Chapter 7 Draft
2. Get a draft down, then write another draft without looking at the original. Include only what you remember or want to remember. Allow the draft to lead you into new areas. Do this again. Then go back to your drafts and select the one you like best, or revise by combining the best elements of each.
9. Start in medias res, which is Latin for "in the middle of things." Don't get hung up on finding a perfect lead, but jump in anywhere. Write a piece of description, a chunk of dialogue, or even the conclusion to your story. Develop an idea for the middle of the piece, or select one image or concept you know you can write about comfortably and start with that.
15. Pretend you're writing in your diary rather than composing a story or assigned essay. Don't try to be deep or complicated. Just get your draft going. Use plenty of time references and words that imply sequence, just as you might in a diary: "That morning . . . " "Later . . . " "After a while . . ." "Then . . ." let these time words propel you forward; you can always remove them later.
22. Take a significant piece of information from the writing you're working on and list all of the ways it can be documented: quotations, statistics, descriptions, anecdotes, and so on. Then develop it, using some or all of these elements.
Murray, Donald. M. Write to Learn. Orlando: Harcourt Brace College, 1998.
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