Drafting (writing)

{{Short description|Process to create preliminary versions of a written work}}

{{For|Drafting on Wikipedia|Wikipedia:Drafts}}

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Drafting is the process by which preliminary forms of a written work are composed.{{Cite book |url=https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/writingsuccess/chapter/8-3-drafting/ |title=Writing for Success |collaboration=University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing |date=2010 |publisher=University of Minnesota Libraries |isbn=978-1-946135-28-5 |edition=Publishing |location=Minneapolis, MN |publication-date=October 27, 2015 |language=en |chapter=8.3 Drafting |access-date=February 12, 2025}}{{Cite web |last=Raymond |first=Lisa |title=Academic Guides: Writing a Paper: Drafting |url=https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/writingprocess/drafting |access-date=February 12, 2025 |website=academicguides.waldenu.edu |language=en}} Separate from other steps of the writing process, such as revision and editing, drafting involves the initial creation of the main content, structure, and style of a work.{{Cite web |title=Drafting |url=https://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/writing/writing-resources/writing-resources/drafting.html |access-date=February 12, 2025 |website=Clemson University}} The preliminary forms of a written work are referred to as draft documents{{Cite web |title=The Writing Process |url=https://writingprocess.mit.edu/instructions-drafting/ |access-date=February 12, 2025 |website=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}} or simply drafts. Drafting is the very first step of the writing process; it gives the writer a base to expand and improve upon their work via later steps.

Drafting almost always involves rounds of cumulatively adding onto and expanding a work. The initial complete draft is known as the first draft{{Cite web |title=Drafting {{!}} Revising {{!}} Editing |url=https://writingxhumanities.berkeley.edu/drafting-revising-editing/ |access-date=February 12, 2025 |website=University of California Berkeley}} or rough draft. Typically, 'snapshots' of the draft at certain points are taken, these snapshots often being called the drafts; alternatively, the work as it currently is can be referred to as the draft. This distinction is unclear. In an essay writing environment, such as school, drafting often involves rounds of individual brainstorming, collecting evidence, and writing individual paragraphs, along with deciding on the approach to which the essay is written.