You should spend about 15% of your total writing time prewriting. When you are prewriting, grammar and correctness of expression are unimportant. The key is to get as many ideas, plans, and topics as you can own on paper. Prewriting involves

• deciding on the topic
• collecting your thoughts
• getting ideas down on paper
• brainstorming
• planning
• thinking
• free writing (writing whatever comes to mind)
• gathering information

You should devote about 15% of your writing time to organization. When you are organizing, grammar and correctness of expression are unimportant. The key is to select and place the ideas you generated in prewriting into an order that will ultimately serve your essay. Organization involves

• accepting and rejecting
• deciding on a thesis
• placing ideas in a logical order

You should devote about 10% of your writing time to writing the first draft. When you are writing the first, or rough draft, grammar and correctness of expression are unimportant. The key is to transform your already organized notes into a prose format, adding any needed statements or ideas that come to you while you write. The first draft involves

• turning ideas into sentences
• turning structured notes into prose paragraphs
• adding any overlooked ideas or statements

You should devote about 25% of your writing time to writing the second draft. When you are writing the second draft, you should begin to fix the grammatical and stylistic errors contained in the first draft. They key is to polish the rough draft into a solid, logical piece of prose. The second draft involves

• checking the logic of the argument
• checking the organizational plan of the paper
• formatting the paper
• reading for clarity and coherence
• fixing grammatical problems
• adding appropriate transition

You should spend about 30% of your writing time working on the third, or final, draft. Grammar and correctness of the expression are essential at this stage. The key is to identify and fix any errors in the paper – you want the paper to be as near perfect as possible when you finish the third draft. The third draft involves

• reading for unity and focus
• checking for logic
• checking for relevant details
• checking punctuation
• checking grammar
• checking spelling
• checking capitalization
• checking word usage
• presenting your paper to an experienced reader and asking him or or her to check all of the above

You should spend about 2% of your time proofreading. The key is to read your final draft thoroughly, preparing it for presentation and finding any typographical errors. Proofreading involves

• checking format
• identifying any residual errors

These stages, especially the early ones, can be mixed and matched to a small extent. However, the time estimates hold true no matter how you juggle the stages. As you move through this text. you will find examples and methods that will enhance your understanding of the way these stages work and will help you learn to complete each of the stages effectively.