Newsela launched in 2013 with a bold mission: Meaningful classroom learning for every student. Today, our team constantly strives to deliver powerful solutions that inspire our users.
After students have finished their prewriting, next up is drafting. But what is draft writing exactly? This second step in the writing process is the first attempt at getting the ideas generated and brainstormed onto the page and organized in a logical way.
Today, we’ll discuss what a draft is, why it’s an important step in the writing process, and give tips on how you can help your students learn and work through this writing stage.
A rough draft or first draft is the first copy of your ideas arranged into sentences and paragraphs on the page. Rough drafts exist because you can’t edit a blank page. If you have nothing written, you can’t iterate on your ideas and make them better.
The drafting process, which includes multiple drafts, is the bridge of the writing process between idea generation during prewriting and polishing and sharing the final copy of a written work. Drafting can help you develop and organize your content to work out the best structure for your piece.
While drafting is more formal than prewriting, it’s still okay if drafts contain spelling or grammar mistakes, or if they’re not perfectly clear or concise. The more rounds of drafting you do and the more feedback you get, the more polished subsequent drafts become.
It’s also important to remember and to remind students that drafting is an iterative process. It’s not a one-and-done action, but cyclical. You write and receive feedback in a loop until you’ve perfected and polished your piece as much as you can.
[What does a draft look like?](id-example)
Reading the definition of a draft to students is not the same as showing them an example or the key components of a draft. All drafts may look slightly different, depending on what students are writing, like a short story, a speech, or a poem.
You can show students what their drafts might look like by modeling, and calling out the specific components they should include. For example, let’s look at the parts of an essay and the purpose of each one:
Introduction: Orient readers to the topic and spark their interest in reading more.
Thesis statement: Present the main point or argument of the piece.
Body paragraphs: Cover the main points that support the thesis statement or argument using research, original ideas, and evidence.
Transitions: Guide the readers between ideas on the topic.
Conclusion: Reinforces the thesis statement, restates the key points of the piece, and sometimes poses a question for additional thinking or research.
Drafts are also where the writer’s voice and tone start to emerge. It’s where students can decide how to best present their information to the audience.
Finally, in a first draft, it’s also acceptable to leave placeholder elements like [INSERT EXAMPLE] or [LOOK UP MORE INFORMATION]. Writers can do this when they find a gap while drafting and they need to do more research, but don’t want to break the writing flow to do it. Placeholders are also helpful to remind writers of a particular section they need to return to later if they’re struggling with it.
Draft goals by writing categories
Draft structure may have flexibility, especially depending on the type of piece students are writing. Let’s look at the goals of drafts for some of these categories:
Academic writing
Academic writing includes pieces like essays and research papers. This is likely the most common type of writing your students will do in the classroom. The goal of drafting for academic writing is to develop a clear thesis statement with a standard intro-body-conclusion setup. Drafting is also the time for students to begin to support their claims and arguments with evidence like quotes and citations.
An academic writing draft is successful if it begins to set up a logical argument, makes the claims and evidence clear, and integrates relevant research.
Creative writing
Creative writing includes works like fiction, poetry, and memoir. The goal of creative writing is often to be expressive and get the right tone and voice to share the author’s message. Students may draft scenes and dialogue out of order and move them around through different draft iterations.
A creative writing draft is successful if it helps develop the right voice for the piece, builds worlds, creates characters, and allows the writer to stay open to evolving ideas as they work.
Journalistic writing
Journalistic writing includes works like news articles, interviews, and features. Students may do this type of writing for in-class projects or for extracurricular activities, like working on the school newspaper.
Journalistic drafts use the inverted pyramid style. In this style, the writer shares the most important information earliest in the draft and follows it with nice-to-know details.
The goal of journalistic writing is to share accurate information and be clear and direct in its delivery. Rather than using academic evidence, like citations, these drafts should contain quotes from interviewees and facts from reputable sources.
A journalistic writing draft is successful if it hooks readers with the lede, verifies the information shared, and follows publication guidelines like a word count.
Technical writing
Technical writing includes pieces like manuals, instruction sheets, and procedural documents. Students may create this type of draft for things like science fair projects or math proofs. Technical writing drafts rely on clarity, accuracy, usability, and organization.
Out of all four categories, technical writing is the one where following a strict structure is most important. Students should use headings, lists, and other organizational tactics during drafts to mimic the finished piece as closely as possible. What technical drafts lack that the finished product doesn’t are typically visuals like photos, charts, or graphs.
A technical writing draft is successful if it follows step-by-step logic, anticipates the readers’ needs or confusion points, and keeps terminology consistent throughout the piece.
[Tips to make draft writing easier](id-tips)
Writing a first draft can feel intimidating for students, even after significant prewriting. Here are some tips you can give to help them approach the drafting process with confidence:
Prepare to focus
Prewriting was messy, chaotic, and maybe even collaborative, but draft writing requires more focus. Encourage students to set aside dedicated time to draft and prepare a space in a way that helps them focus.
What “focus” looks like for each student may be different. It may include eliminating distractions like keeping your phone next to you or having a TV on in the background. For some, it could look like using noise-canceling headphones and working in a room by themselves. For others, it may look like using white noise or instrumental music to stay focused, or taking breaks between paragraphs.
No one way to stay focused is right, and the method a student chooses—especially outside the classroom when it’s fully in their control—should work best for them.
Rely on your prewriting
Students should rely on the research, notes, and organization they did during prewriting. Having hard copies of the work they did on paper in front of them while drafting may help. For digital prewriting, students can open their docs in one window and their draft document in another, and put them side by side on their screen. Students can also edit in the same doc as their outlines, filling in paragraphs around their notes.
Resist the urge to edit
Remind students that it’s okay if their draft has typos or they’re not sure of the perfect place to put a particular sentence. Drafting, especially a first draft, should prioritize getting words on the page. The editing stage is where they can fix these types of mistakes.
Avoid interruptions
If students find that they need more information about a topic or they feel like something is missing, advise them against falling down the research rabbit hole. Instead, encourage them to leave placeholders to come back to later after they finish their draft.
Students can try writing their placeholder text in all caps, highlighting it, or changing the font color, size, or style, so it’s easy to pick out where they need to come back and add additional information later.
Write out of order
Students don’t have to write their draft in the same order that all the paragraphs or sections will appear in the final copy. If they have an idea for the conclusion in the middle of writing body paragraphs, it’s okay to skip ahead.
You may suggest having students write the thesis and body paragraph first. Sometimes it’s easy to get stuck on the introduction and create a hook if they don’t know what the hook is about yet.
For some, writing in order works best to help them organize their ideas. Both methods are acceptable, and it’s important to remind students to pick what works best for them.
Walk away
When students think their draft is done, they should take a break and walk away from it for a bit. That period can be different for everyone. Some may need an hour, others may need a day or even a week to distance themselves from their ideas. Walking away from the draft before jumping into editing can help them view what they wrote with clearer eyes and be more open to revisions.
[What comes after drafting in the writing process?](id-process)
After drafting comes editing, revising, and proofreading. Since drafting and editing are both iterative processes, students may stay in a loop of these two steps for a while before moving on. After they’re satisfied with their edits and have a final draft, they’ll do a final copy edit to polish up the mechanics of the draft. Then, it’ll be time to publish or submit their work.
[Draft writing FAQs](id-faq)
Do you or your students have questions about the drafting phase of the writing process? We have answers!
How can I help my students turn their prewriting notes into drafts?
The process of turning prewriting notes into drafts may differ depending on what type of prewriting activity students completed.
Those who created an outline may have the easiest time turning their prewriting into a first draft. They’ll simply follow that outline, create headings and sections, and fill in their research, ideas, arguments, and references in that same order. Students who used clustering may also have an easier time creating their drafts, using each cluster as a section to fill in with information.
Students who used methods like brainstorming, listing, freewriting, or journaling may benefit from organizing those notes into clusters or an outline as a bridge step between prewriting and drafting to make it easier to organize their ideas when they start writing.
Should students write multiple drafts?
Yes, if time permits students should write multiple drafts of any piece they create, including single-paragraph assignments, essays, poems, fiction, and more.
Repeating the drafting process can feel time-consuming and even frustrating to students who “want to be done.” But iteration, analysis, and feedback that go into subsequent drafts are the things that will help make them better writers.
How will my students and I know when the drafting process is finished?
With any kind of art, writing included, it’s never really “done.” Student writers may span a full spectrum of views on their own work. Some may think their first draft is perfect and doesn’t even need to be spellchecked. Others may return to their latest draft over and over to tweak, move, and polish in the hopes of making it perfect.
To give students some semblance of a drafting framework to follow so they can decide when they’re “done,” ask them to complete three drafts that serve different purposes:
Draft 1 - The ultimate sloppy copy: This draft is the first pass at transferring research and ideas from prewriting into a conventional piece. It will likely be the least polished and cohesive of the three drafts.
Draft 2 - Reorganizing and tightening: After receiving teacher, peer, or other feedback, students should take those notes and try to incorporate them into draft two. This may include moving sections around, adding or deleting information, providing clarity, or doing more research to fill in sparse sections.
Draft 3 - The final draft: After receiving a second round of feedback, students should address any outstanding notes on the content and give a first pass for mechanics like spelling, punctuation, and formatting.
Some students and projects may benefit from more than three drafts, but this is a good starting point to understand how the drafting process works and the goal of multiple drafts.
How can I keep my students engaged in the drafting process?
Students may get bored with the repetitiveness of the drafting process and may want to stop as the number of drafts increases. Solidifying a classroom culture of innovation and iterating from the beginning of the school year or semester can help them stay engaged while drafting.
If reworking, redoing, and rethinking are parts of their everyday learning, these things can feel less jarring when they start to write. Encourage students to rework their art projects, try math problems that they get wrong again, or consider how they would approach topics or situations differently in hindsight.
How can I provide feedback on student drafts?
Providing feedback on students’ drafts can be the hardest part of the writing process for teachers. Not only do you typically have 10-30 drafts to look at just for one class, you also want to make sure you’re providing what students need for editing and iteration, while focusing on both praise and constructive feedback.
Here are some methods you can use to provide draft feedback in the classroom:
Informal feedback: Walk around the room while students are drafting and provide advice, suggestions, or support.
Targeted feedback: Ask students to raise their hands while you’re circulating the room so you can stop and answer direct questions they have about their drafts.
One-on-one conferences: Hold writers’ conferences where you can discuss students’ work with them directly, privately, and with minimal distractions. Choose either to read the drafts beforehand and use the conference time to discuss notes, or read the draft live with students to provide in-the-moment feedback.
Rubrics and checklists: Share rubrics students can use while writing to help them with self-assessment after they finish a draft, or help guide the drafting process.
Feedback tools: Programs and tools like Newsela Writing offer AI-powered feedback to help students in the moment while drafting. They also allow you to input your own real-time comments and feedback while students work.
We also have some tips for you to consider when you’re adding feedback to student drafts to make it actionable:
Focus on the big picture
Especially with a first draft, start with broad comments and advice. Look at the overall ideas and structure of the piece and give feedback about those elements. Don’t get caught up in grammar and copyediting yet, which can come during later iterations.
Align feedback with the draft stage
Give feedback on what the student was working to create or correct with their current draft. For example, a mid-stage draft may focus on revising the conclusion to be more comprehensive. Focus on providing feedback that will have the highest impact on the piece rather than commenting on everything.
Set expectations for submitted drafts
Students may write many drafts throughout the process, but not all of them may make it to your desk. While drafts are meant to be messy, make sure you provide guidelines for what students need to include (or exclude) before they submit drafts for your feedback. For example, you may require students to fill in any placeholder content before the draft comes to you for feedback.
Create space between writing and feedback
While in-the-moment feedback can help correct students quickly, there are also benefits to providing space between writing and feedback. A day or a class period can give students time to step away from what they wrote and view their draft and your feedback with a clearer mind.
Try the “Praise, Question, Suggest” method
The Praise, Question, Suggest method can help guide the way you give feedback. First, praise things students did well to build their confidence. Then, ask open-ended questions to encourage deeper thinking. Finally, provide actionable feedback that students can use to improve their next draft.
Be clear
Avoid vague statements for both positive and constructive feedback. Instead of “Good job,” try “The way you organized this paragraph makes the transition easy to understand. Instead of saying something like “Unclear,” try “This paragraph could use more evidence to support the topic sentence.”
Nurture confident writers with Newsela Writing
Newsela Writing is your AI-powered writing assistant that helps students in grades 3-12 become confident writers. It gives immediate, rubric-aligned feedback while students complete their drafts inside the program. And Newsela Writing provides a continuous feedback loop that saves teachers time and increases student writing frequency and quality.
Not a Newsela customer yet? Sign up for Newsela Lite to start your free 45-day trial of our premium products—including Newsela Writing!
Everything you need to accelerate learning across ELA, social studies, and science
Browse more educational and seasonal content from Newsela.
Blog
What Is Prewriting and Why Is It Important?
Discover how prewriting fits into the writing process and strategies you can share with your students to help them learn how to do prewriting successfully.
Discover 12 writing conventions students should learn and know to help them practice writing across subjects and polish their pieces for sharing with an audience.
Explore more in-depth content on the education topics that matter in your schools and classrooms.
Guide
10 Tips To Support Student Writing in Any School Subject
Get 10 tips to help you integrate writing across the curriculum—no matter what subject you teach—to give students the practice they need to build skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives.
Get details about cross-curricular writing frameworks, examples of writing activities and support in different subjects, and practical tips to help your teachers implement writing practice in their classrooms.
Products Overview
