Dr. Karen Palmer
Now that you’ve completed your outline, the next step is to write your draft. Your goal is to write a draft of your paper arguing that your non-profit organization meets the particular need in the community better than any other organization. You want to show your readers that the organization not only is effective, but that it is worthy of their support. That includes, of course, showing readers ways that they can get involved. Make sure you follow the outline you created in the last assignment to keep your argument organized and focused.
Include quotes from your sources to support your ideas. Remember, each source included on your Works Cited page MUST be cited at least one time in the body of the paper. A good rule of thumb is to include a quote in each paragraph. Quotes should make up no more than 20% of the content of your paper, though, so it’s a good idea to write out your argument with your own ideas first. This can help to ensure that you use your sources properly–to support your own ideas, rather than to make your argument for you. That way, the bulk of your argument is your own.
TIP
This is where many students get stuck. If you haven’t followed the writing process (completed research, then created an outline), you may find that you are having trouble finding quotes that you can use to support your argument. If this is you, STOP and go back through the process. It may seem counterintuitive, but going back and working through the process will actually save you time!
Here’s a sample draft focused on a community garden created with Dr. Palmer’s students in class:
Sample Draft
Attribution:
Content created by Dr. Karen Palmer. Licensed CC BY NC.
