1.3. Draft, then rewrite


By this stage, you should have sorted all your material into sections, and assembled all the quoted material and information. Now is the time to write your first draft. Many people misunderstand the purpose of a first draft; it is not the complete story as it will finally appear, but an outline, which will allow you to see how the story looks and identify any further work you need to do. At this stage, you do not need to worry about elegant introductions, neat conclusions or polished language. Here, you are writing, not editing. All you are doing is putting your material together on the page.