Lesson 4: Writing the First Draft
Estimated Time: 35 minutes
Lesson Objective: At the end of this lesson, you will be able to draft a Cause/Effect essay
Organizing and Drafting
After deciding how to organize your essay, your next step is to write a first draft. Use the following guidelines to draft your essay.
- Provide well-developed explanations. These should clearly show that a causal relationship exists. It helps if you offer a number of reasons and severe types of evidence (examples, statistics, expert opinions, etc.) to demonstrate you’ve correctly perceived the relationship between causes and effects. Try to develop each cause or effect into a detailed paragraph with a clear topic sentence.
- Use strong transitions. Make sure you use a transition each time you move from an explanation of one cause or effect to an explanation of another. When you move from discussing causes to discussing effects, or vice versa, or when you shift to a different pattern of development, use strong transitional sentence to alert your readers to the shift.
- Cause Signal words:
- Coordinators: for
- Subordinators: Because, since, as
- Others: to result from; To be the result of; Due to; Because of; The effect of; The consequence of; As a result of; As a consequence of
- Effect Signal Words:
- Transition words and phrases: as a result; as a consequence; therefore; thus; consequently; hence
- Coordinators: so
- Others: the result in; to casual; to have an effect on; to affect; the cause of; the reason for; thereby
After you have written your first draft, take some time before you reread or revise it. As you review your draft, concentrate on how you organize and present your ideas, not on grammar, punctuation. Read your essay aloud, you can ask a friend, your sister or brother to listen to it. You can even ask them to create an outline to see if all of your work flows successfully and makes sense structurally.
Make a checklist to consider the following points:
Think: ‘Does it express a qualified, a manageable assertion? Can it be proven? Is the purpose of the essay clear?
Remember: Causes are a person or a thing that starts an action, condition or phenomenon.
Think: Does the essay focus clearly on the causes? Does the essay focus clearly on the effect? Does the essay clearly focus on causes and effects?
Think: Is each pairing of a cause and effect explained fully?
Have you either supported or challenged each assumption effectively?
Is each paragraph focused on a separate cause or effect?
Were they both effective?
Checking your Essay's Syntax
Now let’s discuss how to use syntax to enhance your writing. Using syntax well is not just about how you write and punctuate a sentence, it is about how the sentence is put together and constructed. A grammatically correct sentence is great, but it is the well-crafted sentence that makes a massive difference to the reader. There is a distinct difference between writing that is grammatically correct and writing that is interesting to read. Syntax adds meaning and vibrancy to your sentences, where grammar simply ensures that the rules of language are followed within that sentence.
Examine your syntax and consider these writing strategies to strengthen your sentence structure.
- Begin your sentences in a variety of ways: no two sentences start the same word!
- Vary the length of your sentences: not all long, complex or short, choppy sentences.
- Use coordinators and subordinators to make compound sentences.
- Make sure no sentences end in a preposition.
- Avoid starting sentences with a coordinating conjunction.
- Look for and revise wordy sentences. When explaining causal relationships, writers often use complex, compound sentences. These sentences can sometimes become wordy and confusing. For example:
- As you are already well aware, viruses of certain types in a computer file often create errors that you cannot explain in documents and may eventually result in lost data. 🙁
- Certain types of computer virus often create errors that you cannot explain and may eventually result in lost data. 🙂
- Revise to eliminate mixed constructions. A mixed construction happens when a writer connects phrases, clauses, or both that don’t work together in a sentence.
- Samantha, although she was late for work, but was not reprimanded by her boss. 🙁
- Although she was late for work, Samantha was not reprimanded by her boss. 🙂
Review your diction. Diction refers to the writer’s choice of words. Words are the writer’s basic tools: they create the color and texture of your essay; they both reflect and determine the level of formality; they shape the reader’s perceptions. Consider these strategies to strengthen your word choice:
- Eliminate weak verbs and adjectives
- Use consistent tense in your writing; present; past
- Select accurate, specific, strong, powerful words that energize your writing
Following these tips will make writing much easier