The Writing Process

When I have an assignment for a "term" paper, I typically begin by simply thinking about it. Whenever the assignment comes around on my "things to do" docket in my head, I try to think about a topic that will fit nicely with the assignment and that I am interested in learning more about or exploring further. Once I have my topic, I begin to take notes in my writing notebook. These pages of notes will be what I sit down with to draft my paper. The pages are usually covered with sloppy handwriting, arrows, and big spaces between unrelated ideas. When I finally sit down to draft my paper I use these notes and any sources that I may be incorporating. This first draft is really tough for me and I always dread it more than any other. I am attempting to suture my ideas-- to coalesce my mental ramblings into an actual paper. When I type my paper is my second revision, the one in which I give my rough draft paragraphs, nice wording, etc. I always revise one more time, with a hard copy of my second draft.
This process, though, is only for "big" papers. For any writing assignment I begin in the same way: just thinking about the format and topic for my assignment. I will usually still write a draft down on paper, just to help myself work through how I want to organize my thoughts. Sometimes, I don't even use this hand-written drat when I actually type my paper because the format is already in my head.
Now that I've written this, it occurs to me that I tend to cushion the more difficult assignments with as many steps and revisions as possible.