Draw a large grid on the graph paper using the pencil. You will be using this grid to fill in letters, to keep your crossword draft well organized and to prevent it from becoming a word jumble. Divide the crossword grid into four squares of the same size to help with organization.
Write a word horizontally in the left corner of the grid. It can be as long or as short as you like. Vertically cross that word with another. If you're just beginning, use words or phrases that have plenty of vowels and common constants. Vertically cross the first word with a second, writing in the word directly to the right of the existing verticle word. Next, create a horizontal word that begins with the two letters of the vertical words you've filled in.
Fill in the top left corner of the puzzle by alternating writing vertical and horizontal words. Alternating the word directions you fill in will prevent you from unintentionally creating letter combinations that are difficult to work with. Remember that you may use proper nouns, abbreviations and variant spelling in crossword puzzles. For a 60-word puzze, you will want to include 30 vertical and 30 horizontal words.
Create or several vertical words that are longer than the others, extending down to the center of the puzzle. This will ensure continuity in the puzzle.
Darken the squares around the word ends that will not be incorporated into other portions of the puzzle, once you've finished filling the top left portion of the crossword. Then begin filling the top right corner with words, making sure to create words that extend down towards the center of the puzzle. Remember that crossword puzzles are symmetrical.
Fill in the bottom left and right portions of the puzzle with vertical and horizontal words.
Fill in the center of the puzzle with longer words or phrases to complete the crossword puzzle. The center of the puzzle is the heart of the puzzle and can have themed clues, if you wish.
Darken all boxes that do not have any letters in them.
Number the vertical and horizontal words with a fine-tipped black pen. Vertical words will be numbered beginning with 1 in the top left corner. The numbers grow as you move to the right. Number only the top level of the grid, then number the horizontal words on the second level of the grid, continuing from the number on the top right corner of the crossword. Continue to number the horizontal words until a vertical word appears on the same level of the puzzle. Continue this patter of word numbering until you have numbered all words in the puzzle.
Write a heading entitled Across. Beneath this section, write all of the numbers allocated to horizontal words. Do the same for the vertical words, beneath a heading entitled Down.
Write clues for each of the words you filled into the crossword. If you are using an abbreviation, proper noun or variant spelling, you must hint at this in the clue. To hint at a pun, end the clue with a question mark.
Create a final draft of the crossword by transcribing the puzzle and the clues onto a clean sheet of paper. Use a fine tipped pen so that the people solving your crossword can erase any mistakes.