Brainstorming is the first step to drafting a paper. Most people do it without realizing it; every time you're thinking about the topic, you're doing brainstorming. There are two tricks to brainstorming: The writer needs to keep a piece of paper and a pen or pencil handy and make notes as ideas, questions and even single words find their way to consciousness. The second trick, recommended by Purdue University's online writing lab, is to censor nothing. It's easy to toss an idea that doesn't work later, but in the prewriting stage, an idea that seems to be out of left field can lead to a fresh approach to the topic.
Outlines are the traditional rough-drafting tool. They work well for many people; however, some people write the paper and then do a formal outline just to please the teacher. Often, a less formal, even messy, outline works better as a prewriting strategy. The idea is to produce a list of subtopics and key points, not to focus on the outline's formalities.
Some writers do well with freewriting. With this strategy, the writer notes the topic at the top of the page and starts writing everything that occurs to him about the topic without concern for organization, grammar and spelling. If the writer needs to pause for reflection or to look something up, that's OK. If the writer needs to spend a few minutes writing on an unrelated topic to set aside a gripe or fear that's OK, too. As long as the assigned topic is noted at the top of the page, a writer will usually turn to it. After freewriting, the writer may make an ordered list or outline.
Some topics, such as history, literature and narratives, lend themselves to looking at the five W's: who, what, where, when and why. The writer needs only to make a list of the five questions and write out short answers. This usually produces a good deal of worthwhile material to develop.
Elementary and high school teachers like to use graphic diagrams to help students begin the writing process. Cluster webs, Venn diagrams, trees, and E-charts are all examples of graphic diagrams. These help the writer to quickly note key points and organize them visually. As the student's thinking matures, the diagrams should reflect a greater complexity. For example, a fifth grader might write the main topic in a circle in the middle of a piece of paper, then write three subtopics in three more circles that are all connected to the main topic. A high school student's bubble cluster might connect two or thee key points to each subtopic.