Academic Essay Drafting
Many writers follow a similar plan:
Steps in drafting an academic essay
Step 1: Develop your main idea
Step 2: Consider your audience
Step 3: Discover your strategy using keywords
Step 4: Generate ideas by asking questions
Step 5: Generate ideas by answering your questions
Step 6: Write a draft
Step 7: Break your draft into parts
Step 8: Write your topic sentences
Step 9: Organize: connect and arrange your sections
Step 10: Support your ideas: facts, examples, details, comments, evaluation
Step 11: Work on your paragraph structure
Step 12: Write or rewrite your thesis
Step 13: Write your introduction
Step 14: Write your conclusion
Step 15: Revise your full draft
Once you have written your first draft then ‘revise it’
Ten points of revision:
- How’s your main idea? Is it clear?
- Have you followed the assignment? Does it answer the key points of the question?
- Are your ideas on track? Do they link clearly to the question?
- Do you need to develop anything further?
- How are your paragraphs? Good clear topic sentences? Examples? Evidence?
- Is your draft well organized? Good connections throughout? Paragraphs link together?
- Did you include transitions? Links between paragraphs?
- Do you have an introduction? Does it provide background and a thesis (your main stance)?
- Do you have a conclusion? Does it summarise the main ideas? Does it connect to the thesis?
- How are your sentences? Have someone read your essay and check for mistakes.
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