In our previous lesson entitled “Lesson 2: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing (Pre-Writing)”, you have learned about the first step in the writing process. Lesson 2 introduced you to the strategies for choosing a topic and gathering information for your composition. We are now in the next step which is the “Writing Proper” where you will learn about the essentials of writing the beginning, the middle, and the ending of your article.

If you haven’t read our previous lesson, please feel free to read it first before going ahead to this lesson. A computer won’t turn if you don’t press the power button so as to this course in which you can’t write without learning how to choose a topic and gather the information for it.  You have to follow a certain process in writing. If you agree with me, then, kindly go to: Lesson 2: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing (Pre-Writing). If you are familiar with the strategies for choosing and gathering information for your article, then, go on and get some ideas from this tutorial.

Getting Started

I know that the hardest part in writing is the part when you start writing. A lot of people can’t start writing because they are afraid to commit mistakes. Relax. Your first draft doesn’t need to be perfect. No man is perfect is what we say. You will have time to revise and edit later. Here are some tips for overcoming first-draft jitters.

1.       Let your pre-writing guide you.

If you have read Lesson 1 of this course, then, you probably have the idea of what I am talking about.

2.       Focus on your ideas and how to organize them.

The idea that I mean here is the main point that you want to convey. Do not think about any other ideas rather than your main point. Focus on that idea and expand it by giving details, examples, explanations and a lot more.

3.       Write rapidly and use your natural writing voice.

Do not think about grammar, spelling, punctuation, or sentence construction yet. Write whatever comes out of your mind. But be sure that you stick to your main point or your main idea.

Writing your first draft

Your first draft doesn’t need to be free from errors, misspellings, punctuation errors, etc. Just relax and let your idea flows out of your system.
                                                                                 
Before you write your first draft, it is important to understand the parts of your first draft and your goals for each part.

Here are the three parts of the first draft.
1.       
           Beginning: Capture your reader’s attention and state your focus.

If you want your reader to keep on reading your article then you have to capture his/her attention. You can do this by starting with a question, a surprising fact, a quotation, or an anecdote.

2.       Middle: Provide your main points and details.

There should be a transition between all the ideas in the article. Within a paragraph, transitions connect supporting ideas. Between paragraphs, transitions connect main ideas.

3.       Ending: Bring the writing to a thoughtful close.

    When you write your ending paragraph, you have to restate your focus, summarize your main   
     points or reasons, and leave the reader with something to think about.

If you are trying to persuade your reader, include a call to action in the end of your article.


If you are ready to start with the lesson, click the URL below:

Lesson 3: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing (Revising)


Or you check out the other parts of the tutorial here:

A Beginner’s Guide toWriting (Introduction)

Lesson 1: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing (Pre-writing)

Lesson 4: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing (Editing)





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“Nobody’s perfect.” therefore, if you find any errors in this tutorial or if you just want to say something, please let us know by leaving us a message in the comments’ box or you can send an email to carloadriancanon@yahoo.com

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