Drafting is the main way writers “test” or “try out” their positions/ideas as they try to work through their thoughts and the connections they see between the research, the course concepts/theories, and the topic/issue/task they have been asked to explore/undertake for their assignment.
Trying out alternative ways of expressing and connecting your ideas will help you understand them well enough to judge their strength, importance, complexity, and other characteristics that can help you find the best order for presenting them.
While building and exploring ideas, you’ll want to continue to apply strategies for generating ideas such as those described in the Choosing a Topic module, for example:
- review the assignment instructions
- brainstorm examples and ways to develop ideas
- review the resources you have selected to see what else they have to offer – examples, evidence, alternative ideas
- consider what your readers need in order to understand your ideas
The key to successful drafting is a willingness to be recursive, meaning to go back and forth between your writing, your research and your revision process. Writing is an act of creation, so being willing to change your work at any level or stage – right up to the deadline – can allow you to find and correct flaws in logic, clarity, and accuracy that you might miss if you take a definitive position on your topic too quickly. As you write, you will develop a more complete vision of your topic and the issues that surround it.
Reaching the Conclusion
As you reach the end of your drafting process, you have the opportunity to reflect on what you’ve written as you construct your conclusion, which should provide your reader with both a reminder of the key points supporting your position and a perspective on the significance/implications/future direction of your work. Strategies for writing your conclusion include:
- Reviewing the body of the drafted work and identifying the most important points to include in the summary section of your conclusion.
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- Consider the order of the sentences that you produce for the conclusion.
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- Organize the paragraph to progress clearly and naturally through the most important points of the work.
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- Ask yourself, “Do all of these points seem relevant?” “Is anything missing?”
- Use this summary to review your draft
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- Consider and perhaps reorder the paragraphs in the body of your draft to achieve the most logical order to your points
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- Be sure that the logical order and messaging of your summary and draft align, as the body paragraphs contain the detailed version of the journey summarized in your conclusion
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- Move back and forth between the body and the summary conclusion recursively until they are clearly well aligned.
- Draft a second section of your conclusion where you offer the implications that follow from your summary conclusion.
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- Consider implications, offer recommendations, examine consequences, point to larger issues, suggest future research and/or offer informed opinion.
Finally - The Introduction
Once you have worked through your draft and have a good idea of how the content logically connects to your now “more than working” thesis/position statement, you will be ready to introduce your work to your reader by writing an introduction.
The introduction provides enough context on the topic, issue, and perspectives on the material you are exploring to understand the position you are taking and the material you will be drawing on to support it. The introduction acts as a kind of contract between you and your reader, clearly presenting your thesis/position and indicating exactly what they can expect to find in the writing that follows.
