ENG114 - Moore

Now that you have gathered all the sources you will use, you are at the step of writing your paper. First drafts give you the opportunity to lay out the foundation of your research without needing to commit to a final iteration. This allows you to experiment with organization and find which works best for you as a writer. Here are some things to consider when writing a first draft: 

• Be experimental: This is an opportunity to learn how you want to frame your arguments so take advantage of it. Feel free to shuffle things around until you find what is the most logical order. 
• Don't pressure yourself: The first draft allows you to organize your thoughts without the pressure of it being the final result. While you should be organized, give yourself the ability to freely write without putting too much worry on the things that can be fixed during the revision stage.
• Read over your work: To avoid having to give yourself extra work later, check over your writing for grammar and spelling mistakes as you go.
• Use your voice: Use this time to craft your own thoughts and conclusions about the research you have done.

You have now moved into the editing phase of your paper. This is typical done after the drafting phase and helps to make the necessary improvements of clarity, cohesion and overall quality of your work. The steps usually taken during the editing phase include: 

• Improvement in Syntax: This is where you would change the structure of your sentences to provide clearer meaning to your arguments. This might include adding or taking away words or completely restructuring your phrases. 
• Correcting Grammatical & Spelling Errors: This involves identifying and correcting errors found in your work from misspelled words to incorrectly placed or missing punctuation. 
• Correcting Format: Formatting is an essential part of structuring your paper and is often one of the key components that your professor will grade on. Formatting includes your title, citations and paging.
• Maintaining Consistency: When writing, it can be hard to stay in the same tense. Proofreading your paper can help to ensure that your paper's tone is consistent. 

Congratulations! You have arrived at the final draft of your paper. This is the version that you will be handed into your professor to be graded.  It can be hard to determine when you have reached this stage, but here are some indicators to consider: 

• Fluidity: Your paper should feel natural to read, without any awkward or disjointed sections. Each paragraph should flow smoothly into the next and make logical sense to its order. 
• No Errors: The final draft should lack any spelling or grammar mistakes.
• Format: The paper should be formatted correctly based on the citation style that you have used. This includes the title, page numbers, in-text citations and works cited page. 
• Length: If you required to have a certain page length, the final draft should meet these standards. If the paper is too long or short, it will have to go back into the editing stage to correct this.