Developing the Paper

Once you have done the prewriting, you now must actually write the paper. With a good outline, your task has been made considerably easier since you know what point you will make, what developing points you will use, and what organization you will follow.

I. Write a rough draft.

A. Your first draft of a paper should be a rough draft that you know will need editing for both content and structure.

B. Of course, follow your outline, but do so with the intention that you will likely need to make changes in the content and organization.

C. Leave space for changes.

1. If you handwrite your drafts, write on only one side of the paper and on every other line, so that you can leave room for editing changes on that draft.

2. If you use the word processor, save each draft separately under a new file name.

3. You may also want to use your word processing program’s tracking feature.

a. This feature doesn’t erase the original wording when you make changes, but indicates what you have changed along.

b. In Microsoft Word, the TRK at the bottom of the page indicates the tracking feature.

II. Begin at the beginning

A. Whenever possible, write the introduction first, including the attention-getter.

1. The attention-getter must fit in with the rest of the paper, and having it in front of you lets you see how it fits as you write the rest of the paper.

2. You may want to include references to the attention-getter in the body of the essay to lend continuity to your paper.

B. Be sure that your thesis is very clear.

1. For the first draft, you may want to write it out separately from the rest of the paper to be certain that you can easily follow it.

2. In subsequent drafts, write it into the introduction so that there is a clear connection and transition from the attention-getter to the thesis.

C. If you cannot find a good attention-getter immediately, but you want to get to the body of the first draft, be sure to have at least an introduction that has the thesis.

1. You can come back and write a full introduction later, but you need the thesis to write the body of the paper.

2. Sometimes when you write the body of the paper, a good idea for an attention-getter will occur.

D. Remember to cite any information in the introduction that came from an outside source.

1. Do not “go back” and put in citations after writing the paper.

2. Cite information immediately when you include it in the paper—including in the introduction.

E. See Introductions and Conclusions.

III. Develop the body of the paper as completely as possible in the first draft.

A. Follow the outline which will tell you whether you need background material or not.

1. Background material usually consists of definitions and historical background to your topic or thesis.

2. If you need background material, it will go immediately after the introduction.

3. Do not include any information that you will cover in developing the main points of the paper.

4. Remember to cite any information taken from an outside source.

B. Develop each point of the paper thoroughly.

1. Follow your outline.

2. Remember that each main point needs to have the three basic requirements of a good paragraph.

a. Have a topic sentence that states what point the paragraph will develop about the thesis.

b. Have specific evidence to prove the topic sentence.

c. Analyze the evidence by explaining just how it develops the topic sentence and the thesis.

d. See Paragraphing on when to change paragraphs..

3. Use transitions to connect your sentencing.

a. Each sentence should connect in some way to the one that comes before it.

b. See Coherence.

4. Be sure to cite information as you use it.

a. See Using the Resources in Writing the Paper.

b. See Documentation Formats.

C. See expository essay I with comments or Expository essay II with comments.

IV. Write a conclusion to your first draft.

A. Before writing the conclusion, read your first draft to review what you have written.

B. Write a conclusion that both summarizes the content and ends the paper with a good closing attention-getter.

C. See Introductions and Conclusions.

Return to Writing the Essay or OWL.