Editing Drafting (writing) (section)

{{Short description|Process to create preliminary versions of a written work}}
{{For|Drafting on Wikipedia|Wikipedia:Drafts}}
<!-- The following sources may be useful:
https://writingprocess.mit.edu/instructions-drafting/
https://coursehorse.com/blog/learn/business-writing/from-draft-to-final-document-the-complete-writing-process
https://writingcommons.org/section/writing-process/writing-process-steps/
https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/writingsuccess/chapter/8-3-drafting/
https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/writingprocess/drafting
http://colelearning.net/who/module3/page31.html
https://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/writing/writing-resources/writing-resources/drafting.html
https://writingxhumanities.berkeley.edu/drafting-revising-editing/

For finding new sources:
https://www.bing.com/search?q=drafting%20a%20written%20work
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[[File:Infamy-address-1.gif|thumb|right|A draft of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s [[Infamy Speech]], including the President's handwritten [[annotation]]s.]]

'''Drafting''' is the process by which preliminary forms of a [[written work]] are composed.<ref name="UoM">{{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}}</ref><ref name="WaldenU">{{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}}</ref> Separate from other steps of the [[writing process]], such as [[Revision (writing)|revision]] and [[editing]], drafting involves the initial creation of the main content, structure, and style of a work.<ref name=Clemson>{{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}}</ref> The preliminary forms of a written work are referred to as '''draft documents'''<ref name="MIT">{{Cite web |title=The Writing Process |url=https://writingprocess.mit.edu/instructions-drafting/ |access-date=February 12, 2025 |website=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}</ref> 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'''<ref name="UCBerkeley">{{Cite web |title=Drafting {{!}} Revising {{!}} Editing |url=https://writingxhumanities.berkeley.edu/drafting-revising-editing/ |access-date=February 12, 2025 |website=University of California Berkeley}}</ref> 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 [[paragraph]]s, along with deciding on the approach to which the essay is written.<ref name="Clemson" />