A contract doesn't need legal training to write. It needs the right pieces, in plain language, in the right order. This guide walks through those pieces, then how LoreSign can take you from blank page to signed document drafting help and e-signatures in one place without hiring anyone.
Most of what follows works for any contract, but it's written with one specific job in mind: a freelancer, consultant, or small-business owner writing a contract for a client, vendor, or contractor a services agreement, a statement of work, a simple vendor deal. If you're negotiating a real estate purchase or a settlement agreement, get a lawyer involved from the start; those carry risks a guide like this can't cover.
What Makes a Contract Legally Valid
Before the wording, a legally valid contract needs five things to actually hold up:
An offer : one side proposes specific terms.
Acceptance : the other side agrees to those terms, as written.
Consideration : something of value changes hands on both sides (money for services, for example).
Capacity : everyone signing is legally able to enter a business contract (of age, of sound mind, authorized to sign for their business).
A legal purpose : the contract can't ask anyone to do something illegal.
Miss one of these and a court can treat the whole agreement as unenforceable, no matter how detailed the wording is.
The 6 Things Every Contract Needs
Whatever you're writing, include all six:
Party information : full legal names, business names if applicable, and addresses for everyone signing the contract agreement.
Agreement terms : exactly what's being delivered, by whom, by when, and what it costs.
Payment terms : amount, due dates, and what happens if a payment is late.
Termination clause : how either side can end the agreement early, and what happens if they do.
Dispute resolution : what happens if the two sides disagree (mediation, arbitration, or which state's courts apply).
Signatures and date : every party signs, and the date the contract takes effect is clear.
Leave any of these out and you're left arguing over what you both "meant" instead of what you both signed. How to Write a Contract in 6 Steps
Step 1: Start From a Draft, Not a Blank Page
Don't write from zero. Start from a template that already has the right sections, or write a rough first pass yourself and refine it or, if you'd rather skip the blank page entirely, generate a first draft with a tool like LoreSign's AI drafting and edit it from there. Any of these gets you to the same place: editing and filling in specifics, not staring at a blank document trying to remember what a contract needs.
Step 2: Name the Parties, Precisely
Use full legal names, not nicknames or "the Client." If either side is a business, name the legal entity ("Smith Consulting LLC," not "Smith Consulting"), and note who's signing on that business's behalf.
Step 3: Spell Out the Terms
This is the part that actually gets disputed later, so be specific: What's being delivered, exactly not "marketing services," but the specific deliverables. The timeline start date, deadlines, milestones if there are any.
The price, and exactly when it's due (on signing, on delivery, in installments). What counts as "done." Vague terms here are the single most common reason a contract turns into a disagreement.
Step 4: Add the Protective Clauses
Once the core terms are set, add the clauses that protect both sides if things don't go as planned:
Termination : how either side can exit, and any notice period required.
Confidentiality : if either side is sharing sensitive information.
Indemnification : who's responsible if a third party gets hurt or sues over the work.
Dispute resolution : where and how you'd resolve a disagreement, ideally before it reaches a courtroom.
Step 5: Write It in Plain Language
Skip the legal jargon if you don't fully understand yourself. "Party A agrees to deliver the completed website by March 1st" beats "Party A shall be obligated to furnish the aforementioned deliverable." A contract that's clear is easier to enforce, not just easier to read; courts read ambiguous wording against whoever wrote it.
Step 6: Sign It and Keep a Copy
A contract isn't final until it's signed by everyone involved, and it isn't useful later if nobody can find the contract in writing. Both sides need a copy of the final, signed version of the contract agreement — not the last draft that was emailed back and forth.
How LoreSign Makes This Faster
Steps 1 through 6 above are still the right steps. LoreSign just removes the two slowest parts: staring at a blank page, and chasing signatures afterward.
Step 1 : Go to loresign.com and start with the Free plan, or sign up for Pro if you'll be drafting contracts regularly. Describe the agreement you need, and let LoreSign's AI generate a first draft with the standard sections already in place — parties, terms, termination, dispute resolution.
Step 2 : Edit the draft: fill in your actual terms, adjust the language, add anything specific to your situation. Place the signature fields for yourself and the other party.
**Step 3 **: Send one secure link. Your client or vendor signs it — no account required on their end. Once everyone's signed, LoreSign sends the completed, signed PDF to everyone automatically, along with a certificate of completion.
You can also check status any time sent, viewed, signed instead of following up by email to ask. This matters most for anyone who writes contracts often enough that starting from scratch each time is real, recurring work. Drafting a new services agreement for every new client, from a blank page, adds up fast. Generating a first draft to create a contract and editing it is a different amount of effort entirely.
Common Mistakes When Writing a Contract
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Leaving terms of the contract vague "to keep it simple" is a common mistake. Vague terms don't prevent disputes they cause them. Specific terms are what actually keep things simple later. Skipping the termination clause. Every agreement should say how it ends, even the ones you're sure won't need it.
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Copy-pasting a template without reading it. A free template with a clause that doesn't apply to your situation, left in unedited, can create obligations you didn't mean to agree to. No payment deadline, or a vague one. "Payment due upon completion" invites an argument about when something counts as complete. A specific date doesn't.
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Signing over email with a typed name and nothing else. It can work, but it's the weakest form of proof that someone agreed to the specific terms of the contract. A proper e-signature with an audit trail holds up better if it's ever questioned.
Do You Need a Lawyer?
For a straightforward agreement between two parties a freelance project, a simple vendor deal writing it yourself is legal and common, as long as you cover the six elements above in plain, specific language. Get a lawyer involved when the stakes go up: a long-term contract, a large dollar amount, anything involving equity, intellectual property ownership, or a non-compete, or any agreement where you genuinely don't understand what you'd be agreeing to. A one-time review from a lawyer, even for a contract you wrote yourself, is usually far cheaper than a dispute over a clause that didn't say what you meant it to.
Which Method Should You Actually Use?
| Simple, one-off agreement, you know exactly what it needs to say | Free template, filled in yourself |
|---|---|
| You write contracts often enough that starting from scratch each time is a real time cost | AI-drafted first pass, then edit (LoreSign Pro) |
| A client or vendor also needs to sign it | LoreSign — one link, tracked automatically |
| Large dollar amount, equity, IP, or anything you don't fully understand in the context of a business contract. | A lawyer, before you sign anything |
| You want proof the signature is valid if it's ever questioned | LoreSign — certificate of completion, audit trail, public verification page |
Conclusion
A contract that holds up doesn't need a law degree to write it needs the right sections, specific terms, and plain language. Start from a draft instead of a blank page, cover the six essentials, and get it signed properly. If you write contracts often enough that drafting from scratch is real work, LoreSign's AI drafting gets you a first pass to edit instead of a blank page, and its e-signature flow gets it signed without the back-and-forth. Start free with LoreSign draft, send, and get contracts signed in one place.
