Draft
Draft
Draft
Caution!
Begining writers (that is, students who have not read hundreds of books) should avoid pre-writing, the woefully misguided process taught by high-school English teachers.
Instead of pre-writing, beginning writers should jot down their ideas as succintly as possible: certainly not in sentence form.
This is necessary because we are all lazy critters and, after having written a sentence, it is contrary to our lazy nature to revise it.
Pre-writing actually makes the task of revision much more difficult because pre-writing combines the first, second, and third steps of the writing process (generating, organizing, & drafting). An experienced writer can juggle this, but pre-writing simply increases the likelihood that a beginning writer will drop the ball and produce a disorganized paragraph or essay.
Outlines should be sufficiently detailed that every point and sub-point can be written as a sentence. Only after the detailed outline is composed should the draft be written.
Research primary & secondary sources
Make detailed outline
Write a sentence for every point in the outline; include paranthetical citations
Be critical!
sentences & paragraphs
Look at sentence structure, transitioning, and overall logic
sentences & paragraphs
Work through the Steps of the Writing Process as many times as it takes to make your writing as excellent as possible.
Rosalie Stafford is founding publisher of Web Mystery Magazine, and has published two novels in the Flora & Shamus Large Print Mystery series.
Thursday's Child & The Queen of Swords explores the theme of obsessive pride.
Friday's Child & The Five Diamonds explores the theme of obsessive greed.
She is currently working on Saturday's Child & The Sad King of Clubs, which explores the theme of illusion & deception.
Low-vision herself, she is dedicated to crafting excellent mystery novels and publishing them in the Large Print format.
Rosalie Stafford holds a Lifetime Credential (California) to teach English at the college level; she teaches research writing, visual analysis, and humanities.