3PineRidgeWay•MillValley,California94941•Tel:(415)383-5203•Fax:(415)383-3038kretchmer@sfedit.net•www.sfedit.netTwelveStepstoDevelopinganEffectiveFirstDraftofyourManuscriptSanFranciscoEditwww.sfedit.netYoushouldnowhavedetailednotesyoucanusetowriteyourdraftpaper.Ifyoudon’thaveonealready,itmayhelptoprepareanoutlineforeachsectionwhichincludesanumberofmajorheadings,sub-headingsandparagraphscoveringdifferentpoints.IfyouneedhelpinpreparinganoutlineseeourarticleEightStepstoDevelopinganEffectiveManuscriptOutlineatwww.sfedit.net/newsletters.htm.Atthispointyouwillneedtoconvertyournotesandoutlineintonarrativeform.SomepeoplerecommendthatyoubeginwiththeIntroductionandcontinueinorderthrougheachsectionofthepapertohelpensureflow.Otherssuggestthatyoubeginwiththeeasiestsections,whichareusuallytheMethodsandResults,followedbytheDiscussion,Conclusion,Introduction,ReferencesandTitle,leavingtheAbstractuntiltheend.Themainthingistobeginwritingandbeginfillinguptheblankscreenorpieceofpaper.1.Consolidatealltheinformation.Ensureyouhaveeverythingyouneedtowriteefficiently,i.e.,alldata,references,draftsoftablesandfigures,etc.2.Targetajournal.Determinethejournaltowhichyouplantosubmityourmanuscriptandwriteyourmanuscriptaccordingtothefocusofthetargetedjournal.Thefocusmaybeclearlystatedwithinthejournalormaybedeterminedbyexaminingseveralrecentissuesofthetargetedjournal.3.Startwriting.Whenwritingthefirstdraft,thegoalistoputsomethingdownonpaper,soitdoesnotmatterifsentencesareincompleteandthegrammarincorrect,providedthatthemainpointsandideashavebeencaptured.Writewhenyourenergyishigh,notwhenyouaretired.Trytofindatimeandplacewhereyoucanthinkandwritewithoutdistractions.4.Writequickly.Don'tworryaboutwords,spellingorpunctuationatallatthisstage,justideas.Keepgoing.Leavegapsifnecessary.Trytowritequickly,tokeeptheflowgoing.Useabbreviationsandleavespaceforwordsthatdonotcometomindimmediately.5.Writeinyourownvoice.Expressingyourselfinyourownwaywillhelpyoutosaywhatyoumeanmoreprecisely.Itwillbeeasierforyourread...