Drafting is the process of composing and arranging your ideas in a form that will be legible, clear, fascinating, and complete for your audience. If it’s a slow process, you might need to do more pre-writing. On the other hand, you might just need to think differently about drafting.
When an architect drafts a building, s/he doesn’t start at the roof and draw downward until the building is complete. Perhaps s/he starts with a particular prominent feature, and constructs the drawing around that. Or perhaps s/he draws an elevation and roughs out foundations, before coming back later to fill in the details.
Or when a director films a movie, s/he doesn’t shoot the scenes in order. Perhaps the shoots are arranged by location, or by Brad and Angelina’s availability, or by which parts of the script have been finalized.
Why try to write your paper in a linear way? Write a paragraph that pre-writing has made clear to you. Then write another bit. Then see how they relate. Or don’t. Save time: don’t worry about what comes next. Just write. When you’ve written a lot, arrange it the way it makes most sense, and compose transitions. Flesh out the things that need more explanation. Write your introduction, now that you know what you’re introducing. Write your conclusion, now that your thinking is starting to lead you to conclusions. And if you’re not on a roll, don’t hesitate to go back to pre-writing, just as that architect might at any time go back to sketching. Remain free and happy and energetic as you write.
You’ve finished drafting when you’ve done your best. You’re done when you reread the paper and can’t imagine how to improve it. Then you should hand it in, right?
Well, maybe. Maybe you’re really done. Maybe you need to set the paper aside for a day or a week, and see how you feel about it when you reread it later. But even then, how will you know if your paper actually does what you want it to do? The only way to find out that is to get RESPONSE.