At the beginning of the semester, I dreaded drafting. I would rather have participated in a butter-eating contest than write a first draft. With the help of Mrs. Rimer, I learned different techniques for drafting, which I was able to successfully apply to my essays. The techniques and advice I found most useful this semester are listed below: 

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• Start with a blank sheet of paper, and just write. Spend ten to fifteen minutes on different ideas, and write non-stop about each one. This helps you figure out which topic to choose based on how much you feel you can write about it. It also gives you a starting point for your first draft. 
• Start early, and revisit your draft. You're less likely to stay in writer's block when you come back fresh the next day.
• When you're writing a rhetorical analysis, spend time writing down questions you think your audience will have about your topic and what you have written. Write as many questions as you can within ten to fifteen minutes. This helps you to keep your audience in mind, and helps you write your paper such that your audience isn't left with looming questions. 
• Have multiple people in your audience read your draft. Ask them how effective your paper was, and how you could improve. When you're writing a paper, you know what you mean. Other people might not infer what you mean from what is said. A fresh perspective can also help identify weak points such as disconnectedness in a paper.
• Never start the day before a paper is due. Start early, and revise as many times as you can before the deadline. This helps your paper to be well-rounded. The more thought you put into something, the more you'll get out of it.