A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, Ninth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2018

Draft in the way that feels most comfortable
Drafting your paper
Research and writing

7.1 Draft in the Way That Feels Most Comfortable

7.2 Develop Effective Writing Habits

7.3 Keep Yourself on Track through Headings and Key Terms

7.4 Quote, Paraphrase, and Summarize Appropriately

7.5 Integrate Quotations into Your Text

7.6 Use Footnotes and Endnotes Judiciously

7.7 Show How Complex or Detailed Evidence Is Relevant

7.8 Be Open to Surprises

7.9 Guard against Inadvertent Plagiarism

7.9.1 Signal Every Quotation, Even When You Cite Its Source

7.9.2 Don’t Paraphrase Too Closely

7.9.3 Usually Cite a Source for Ideas Not Your Own

7.9.4 Don’t Plead Ignorance, Misunderstanding, or Innocent Intentions

7.10 Guard against Inappropriate Assistance

7.11 Work Through Chronic Procrastination and Writer’s Block

Some writers think that once they have an outline or storyboard, they can draft by just grinding out sentences. If you’ve written a lot to explore your ideas, you may even think that you can plug that preliminary writing into a draft. Experienced writers know better. They know two things: exploratory writing is crucial but often not right for a draft, and thoughtful drafting can be an act of discovery that planning and storyboarding can prepare them for but never replace. In fact, most writers don’t know what they can think until they see it appear in words before them. Indeed, you experience one of the most exciting moments in research when you discover yourself expressing ideas that you did not know you had until that moment.

So don’t treat drafting as merely translating a storyboard or outline into words. If you draft with an open mind, you can discover lines of thought that you couldn’t have imagined before you started. But like other steps in the process, even surprises work better with a plan.

7.1 Draft in the Way That Feels Most Comfortable

Writers draft in different ways. Some are slow and careful: they have to get every paragraph right before they start the next one. To do that, they need a meticulous 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 can plug in later. If they are stopped by a stylistic issue such as whether to represent numbers in words or numerals, they insert a “[?]” and keep on writing until they run out of gas, then go back and fix it. But quick drafters need lots of time to revise. So if you draft quickly, start early. Draft in whatever way works for you, but experienced writers usually draft quickly, then revise extensively.