When you have finished your research, the next step is writing the first draft, also known as the rough draft:

• Review your notes and your outline before beginning to write your first draft.

• It doesn't matter if you hand write or type the rough draft as long as you get your thoughts down on paper.

• Some like to edit as they write, others prefer to make corrections after the first draft is completed.

• You are preparing a FIRST draft. Anything you write can be changed.

Once the rough draft is completed, it is time to edit. Re-read the paper for spelling and grammar mistakes. Pay attention to the content of the paper. Is the paper saying what you want it to? Editing will polish the first draft into the final draft.

• If you are composing your paper on a word processor you may edit as you work or you may print a copy and make corrections on the paper and then on the computer.

• If you are writing the first draft by hand, re-read your work and make corrections in a different color ink. Once you have made the corrections, write the paper with the corrections or type the corrected copy.

• If you have the time, you may want to wait a day or two before you start the final draft to rest and give yourself a fresh perspective.

• Have someone else read your paper. Another pair of eyes may catch mistakes you may have missed.

Here are some things to keep in mind as you are writing:

• When using a word processor, save your work frequently to avoid losing your work.

• Check each section of the paper:
  • Does the first paragraph explain what the paper is about?
  • Does the body adequately express your facts and ideas?
  • Does the conclusion pull the paper together and give it a satisfactory ending?

• Avoid run-on sentences. For example: Run-on sentences are long, distracting, hard to understand and your readers will probably lose interest in the paper you have spent so much time researching and writing and a paragraph usually has more than one sentence! (Was that sentence a little too long?)

• Spell Check! Remember that Spell Check does not understand proper word usage. If you type "won" instead of "one" or mix up "their," "there," or "they're," Spell Check will not catch your mistake. Proof read your paper after using Spell Check.

• Avoid repeating words. For example: Avoid repeating words so you can avoid having a boring paper that people will avoid reading. Don't avoid using a thesaurus since it will help avoid this problem. (Do you think we could have avoided using avoid so many times?)
  
• When using a quote don't forget to properly credit the original author with a footnote or endnote.