framework of your essay. The outline doesn't need to be formal with Roman Numerals and many sub-categories if you prefer something more organic and natural; however, the structure of your outline should follow the structure of your assignment.
Comparison/Contrast Outline (With Roman Numerals)
Introduction: contradiction lead-in, thesis
Body I: Compare Item 1 to Item 2 by quality A, neutral Body II: Compare Item 1 to Item 2 by quality B, slight preference to Item 2 Body III: Contrast Item 1 to Item 2, by quality C, preference to Item 2 Conclusion: Question to Ponder |
Description Outline
Introduction: surprising fact lead-in, thesis
Body I: description of item's most common features Body II: description of item's least utilized features Body III: description of item's underappreciated features Conclusion: Final Point |
Argument Outline
Introduction: direct quote lead-in, thesis
Body I: Weakest argument Body II: Stronger argument Body III: Strongest argument Conclusion: Call to Action |
Continue drafting by adding details (facts, evidence, hypotheticals, research) to your outline that support your topic ideas and develop the sections of your essay (introduction, body, conclusion). Fill out your outline in as much detail as possible so you have a good idea of where your content belongs.
Description Outline
Introduction:
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Take a look at the expanded outline above. It is helpful to a writer because it contains many organized ideas. Almost as important, it also shows the writer which paragraphs have more developed ideas (full descriptions in Body II) and which paragraphs have less developed ideas (ideas without details in Body I and III). This expanded outline also gives the writer options. Does the writer need to use all of the features in all of these paragraphs? Does the writer need to use both final points? Probably not. But, because the ideas are jotted down, they're available as organized inspiration for the first draft.
Using the notes of your expanding outline, build your paragraph content. With 1 introduction, 3 body, and 1 conclusion you will have your first rough draft. You know what sentences belongs in a paragraph in general. You know what paragraphs belong in each section of an essay. Now, with your ideas in front of you, fill those sentences and paragraphs with your ideas.
Once your content is written, you can add the details that unite your paragraphs into a cohesive essay. Add transition statements shifting from one paragraph's idea to the next paragraph's idea. Add phrasing or structuring to connect the format of the body paragraph topic sentences. Create an engaging lead-in to introduce your essay's topic and get your audience's interest in your thesis. Create a final thought about your thesis or about the summarized content in your conclusion.
The 5-paragraph essay process
Here's your suggested process in order:
- Create a simple outline of your ideas in the essay format assigned.
- Add details to your outline that support your ideas and develop the sections of your essay.
- Use your outline as a guide to build the paragraphs of your first rough draft.
- Add the transition statements, phrases, and other structuring elements to unite the sections of your essay.
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Varied Essay Styles
![Picture](http://www.weebly.com/uploads/6/5/2/7/65277909/6045352_2.jpg)
I've written a few times throughout this page that you're drafting your essay to fit an "essay format assigned." I've even used example essay formats of comparison/contrast, description, process and argument essays. There are typically assigned essay formats that you may come across in your academic career. All still fit the introduction-body-conclusion structure. They differ in how you form your thesis argument, the kinds of details you include in your introduction and conclusion, and especially the way you organize your body paragraphs.
For more information about the essay formats, I have an overview page leading to pages of content for each type of essay. Click through to see a sample paragraph and descriptive content about that format following the sample.
Notes about Writer's block
Concerned that you might get writer's block while drafting? Or do you have writer's block already? If you need advice, there's a set of tips on the prewriting page.
How do you know you're ready to Revise?
The drafting stage is the second part of the writing process, but like prewriting, you may backtrack to improve your ideas or rewrite paragraphs even as you move on to your next stage, revision. The goal is to move on to meet your deadline, though, not to get stuck in a loop. You want to take those former impressions of ideas, word them concretely and creatively, and develop a clearly structured academic point for your readers. Drafting should result in (at a minimum) a 5-paragraph essay that is organized to explain or argue the sub-points that build to your thesis while also meeting all writing requirements for your assignment.
Do you have an introduction paragraph with a lead-in and corresponding thesis statement? Do you have 3 body paragraphs organized purposefully for the logic of your thesis and to fit the assigned essay format? Do you have a conclusion that is distinct from the body section and that has a call to action, a question to ponder, a final point, or a summary? Do all of the ideas in your draft relate directly back to your current working thesis statement? Do all of the ideas and all of the paragraphs flow well from one to the next to achieve coherence and unity for the essay? Are you still meeting your goals and the needs of your audience as you described in prewriting? Does this draft follow the assignment directions? (Check the directions again.) If you have a full draft that meets the minimum requirements for the assignment, then you can begin revising. |