From Outline to First Draft: How to Get Your Ideas on the Page

February 18, 2021

You've written an outline, but now what?


How do you get from your outline to your first draft?


Step 1 - Commit to Completing a Messy First Draft


Completing your messy first draft in one sitting means that you'll have something to revise the next time you work on your assignment. Writing is revision.


Step 2 - Create a Time Constraint


Set a timer for 30-45 minutes. Having a time constraint will force you to forget about grammar, spelling, and finding just the right word. The point of the messy first draft is to get all your ideas on the page in sentence form.


Step 3 - Compose Ugly Content


Go through your outline point by point and create at least one sentence for each point in your outline.


If you have a brain block on a point, skip that point and write a sentence for the next point.


Come back to the points you missed and mash out ugly sentences for each of them.


There will be time for deleting, reorganizing, and correcting grammar, punctuation, and spelling later.


Enjoy the freedom of creation without correction.