My Writing Process: Rough Draft

The second step in my writing process is when I turn my brainstormed thoughts into a first draft. This is when I take my ideas on paper and begin typing them into a word document. I start by looking at my bulleted ideas and decide which ones I want to have towards the beginning of. I type those points into the document in phrase or short sentence form and begin working with and expanding the ideas. While I was writing a paper on realistic fiction, I selected the points that included definitions and other basic info about the genre. I typically do not even attempt to create an opening sentence because I believe it works better to save the introduction for last, after I have expanded on all my ideas.

         For the remaining of the rough draft, I work on typing my bullet points in the order that I think I want to present them. Sometimes while I am expanding on an idea, I realize that it connects with another idea. In this case, I just copy and paste them to group them together in the document. I focus on expanding the ideas into sentences and grouping the sentences into paragraphs. This part is where it helps to have clustered the ideas in my brainstorming process. I try not to worry about spelling or grammar errors while creating my rough draft, although that squiggly line could be tempting. I just focus on continuing to move forward and develop my thoughts.

         There are times while I am writing a rough draft that I have difficulty coming up with the word or phrase that I want to use. This is when I decide its necessary to leave a blank and move on. As I was writing my rough draft about realistic fiction, I struggled to find the words to end the sentence, “Rather than other fiction that involves heroes with super powers, realistic fiction has characters that ________.” I knew I wanted to include that idea but I drew a blank when it came to actually finding the words. When I came back to this sentence in the next step, while I was revising, I was able to complete the sentence, as I wanted, with the words, “reflect normal human potentials.” Looking back at it, it can be difficult for me to move on without figuring out what I was attempting to write. I simply try to remind myself that writing does not always come out perfect from the start. Writing is a process.

Once I have expanded on the rest of my thoughts, I work on my introduction. I usually have a pretty good idea of what I want to include in the very beginning once I have worked on the rest of the draft. Depending on the situation, I may write a whole paragraph, or I might only be able to come up with one or two sentences. Either way, I try not to worry too much. As long as my bullet points are now in sentences, I consider it a rough draft. I like to take another break before moving on to the next step. I tend to get sluggish and less motivated if I spend too much time in one sitting on my writing. I also do not notice as many opportunities for editing and revising in my rough draft if I try to do both steps at once.