Drafting an essay is a creative process that takes some time.  Even though you start with a thesis and some ideas for units of support, it takes time to develop those ideas with examples and details, and to order the ideas in a way that makes sense, given your main idea.

Think of drafting your essay in terms of growing plants.  You start with the seedling – the thesis or main idea.

The seedling grows and sprouts and you then work with multiple, larger plants.  These are your examples and details and different types of support.  As you develop more support, you start to categorize and organize it.

Finally, after careful work, you have something that’s fully developed and organized.

Here’s a big hint: try not to revise as you draft.

Revising moves you into an analytical mode, whereas drafting is a creative mode.  Revising as you draft is akin to second-guessing your plants (Should I have chosen a different variety of lettuce – should I stop growing these at an early stage and re-plant?  Was it wise to try growing hydroponically – should I move the plants to a field?).  Revising as you draft can become unproductive, because you keep stopping.  Instead, during the drafting phase, let your ideas germinate and grow as much as possible.

View the following video to review drafting processes.