Can you save a post draft?

[Trapped]

Several times I've been working on a reply but I get timed out. The last time I was timed out and the redirect link after logging back in just led me to a blank page and I lost a lengthy reply. Is there a way to save a post draft-in-progress that I am missing? Or should I make it a practice of writing in Word and pasting it over when I'm done?

Also, if I go to reply to something and then reconsider, is there a "discard" or "trash" button I'm missing, or do I just navigate away?

Thanks!