You may want to identify your purpose and audience on an index card that you clip to your paper (or keep next to your computer).

Write knowing that the revision and editing processes lie ahead, so leave plenty of time for those stages.

How can you best express your ideas, so they are meaningful and memorable and your communication is effective? Are you writing for experts, for a general audience, for other college students, or for people who know very little about your topic? Keep asking yourself what your readers, with their background and experience, need to know to understand your ideas.

Your purpose will guide your mind as you compose your sentences.

Some writers find it useful to keep the purpose and audience at the top of every page, highlighted in some way, as a reminder of the targets of each point.

If your audience dwells on logic, for example, points that use reason, facts, documented information, and the like, will provide the persuasion to which those readers best respond. If your purpose is to persuade, for example, you will present your facts and details in the most logical and convincing way you can for the particular audience you have in mind. Of all of these considerations, keeping your purpose and your audience at the front of your mind is key to writing success.These aspects of writing are just as important when you are writing a single paragraph for your essay as when you are considering the direction of the entire essay. Keep your audience and purpose in mind as you write.Holding yourself to your own goals will create successful writing assignments. If you told yourself that you need more facts, then commit to finding them. If you decide to take ten-minute breaks, try to stick to that goal. Try setting an alarm to limit your break, and when the time is up, return to your desk to write. You may forget key points or lose momentum. If you spend too much time away from your essay, you may have trouble starting again. Still, if you are antsy or cannot concentrate, take a break to let your mind rest, but do not let breaks extend too long.

This tip might be most useful if you are writing a multipage report or essay. Take short breaks to refresh your mind.Writers should always meet their deadlines. On the other hand, try not to procrastinate. As long as you complete the assignment on time, you may choose how many paragraphs you complete in one sitting. Write one supporting point at a time and then stop.As a guideline, try to write paragraphs longer than one sentence but shorter than the length of an entire double-spaced page. Long paragraphs may be wordy and may lose your reader’s interest. Readers may also think the writing is abrupt. You can start with the third point in your outline if ideas come easily to mind, or you can start with the first or second point Although paragraphs may vary in length, keep in mind that short paragraphs may contain insufficient support. Consider beginning with the body paragraphs and drafting the introduction and conclusion later. The purpose of a first draft is to get ideas down on paper that can then be revised. Begin writing with the part you know the most about.

For instance, the following approaches, done alone or in combination with others, may improve your writing and help you move forward in the writing process: Make the Writing Process Work for You! What makes the writing process beneficial to writers is that it encourages alternatives to standard practices and motivates you to develop your best ideas.

Rough draft paper examples