Student's guide to writing college papers, Fourth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2010
Draft in a way that feels comfortable
Drafting your paper
Writing your paper
8.1 Draft in a Way That Feels Comfortable
8.2 Picture Your Readers Asking Friendly Questions
8.3 Be Open to Surprises and Changes
8.4 Develop Productive Drafting Habits
8.5 Work through Writer's Block
8.6 Preparing an Oral Report
8.6.1 Prepare Notes, Not a Script
8.6.2 Write Out a Complete Introduction and Conclusion
8.6.3 Make the Body of Your Notes an Outline
Many inexperienced writers think that once they have an outline or story-board, they can just write it up, grinding out sentences for a draft. And if you've followed our advice to write as you gather evidence, you may think that you can plug that exploratory writing into your draft. Experienced writers know better. They know that thoughtful drafting is an act of discovery that an outline or storyboard may prepare them for, but can never replace. So they don't expect to reuse their early writing without change or to follow their storyboard mindlessly.
In fact, most writers don't know what they can think until they see it appear on the page before them. You'll experience one of the most exciting moments in research when you discover yourself writing out ideas that you did not know you had. So don't look at drafting as just translating your storyboard into words. Think of it as an opportunity to discover what your storyboard has missed.
8.1 Draft in a way that feels comfortable
Experienced writers draft in different ways. Some are slow and careful: they have to get every paragraph right before they start the next one. But to do that, they need a specific, complete plan. So if you draft slowly, plan carefully. Other writers let the words flow, skipping ahead when they get stuck, omitting quotations, statistics, and so on that they know they can plug in later. If they are stopped by a trivial stylistic issue like whether to write out a number in words or numerals, they insert a [?] and keep going until they run out of gas, then go back and fix it. But quick drafters need time to revise. So if you draft quickly, start early.
Most experienced writers draft quickly, then revise extensively. If you don't yet know which is your best method, start with that. But you should draft in whatever way works for you, so go slow if you feel you must. What you can't do is wait until the day before your paper is due: If you draft slowly, you won't finish; if you draft quickly, you'll turn in a half-baked mess.