As you begin to move beyond your initial outline and summary, your next step will be drafting. Drafting is a very important step in the writing process, but by no means should it be considered the final stage. In it you should focus on putting as much on paper as you can including your Purpose Statement (though it may eventually change), your supporting evidence, and analysis of the evidence. It is less important to worry about having all the correct words and punctuation as it is to work hard to express as much as you can about the topic. When you have completed the Rough Draft, you should be 90% done with the Final Project.
If it helps, think back to when you drafted your purpose statement in your outline. How has your work up to this point worked toward solving the issue you have identified? What have you unearthed as you have dug into your topic? Addressing similar questions to those from the earlier assignment in your introduction may help you find direction in your draft:
- What is the problem?
- When does the problem occur?
- Who and/or what does it affect?
- What are the potential solutions for the problem?
- How can you present the solution(s) in a fair way to your audience, respecting their perspective(s)?
Your rough draft will consist of the bulk of your proposal’s content, and should include your proposal broken into four sections:
- Purpose: Indicate the purpose statement and scope of your problem – tell us what you will be solving and why you believe it is an important issue.
- Problem: Share what the actual problem is and any history that you have regarding it or additional problems that will branch from this initial problem.
- Solution: Provide what your solution(s) to the problems are, and outline the steps that you think are needed to get to the solution.
- Conclusion: Wrap it all up and provide a conclusion to the reader. Be sure to engage your reader by applying effective organization, appropriate tone, and clear usage.
Also, provide a reference page with a minimum of four references properly formatted in APA style. At least two of your references should be scholarly sources. At this stage, the draft should be between 3-to-5 pages plus the reference page.
