brainstorming (topics thesis essay content etc.)

Brainstorming

What this handout is about.

This handout discusses techniques that will help you start writing a paper and continue writing through the challenges of the revising process. Brainstorming can help you choose a topic, develop an approach to a topic, or deepen your understanding of the topic’s potential.

Introduction

If you consciously take advantage of your natural thinking processes by gathering your brain’s energies into a “storm,” you can transform these energies into written words or diagrams that will lead to lively, vibrant writing. Below you will find a brief discussion of what brainstorming is, why you might brainstorm, and suggestions for how you might brainstorm.

Whether you are starting with too much information or not enough, brainstorming can help you to put a new writing task in motion or revive a project that hasn’t reached completion. Let’s take a look at each case:

When you’ve got nothing: You might need a storm to approach when you feel “blank” about the topic, devoid of inspiration, full of anxiety about the topic, or just too tired to craft an orderly outline. In this case, brainstorming stirs up the dust, whips some air into our stilled pools of thought, and gets the breeze of inspiration moving again.

When you’ve got too much: There are times when you have too much chaos in your brain and need to bring in some conscious order. In this case, brainstorming forces the mental chaos and random thoughts to rain out onto the page, giving you some concrete words or schemas that you can then arrange according to their logical relations.

Brainstorming techniques

What follows are great ideas on how to brainstorm—ideas from professional writers, novice writers, people who would rather avoid writing, and people who spend a lot of time brainstorming about…well, how to brainstorm.

Try out several of these options and challenge yourself to vary the techniques you rely on; some techniques might suit a particular writer, academic discipline, or assignment better than others. If the technique you try first doesn’t seem to help you, move right along and try some others.

Freewriting

When you freewrite, you let your thoughts flow as they will, putting pen to paper and writing down whatever comes into your mind. You don’t judge the quality of what you write and you don’t worry about style or any surface-level issues, like spelling, grammar, or punctuation. If you can’t think of what to say, you write that down—really. The advantage of this technique is that you free up your internal critic and allow yourself to write things you might not write if you were being too self-conscious.

When you freewrite you can set a time limit (“I’ll write for 15 minutes!”) and even use a kitchen timer or alarm clock or you can set a space limit (“I’ll write until I fill four full notebook pages, no matter what tries to interrupt me!”) and just write until you reach that goal. You might do this on the computer or on paper, and you can even try it with your eyes shut or the monitor off, which encourages speed and freedom of thought.

The crucial point is that you keep on writing even if you believe you are saying nothing. Word must follow word, no matter the relevance. Your freewriting might even look like this:

“This paper is supposed to be on the politics of tobacco production but even though I went to all the lectures and read the book I can’t think of what to say and I’ve felt this way for four minutes now and I have 11 minutes left and I wonder if I’ll keep thinking nothing during every minute but I’m not sure if it matters that I am babbling and I don’t know what else to say about this topic and it is rainy today and I never noticed the number of cracks in that wall before and those cracks remind me of the walls in my grandfather’s study and he smoked and he farmed and I wonder why he didn’t farm tobacco…”

When you’re done with your set number of minutes or have reached your page goal, read back over the text. Yes, there will be a lot of filler and unusable thoughts but there also will be little gems, discoveries, and insights. When you find these gems, highlight them or cut and paste them into your draft or onto an “ideas” sheet so you can use them in your paper. Even if you don’t find any diamonds in there, you will have either quieted some of the noisy chaos or greased the writing gears so that you can now face the assigned paper topic.

Break down the topic into levels

Once you have a course assignment in front of you, you might brainstorm:

• the general topic, like “The relationship between tropical fruits and colonial powers”
• a specific subtopic or required question, like “How did the availability of multiple tropical fruits influence competition amongst colonial powers trading from the larger Caribbean islands during the 19th century?”
• a single term or phrase that you sense you’re overusing in the paper. For example: If you see that you’ve written “increased the competition” about a dozen times in your “tropical fruits” paper, you could brainstorm variations on the phrase itself or on each of the main terms: “increased” and “competition.”

Listing/bulleting

In this technique you jot down lists of words or phrases under a particular topic. You can base your list on:

• the general topic
• one or more words from your particular thesis claim
• a word or idea that is the complete opposite of your original word or idea.

For example, if your general assignment is to write about the changes in inventions over time, and your specific thesis claims that “the 20th century presented a large number of inventions to advance US society by improving upon the status of 19th-century society,” you could brainstorm two different lists to ensure you are covering the topic thoroughly and that your thesis will be easy to prove.

The first list might be based on your thesis; you would jot down as many 20th-century inventions as you could, as long as you know of their positive effects on society. The second list might be based on the opposite claim, and you would instead jot down inventions that you associate with a decline in that society’s quality. You could do the same two lists for 19th-century inventions and then compare the evidence from all four lists.

Using multiple lists will help you to gather more perspective on the topic and ensure that, sure enough, your thesis is solid as a rock, or, …uh oh, your thesis is full of holes and you’d better alter your claim to one you can prove.

3 perspectives

Looking at something from different perspectives helps you see it more completely—or at least in a completely different way, sort of like laying on the floor makes your desk look very different to you. To use this strategy, answer the questions for each of the three perspectives, then look for interesting relationships or mismatches you can explore:

• Describe it: Describe your subject in detail. What is your topic? What are its components? What are its interesting and distinguishing features? What are its puzzles? Distinguish your subject from those that are similar to it. How is your subject unlike others?
• Trace it: What is the history of your subject? How has it changed over time? Why? What are the significant events that have influenced your subject?
• Map it: What is your subject related to? What is it influenced by? How? What does it influence? How? Who has a stake in your topic? Why? What fields do you draw on for the study of your subject? Why? How has your subject been approached by others? How is their work related to yours?

Cubing enables you to consider your topic from six different directions; just as a cube is six-sided, your cubing brainstorming will result in six “sides” or approaches to the topic. Take a sheet of paper, consider your topic, and respond to these six commands:

• Describe it.
• Compare it.
• Associate it.
• Analyze it.
• Argue for and against it.

Look over what you’ve written. Do any of the responses suggest anything new about your topic? What interactions do you notice among the “sides”? That is, do you see patterns repeating, or a theme emerging that you could use to approach the topic or draft a thesis? Does one side seem particularly fruitful in getting your brain moving? Could that one side help you draft your thesis statement? Use this technique in a way that serves your topic. It should, at least, give you a broader awareness of the topic’s complexities, if not a sharper focus on what you will do with it.

In this technique, complete the following sentence:

____________________ is/was/are/were like _____________________.

In the first blank put one of the terms or concepts your paper centers on. Then try to brainstorm as many answers as possible for the second blank, writing them down as you come up with them.

After you have produced a list of options, look over your ideas. What kinds of ideas come forward? What patterns or associations do you find?

Clustering/mapping/webbing:

The general idea:

This technique has three (or more) different names, according to how you describe the activity itself or what the end product looks like. In short, you will write a lot of different terms and phrases onto a sheet of paper in a random fashion and later go back to link the words together into a sort of “map” or “web” that forms groups from the separate parts. Allow yourself to start with chaos. After the chaos subsides, you will be able to create some order out of it.

To really let yourself go in this brainstorming technique, use a large piece of paper or tape two pieces together. You could also use a blackboard if you are working with a group of people. This big vertical space allows all members room to “storm” at the same time, but you might have to copy down the results onto paper later. If you don’t have big paper at the moment, don’t worry. You can do this on an 8 ½ by 11 as well. Watch our short videos on webbing , drawing relationships , and color coding for demonstrations.

How to do it:

• Take your sheet(s) of paper and write your main topic in the center, using a word or two or three.
• Moving out from the center and filling in the open space any way you are driven to fill it, start to write down, fast, as many related concepts or terms as you can associate with the central topic. Jot them quickly, move into another space, jot some more down, move to another blank, and just keep moving around and jotting. If you run out of similar concepts, jot down opposites, jot down things that are only slightly related, or jot down your grandpa’s name, but try to keep moving and associating. Don’t worry about the (lack of) sense of what you write, for you can chose to keep or toss out these ideas when the activity is over.
• Once the storm has subsided and you are faced with a hail of terms and phrases, you can start to cluster. Circle terms that seem related and then draw a line connecting the circles. Find some more and circle them and draw more lines to connect them with what you think is closely related. When you run out of terms that associate, start with another term. Look for concepts and terms that might relate to that term. Circle them and then link them with a connecting line. Continue this process until you have found all the associated terms. Some of the terms might end up uncircled, but these “loners” can also be useful to you. (Note: You can use different colored pens/pencils/chalk for this part, if you like. If that’s not possible, try to vary the kind of line you use to encircle the topics; use a wavy line, a straight line, a dashed line, a dotted line, a zigzaggy line, etc. in order to see what goes with what.)
• There! When you stand back and survey your work, you should see a set of clusters, or a big web, or a sort of map: hence the names for this activity. At this point you can start to form conclusions about how to approach your topic. There are about as many possible results to this activity as there are stars in the night sky, so what you do from here will depend on your particular results. Let’s take an example or two in order to illustrate how you might form some logical relationships between the clusters and loners you’ve decided to keep. At the end of the day, what you do with the particular “map” or “cluster set” or “web” that you produce depends on what you need. What does this map or web tell you to do? Explore an option or two and get your draft going!

Relationship between the parts

In this technique, begin by writing the following pairs of terms on opposite margins of one sheet of paper:

Looking over these four groups of pairs, start to fill in your ideas below each heading. Keep going down through as many levels as you can. Now, look at the various parts that comprise the parts of your whole concept. What sorts of conclusions can you draw according to the patterns, or lack of patterns, that you see? For a related strategy, watch our short video on drawing relationships .

Journalistic questions

In this technique you would use the “big six” questions that journalists rely on to thoroughly research a story. The six are: Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How?. Write each question word on a sheet of paper, leaving space between them. Then, write out some sentences or phrases in answer, as they fit your particular topic. You might also record yourself or use speech-to-text if you’d rather talk out your ideas.

Now look over your batch of responses. Do you see that you have more to say about one or two of the questions? Or, are your answers for each question pretty well balanced in depth and content? Was there one question that you had absolutely no answer for? How might this awareness help you to decide how to frame your thesis claim or to organize your paper? Or, how might it reveal what you must work on further, doing library research or interviews or further note-taking?

For example, if your answers reveal that you know a lot more about “where” and “why” something happened than you know about “what” and “when,” how could you use this lack of balance to direct your research or to shape your paper? How might you organize your paper so that it emphasizes the known versus the unknown aspects of evidence in the field of study? What else might you do with your results?

Thinking outside the box

Even when you are writing within a particular academic discipline, you can take advantage of your semesters of experience in other courses from other departments. Let’s say you are writing a paper for an English course. You could ask yourself, “Hmmm, if I were writing about this very same topic in a biology course or using this term in a history course, how might I see or understand it differently? Are there varying definitions for this concept within, say, philosophy or physics, that might encourage me to think about this term from a new, richer point of view?”

For example, when discussing “culture” in your English, communications, or cultural studies course, you could incorporate the definition of “culture” that is frequently used in the biological sciences. Remember those little Petri dishes from your lab experiments in high school? Those dishes are used to “culture” substances for bacterial growth and analysis, right? How might it help you write your paper if you thought of “culture” as a medium upon which certain things will grow, will develop in new ways or will even flourish beyond expectations, but upon which the growth of other things might be retarded, significantly altered, or stopped altogether?

Using charts or shapes

If you are more visually inclined, you might create charts, graphs, or tables in lieu of word lists or phrases as you try to shape or explore an idea. You could use the same phrases or words that are central to your topic and try different ways to arrange them spatially, say in a graph, on a grid, or in a table or chart. You might even try the trusty old flow chart. The important thing here is to get out of the realm of words alone and see how different spatial representations might help you see the relationships among your ideas. If you can’t imagine the shape of a chart at first, just put down the words on the page and then draw lines between or around them. Or think of a shape. Do your ideas most easily form a triangle? square? umbrella? Can you put some ideas in parallel formation? In a line?

Consider purpose and audience

Think about the parts of communication involved in any writing or speaking act: purpose and audience.

What is your purpose?

What are you trying to do? What verb captures your intent? Are you trying to inform? Convince? Describe? Each purpose will lead you to a different set of information and help you shape material to include and exclude in a draft. Write about why you are writing this draft in this form. For more tips on figuring out the purpose of your assignment, see our handout on understanding assignments .

Who is your audience?

Who are you communicating with beyond the grader? What does that audience need to know? What do they already know? What information does that audience need first, second, third? Write about who you are writing to and what they need. For more on audience, see our  handout on audience .

Dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias

When all else fails…this is a tried and true method, loved for centuries by writers of all stripe. Visit the library reference areas or stop by the Writing Center to browse various dictionaries, thesauruses (or other guide books and reference texts), encyclopedias or surf their online counterparts. Sometimes these basic steps are the best ones. It is almost guaranteed that you’ll learn several things you did not know.

If you’re looking at a hard copy reference, turn to your most important terms and see what sort of variety you find in the definitions. The obscure or archaic definition might help you to appreciate the term’s breadth or realize how much its meaning has changed as the language changed. Could that realization be built into your paper somehow?

If you go to online sources, use their own search functions to find your key terms and see what suggestions they offer. For example, if you plug “good” into a thesaurus search, you will be given 14 different entries. Whew! If you were analyzing the film Good Will Hunting, imagine how you could enrich your paper by addressed the six or seven ways that “good” could be interpreted according to how the scenes, lighting, editing, music, etc., emphasized various aspects of “good.”

An encyclopedia is sometimes a valuable resource if you need to clarify facts, get quick background, or get a broader context for an event or item. If you are stuck because you have a vague sense of a seemingly important issue, do a quick check with this reference and you may be able to move forward with your ideas.

Armed with a full quiver of brainstorming techniques and facing sheets of jotted ideas, bulleted subtopics, or spidery webs relating to your paper, what do you do now?

Take the next step and start to write your first draft, or fill in those gaps you’ve been brainstorming about to complete your “almost ready” paper. If you’re a fan of outlining, prepare one that incorporates as much of your brainstorming data as seems logical to you. If you’re not a fan, don’t make one. Instead, start to write out some larger chunks (large groups of sentences or full paragraphs) to expand upon your smaller clusters and phrases. Keep building from there into larger sections of your paper. You don’t have to start at the beginning of the draft. Start writing the section that comes together most easily. You can always go back to write the introduction later.

We also have helpful handouts on some of the next steps in your writing process, such as reorganizing drafts and argument .

Remember, once you’ve begun the paper, you can stop and try another brainstorming technique whenever you feel stuck. Keep the energy moving and try several techniques to find what suits you or the particular project you are working on.

How can technology help?

Need some help brainstorming? Different digital tools can help with a variety of brainstorming strategies:

Look for a text editor that has a focus mode or that is designed to promote free writing (for examples, check out FocusWriter, OmmWriter, WriteRoom, Writer the Internet Typewriter, or Cold Turkey). Eliminating visual distractions on your screen can help you free write for designated periods of time. By eliminating visual distractions on your screen, these tools help you focus on free writing for designated periods of time. If you use Microsoft Word, you might even try “Focus Mode” under the “View” tab.

Clustering/mapping. Websites and applications like Mindomo , TheBrain , and Miro allow you to create concept maps and graphic organizers. These applications often include the following features:

• Connect links, embed documents and media, and integrate notes in your concept maps
• Access your maps across devices
• Search across maps for keywords
• Convert maps into checklists and outlines
• Export maps to other file formats

Testimonials

Check out what other students and writers have tried!

Papers as Puzzles : A UNC student demonstrates a brainstorming strategy for getting started on a paper.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Allen, Roberta, and Marcia Mascolini. 1997. The Process of Writing: Composing Through Critical Thinking . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Cameron, Julia. 2002. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity . New York: Putnam.

Goldberg, Natalie. 2005. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within , rev. ed. Boston: Shambhala.

Rosen, Leonard J. and Laurence Behrens. 2003. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook , 5th ed. New York: Longman.

University of Richmond. n.d. “Main Page.” Writer’s Web. Accessed June 14, 2019. http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Home / News / Academic Writing Tip: 8 Brainstorming Techniques

Academic Writing Tip: 8 Brainstorming Techniques

So, you’ve read and re-read the academic writing assignment that you received from your professor, and now you’re staring at a blank page.

Does your mind feel as blank as the page? Are you Frozen by fear? Rubbing your eyes with exhaustion?

Whether you’re writing an essay for a community college in Boston, Massachusetts or a university in New England, USA, you need to start somewhere. Brainstorming means you use your imagination and prior knowledge to collect thoughts. After gathering a great quantity of ideas, you select the highest quality ideas.

Filling that empty white document can feel like leaping into unknown icy water. Brainstorming is the way to warm up for a deep dive into the EAP topic.

Brainstorming begins with simple questions. What do you know about the topic? What do you want to learn about the topic?

As you brainstorm, you journey farther down the academic writing quest. How do you narrow down a topic into a thesis? How do you gather the examples and evidence necessary for an academic essay?

Here are EAP brainstorming strategies to jumpstart the engine of your creativity.

Brainstorming tip #1: Freewriting

Do you have no ideas? Or the opposite problem—too many ideas?

Freewriting means what it sounds like—you’re free to write whatever comes to mind. The point is not to make it perfect—not even necessarily to make it good—but just to put thoughts on paper—no rules, no revising. You can even write about how you don’t know what to write about.

The only limit you should set for yourself is that you write for a specific period of time—let’s say 30 minutes—or for a specific number of pages—let’s say 2 pages. Non-stop activity gets the juices flowing, and a concrete goal gives you satisfaction. Here’s an example of freewriting:

This essay is supposed to be about the Boston Tea Party but I don’t know anything about US history except that the American Revolution happened a long time ago (when???) somewhere in Massachusetts or maybe I’m wrong. I can’t think of anything else to say and now the clock says two minutes, I’ll keep babbling anyway. Boston, MA, politics, tea. My grandmother used to make tea when I stopped by after my English courses. But that’s not useful for this essay. Or maybe there’s a connection. Hmmm… I remember the professor talked about the taxes in the New English states (colonies?) and my grandmother used to complain about paying high taxes at the market and…

Freewriting stimulates your brain the same way physical exercise wakes up your mind.

Brainstorming tip #2: Making a Cube

Draw a cube in your notebook. Each of the six sides has a task:

Side 1: Describe the topic.

Side 2: Compare the topic.

Side 3: Connect the topic.

Side 4: Classify the topic.

Side 5: Argue for or against the topic.

Side 6: Personalize the topic.

Instead of those 6 tasks, you could replace those verbs with other academic tasks: apply, analyze, question, connect, define, classify, associate, or explain cause and effect—whichever inspire ideas.

Imagine your topic is attending university in the U.S. Next to each point on the cube, you would write words and phrases inspired by the verb at hand:

Side 1: Describe: Exciting, difficult, expensive, growing opportunities, expensive, valuable.

Side 2: Compare: Different from my country. USA = more essay writing, dorms with roommates, critical thinking, fewer standardized exams and lectures, smaller classes.

Side 3: Connect: student visa policies, US immigration law, IELTS, TOEFL iBT, travel restrictions from covid-19, globalization means more English at work.

Side 4: Classify: community colleges (Holyoke, Greenfield), state universities (UMASS Boston), private ivy league (Harvard) graduate schools, MBA, BA, MFA programs.  

Side 5: Argue for : opens doors, better jobs, international workplace, investment in future, social networking, broadens horizons.

Side 6: Personalize: my cousin > engineering degree, MIT internship, campus resources help with culture shock (which worries me.) IELTS stresses me out!!!!  Way to avoid?

This brainy approach works if you like approaching topics from different angles.

Brainstorming tip #3: Clustering

When you cluster, you draw bubbles and connect words and concepts associated with the topic—anything that comes to mind.

This visual method works when you have a lot of random thoughts and you are trying to “see” connections.

Brainstorming tip #4: Bulleting

With this technique, you make bulleted lists with concepts, terms, and ideas. This can help you narrow down from the first list to a second list. The list on the left contains general bullet points, while the list on the right expands on a single bullet to delve deeper.

This method works great if you’re an orderly person who likes making lists.

Brainstorming tip #5: Venn Diagram

  The famous Venn diagram technique works well for brainstorming differences and similarities between two topics. You draw two intersecting circles and write the qualities they share in the middle where the circles intersect and the qualities that are unique in the left and right spaces. For example, let’s say you’re brainstorming differences and similarities between two cities in Massachusetts, Boston and Northampton.

This famous brainstorming method is used in the academic and business worlds because it so clearly shows differences and similarities.

To analyze relationships among three topics, you can make a Venn diagram with three circles. The 3-circle helps visualize and understand complex connections. You brainstorm three basic questions. Which qualities are unique to each? Which traits do any two topics have in common? Which similarities are shared by all three topics?

Brainstorming tip #6: Tree diagram

The tree diagram begins with a central idea that branches off into categories or supporting ideas.

Imagine you’re brainstorming different types of schools in US higher education.

Tree diagrams are perfect for brainstorming classification essays. You could also draw tree diagrams to brainstorm effects, starting with a cause at the top and branching off into increasingly specific downstream effects. Pretty cool, huh?

Brainstorming tip #7: Journalist Dice

Dice aren’t just toys for games and gambling–they can be a tool for writing. Rolling journalist dice is a stimulating way to flesh out narrative essays. Each side of the die corresponds to one of the 6 question words. To make the game fun, roll a die, and write down one answer the question every time you roll. Roll at least a dozen times to write down a variety of details and ideas.

In addition to building a narrative essay, this brainstorming technique can help you develop a compelling story for your college application essay. For the tired and uninspired writer, the game element of rolling dice makes the writing process more engaging and enjoyable. 

Brainstorming tip #8: T diagram

This method works well if you like thinking in terms of opposites.  Can you say “On the one hand” and “On the other hand”? 

What’s next in the writing process?

After your fast and furious brainstorm, the next step is to create an outline. When you outline, you pick your best and brightest ideas. Then you begin organizing them into a coherent, linear argument. You select and sort supporting points, evidence, examples, and elaboration. To learn more about outlining, click here for the next article in our academic writing series. 

The best way to improve your writing is to join an academic or business English course . With guidance from an expert instructor and feedback from a community of peers, you can master the art of academic writing.

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Florida State University

FSU | Writing Resources

Writing Resources

The English Department

Brainstorming

What is brainstorming.

Brainstorming is the act of using certain methods to understand and improve your writing. From choosing a topic, developing an argument, outlining a paper, or working with a revision, brainstorming can help with any stage in the writing process.

How to Start Brainstorming

There are many techniques to choose from if you’re looking to brainstorm with your writing.

Here are some suggested methods:

Freewriting

Freewriting is a session, often timed, of writing through stream of consciousness. You can choose to freewrite about a larger topic/question or specific topic/question related to your project. When freewriting, don’t stop to think about what you have written until after the time is up. If you can’t think about what to write next, write whatever comes to mind, even if it seemingly has no correlation to your topic.

Step 1: Choose an amount of time to set your freewriting session. We recommend 3,5, or 7 minutes.

Example: I’m setting my freewriting time to 3 minutes!

Step 2: Choose a topic or question to base your freewrite on.

Example: I will freewrite about the topic for my paper: “A History of Florida Oranges”

Step 3: For your chosen time, write about whatever comes to your mind when thinking about the topic. Don’t Stop! Don’t worry about proper punctuation, spelling, or grammar, just keep writing!

Example: A History of Florida Oranges, I live in Florida I love oranges I wonder how many oranges florida produces where are the orange plantations in florida right now have they always been there in the past? Did they start growing in florida I don’t know what else to talk about I wonder if other countries like how floridas oranges taste how did florida become well known for their oranges and what sets it apart from other oranges in different states is it the climate it is always hot in florida but it makes orange juice taste so much better I am writing about oranges what can oranges be used for has there ever been no oranges in florida like a drought that would suck I hope it doesn’t happen while im around how many oranges does florida make in a year…

Step 4: Now look at what you’ve written. It may look weird right now, but take some time to pick apart key details that relate to your topic, and put them together.

Example: Florida orange production (How much? To where?), plantation history (How long have they been there? How much have they produced?), Have oranges always grown in Florida?, What sets Florida oranges apart from others?, How did oranges become a Florida staple?

In this freewriting example, specific questions about the topic can be picked apart and used as a basis for beginning research or expanding on the topic.

Listing is a brainstorming technique that can help a writer get a better understanding of their topic, expand on certain parts of their thesis, or even aid in choosing a topic to begin with.

Step 1: Listing can start whether you already have a topic in mind, or no topic at all when it comes to the main idea.

Example: I need to write a paper on one of the major conflicts of literature found in Homer’s The Odyssey , but I don’t know what to choose!

Step 2: Start by listing out 4-5 topics under the main idea (or if you have a topic in mind already, write about aspects of that topic).

• Person vs Person
• Person vs Nature
• Person vs Self
• Person vs Society

Step 3: Of those, select 3 that you like the most, and write about them using bullet points or paragraphs. Get detailed and do some research if you can. 

Example of one of the topics: Person vs Self:

• Odysseus’ pride and ego
• Odysseus’ struggle with temptation
• Odysseus’ perseverance and determination

At the end of the writing session, you’ll be able to see which topic or aspect had the most ideas, and from there you can formulate what your research could be about.

Mind Mapping

Mind Mapping is a type of brainstorming activity that can help with picking out a general topic or argument or expand on the details for the paper.

Step 1: Get a piece of paper. Put one element in the center of the page. This could be the topic or topic question of your paper, part or all of your argument, or any detail you intend to go in depth on.

Step 2: Create a web of associations around the element. They can represent broadly related ideas or categories. 

Step 3: Each main branch can have smaller subcategories or questions.  

Your Mind Map can give you an idea of where you can start your research or what else you could include on your paper. No matter how detailed Mind Maps can get, the points will be able to relate back to the main element.  

Revision Brainstorming

It’s never too late to brainstorm! Even in revision stages of your project, you can brainstorm ways to make it even better.  

Here are some suggested methods: 

Post/Reverse Outline

In this brainstorming method, you use what you’ve already written, and break down what parts could use revision. 

Step 1: Read through your paper again. Write down the main idea of each paragraph either on a different piece of paper or in the margins. 

Step 2: Now analyze the content of your paper after you outline. Ask yourself questions like: Did I dedicate too much space on one topic? Did I write too little about other ideas? Does the order of ideas make sense? Did I leave out any important ideas or get off track? 

Step 3: Move things around: Add on to your paper or cut irrelevant information out. 

By the time you finish this brainstorming method, you should have a good roadmap to follow as you revise your work. 

Visual Brainstorming

Visual Brainstorming are methods used to see your paper from different perspectives. These mostly involve the process of revising structure or the way ideas on the page are organized. 

Step 1: Write on post-it notes or cut up a physical copy of your paper based on sections such as main claim, ideas or sub-sections. You can cut/write based on paragraphs or even single sentences.  

Step 2: Now rearrange and reorganize them.  

When you have an order you like, focus on your topic sentences and transitions to guide your reader through your paper. 

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• Step 1: Generate Ideas

Brainstorming

"It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to always be right by having no ideas at all." —Edward de Bono

Most people have been taught how to brainstorm, but review these instructions to make sure you understand all aspects of it.

• Don't write in complete sentences, just words and phrases, and don't worry about grammar or even spelling;
• Again, do NOT judge or skip any idea, no matter how silly or crazy it may initially seem; you can decide later which ones are useful and which are not, but if you judge now, you may miss a great idea or connection;
• Do this for 15, 20, or (if you're on a roll) even 30 minutes--basically until you think you have enough material to start organizing or, if needed, doing research.

Below is a sample brainstorm for an argument/research paper on the need for a defense shield around the earth:

Photo: "Brainstorm" ©2007 Jonathan Aguila

Home / Guides / Writing Guides / Writing Tips / How to Brainstorm for an Essay

How to Brainstorm for an Essay

Once you get going on a paper, you can often get into a groove and churn out the bulk of it fairly quickly. But choosing or brainstorming a topic for a paper—especially one with an open-ended prompt—can often be a challenge.

You’ve probably been told to brainstorm ideas for papers since you were in elementary school. Even though you might feel like “brainstorming” is an ineffective method for actually figuring out what to write about, it really works. Everyone thinks through ideas differently, but here are some tips to help you brainstorm more effectively regardless of what learning style works best for you:

Tip #1: Set an end goal for yourself

Develop a goal for your brainstorm. Don’t worry—you can go into brainstorming without knowing exactly what you want to write about, but you should  have an idea of what you hope to gain from your brainstorming session. Do you want to develop a list of potential topics? Do you want to come up with ideas to support an argument? Have some idea about what you want to get out of brainstorming so that you can make more effective use of your time.

Tip #2: Write down all ideas

Sure, some of your ideas will be better than others, but you should write all of them down for you to look back on later. Starting with bad or infeasible ideas might seem counterintuitive, but one idea usually leads to another one. Make a list that includes all of your initial thoughts, and then you can go back through and pick out the best one later. Passing judgment on ideas in this first stage will just slow you down.

Tip #3: Think about what interests you most

Students usually write better essays when they’re exploring subjects that they have some personal interest in. If a professor gives you an open-ended prompt, take it as an opportunity to delve further into a topic you find more interesting. When trying to find a focus for your papers, think back on coursework that you found engaging or that raised further questions for you.

Tip #4: Consider what you want the reader to get from your paper

Do you want to write an engaging piece? A thought-provoking one? An informative one? Think about the end goal of your writing while you go through the initial brainstorming process. Although this might seem counterproductive, considering what you want readers to get out of your writing can help you come up with a focus that both satisfies your readers and satisfies you as a writer.

 Tip #5: Try freewriting

Write for five minutes on a topic of your choice that you think could  be worth pursuing—your idea doesn’t have to be fully fleshed out. This can help you figure out whether it’s worth putting more time into an idea or if it doesn’t really have any weight to it. If you find that you don’t have much to say about a particular topic, you can switch subjects halfway through writing, but this can be a good way to get your creative juices flowing.

Tip #6: Draw a map of your ideas

While some students might prefer the more traditional list methods, for more visual learners, sketching out a word map of ideas may be a useful method for brainstorming. Write the main idea in a circle in the center of your page. Then, write smaller, related ideas in bubbles further from the center of the page and connect them to your initial idea using lines. This is a good way to break down big ideas and to figure out whether they are worth writing about.

 Tip #7: Enlist the help of others

Sometimes it can be difficult coming up with paper topics on your own, and family and friends can prove to be valuable resources when developing ideas. Feel free to brainstorm with another person (or in a group). Many hands make light work—and some students work best when thinking through ideas out loud—so don’t be afraid to ask others for advice when trying to come up with a paper topic.

Tip #8: Find the perfect brainstorming spot

Believe it or not, location can make a BIG difference when you’re trying to come up with a paper topic. Working while watching TV is never a good idea, but you might want to listen to music while doing work, or you might prefer to sit in a quiet study location. Think about where you work best, and pick a spot where you feel that you can be productive.

Tip #9: Play word games to help generate ideas

Whether you hate playing word games or think they’re a ton of fun, you might want to try your hand at a quick round of Words With Friends or a game of Scrabble. These games can help get your brain working, and sometimes ideas can be triggered by words you see. Get a friend to play an old-fashioned board game with you, or try your hand at a mobile app if you’re in a time crunch.

Tip #10: Take a break to let ideas sink in

Brainstorming is a great way to get all of your initial thoughts out there, but sometimes you need a bit more time to process all of those ideas. Stand up and stretch—or even take a walk around the block—and then look back on your list of ideas to see if you have any new thoughts on them.

For many students, the most difficult process of paper writing is simply coming up with an idea about what to write on. Don’t be afraid to get all of your ideas out there through brainstorming, and remember that all ideas are valid. Take the time necessary to sort through all of your ideas, using whatever method works best for you, and then get to writing—but don’t be afraid to go back to the drawing board if a new inspiration strikes.

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How should I start brainstorming topics for my college essay?

Most colleges provide open-ended prompts. Using the topic as inspiration, think about critical milestones or essential lessons you learned during your academic career. Tell stories about real-life experiences that have shaped the person you are. Write them down to brainstorm ideas. Choose stories that highlight your best traits.

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More brainstorming techniques from UNC Chapel Hill

Bubble.us:  A tool to create brainstorming webs

Brainstorming is a helpful way to generate ideas at any stage of the process, whether you're trying to come up with a general topic before you begin your research, narrowing your focus, or deciding what support to use for a certain paragraph.

Below are some strategies for brainstorming.

A conversation is often the best way to get ideas flowing. Bring up a topic or two that you're considering. What opinions do other people have about the topic? What would they want to learn about it?

(P.S. You can schedule an appointment at the Writers' Center specifically to have a conversation about your ideas--or lack of ideas!)

To come up with a topic, brainstorm by asking yourself questions like these:

• What are some things I enjoy?
• What have I read about lately or seen on TV?
• Is there anything interesting in the news?
• What's something I've always wanted to know more about?
• What is an issue that affects a community I'm a part of?
• What's something I disagree with?
• What do I see going on around me daily?

Once you have a topic, try some of these questions to find a more specific direction within your topic:

• Is there something controversial about the topic? What are the different perspectives? (hint: a good topic generally does not just have two sides)
• Do I agree or disagree with the different perspectives?
• What are the main characteristics of my topic?
• What is my topic similar to?
• What does my topic make me think of?
• If my topic is a problem/issue, what is the potential cause of it?

Get comfortable, set a timer for a couple minutes if you want, and just start writing whatever comes to mind about your topic. You could make a list or write in sentences or fragments. Most important, DO NOT EDIT yourself or pause for too long. 

Start with your general topic or argument and branch out from it into every sub-topic you can think of. This mapping method will help you organize your points once you start writing your draft.      

Under "Helpful Links," you'll find some online tools for mapping and other methods of brainstorming.

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• Introduction
• Resources for Brainstorming

After you have undergone the process of working through the expectations of the assignment and selecting a topic, it is time to brainstorm.  Brainstorming  generates the ideas that will eventually become your  thesis statement and supporting points. Developing a clear thesis will help you know what to write and how to organize it. If you have writer’s block or do not know where to begin, brainstorming can be especially helpful. 

• Preparing to Write
• Socratic Method of Questioning Try using the Socratic Method of Questioning to help you brainstorm. Although the Socratic method normally involves a dialogue, with one person asking questions and another responding, you could consider using the questions provided in the handout as a guide for developing your arguments. For example, you could go through each of the questions and write down possible answers. From there, you may notice that more information on a topic may be needed; perhaps there exists some controversy around a topic and you want to explore this further; or you may form your own opinion on a topic that you then want to persuade readers to share with you. These are good places to start focusing your argument. (Retrieved from http://tools4sucessnotes.wikispaces.com under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 License)
• The Academic Phrasebank Manchester University's Academic Phrasebank presents examples of commonly used phrases in academic writing, organized according to the main sections of a research paper. Common phrases used to introduce arguments, critique writing, or write a conclusion, for example, may help prompt your own ideas.
• Organizational Strategy
• Making an Outline

After you have brainstormed, it is necessary to  place your ideas into categories  and to select an arrangement for these categories. As with every aspect of the writing process, the method of organizing and the type of outline vary depending on individual preferences as informed by the assignment and the discipline.

• Essay Organizer (3 Topics)
• Essay Organizer (5 Topics)

1. What is the subject of your paper? 

2. What background information, definitions, or context does the reader require in order to follow your paper?

3. What is the thesis (perspective), or what is your research question/hypothesis?

4. What organizational strategy most effectively conveys your points to the reader? List each point.

      a. Create a topic sentence for each point.

      b. Determine the evidence required to convince the reader of each point.

5. With what ideas do you want to leave your reader? What ideas should be reinforced? What are the implications of these ideas?

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How to Brainstorm Your College Essay Topic

The college essay is perhaps the most challenging—and intimidating—part of the college application process. Staring at a blank sheet of paper (or a blank computer screen) can feel overwhelming. You might think you have nothing to write about or nothing new and exciting to offer. If you’re wondering just how to brainstorm your college essay topic, then keep reading!

Here’s the good news: You are uniquely you, and you have stories to tell that nobody else can write. If you can uncover one of those stories, you’ve found your perfect college essay topic.

The process of considering what makes you unique, reflecting, and trying on different ideas until you find “The One” is called brainstorming . In this article, you’ll find useful tips , ideas, and exercises to help you brainstorm your way to a great college essay topic.

What makes a great college essay topic?

First, let’s talk about what makes a great topic for your essay. Remember that most of your application is made up of impersonal numbers: your GPA, your SAT/ACT scores, your class rank, etc. Admissions officers will also see a list of your activities and accomplishments. But when it comes to showcasing who you are as an individual, the essay is your big chance to make an impression.

With that in mind, a great topic is one that:

• Offers insight into who you are as a person

Admissions officers suggest students should “write about a specific experience, hobby or quirk that reveals something personal, like how they think, what they value, or what their strengths are.” Think of your college essay topic as a window or lens that admissions officers can use to get a glimpse into who you are and how you think.

On the other hand, your topic does NOT have to be:

• About something extremely extraordinary

In fact, admissions officers say that sometimes the most ordinary topics make the most memorable essays. These include topics like fly-fishing, a student’s commute to and from school, and even a family’s dining room table. So, shift your focus from trying to impress or trying to be extraordinary. Instead, try to zoom in on a slice of your life that reveals something important about you.

Wait—do I even get to choose my college essay topic?

Good question. The Common Application and most individual college applications give you a few prompts to choose from. However, these prompts are so broad and open-ended that you still have the freedom to write about almost anything .

For instance, the current Common App prompts ask you about your background, identity, talents, interests, obstacles you’ve faced, problems you’ve solved, events or realizations from your life, and more. And if you can’t manage to make your topic idea fit into those categories, the final prompt is: “Share an essay on any topic of your choice.”

Of course, before you begin brainstorming, look over the prompts you’ve been provided. See how specific or broad they are. Are there any guidelines you need to keep in mind as you brainstorm your topic? Go from there.

How to Brainstorm a College Essay Topic That’s Right for You

Brainstorming is a very personal and very creative endeavor. What sparks inspiration for you may not spark inspiration for someone else, and vice versa. So, read through the ideas, questions, and exercises for brainstorming your college essay topic below, and choose a few that appeal to you.

Keep going until you land on a topic idea that gets you inspired and excited. If you’re excited about your college essay topic, your passion and personality will naturally shine through.

1. Free Write About Yourself

On the top of a piece of paper or a Word document, write the question, “Who am I?” Set a timer for three minutes, and write until the timer goes off. Don’t second guess or edit. Write anything that comes to mind. Remember that no one else will read your college essay topic brainstorm.

Writing freely without overthinking is an important way to unleash your ideas. What would someone need to know in order to really know about you?

2. Explore Your Home

Take a tour of your home. Look closely at the objects in each room. Which objects are especially meaningful to you? As you look around your house, do any important or interesting memories come to you? Is there anything special or unique about your home that catches your eye?

Find photos, scrapbooks, and old journals or diaries if possible. If you come across any significant memories, jot them down or free write about them for a few minutes. Make a note of anything that inspires you.

3. Listen to a Playlist of Your Favorite Songs

Make a playlist of around 10 songs that you love. These can be songs you loved at different points in your life, or they can be your 10 favorites right now.

Often, our favorite songs resonate with us because we relate them to a memory, a feeling, or a core value. And music in general is an excellent source of inspiration. As you listen to your songs, does anything meaningful come to mind?

Do you think of a special person, place, or event in your life? Did a particular song help you through a challenging time in your life? Do you think your favorite songs say anything important about you? As with the previous exercise, record or free write about anything that catches your attention.

4. Ask Your Friends and Family

Sometimes, it’s hard to think or write objectively about ourselves—after all, we’re a little too close to the subject. It’s helpful to ask your friends or family members for ideas and inspiration too.

Ask questions like:

• If you had to describe me in three words, what words would you use?

Ultimately, you need to choose a college essay topic that appeals to you. But gaining some perspective from the people who love you might get your ideas flowing.

5. Reflect on Highs and Lows

Good college essays show maturity, reflection, and growth. They demonstrate your ability to think about the events that have happened to you, the lessons you have learned, and the impact these events have had on who you are as an individual. Often, we can find great stories of growth in the best and worst moments of our lives.

Think about the following:

• When did you first feel like you were no longer a child? Why did you feel that way? How do you think you’ve changed from your childhood self, and why?

Some of these answers might feel too personal. That’s OK—remember, your brainstorm is for your eyes only. You don’t have to share anything with admissions officers that makes you uncomfortable, but reflecting on the most important moments in your life can help you come up with some excellent material.

6. List Your Top 5 Traits

It’s tough to describe ourselves in a few words, especially because all of us are complex. But if you had to choose just five defining characteristics or traits to describe yourself, what words would you use?

First, list your five words. Then, try to trace your characteristics back to defining experiences or events. For example, if you’re curious , how do you think your curiosity began? Did anyone in your life influence you to be curious? Can you think of the first time or the most recent time that you exhibited curiosity?

Sometimes, a story that highlights one of your key personal traits can make an excellent college essay. Whether it’s an example of how you’ve displayed that trait, or an “origin story” of how you developed that characteristic, you’ll show admissions officers an important piece of who you are.

7. Think About Places

Essays about place, even one as simple as a dining room table, also make a compelling college essay topic. See if you have any meaningful “place” stories by answering the following questions:

• Are any of your favorite memories associated with a specific place? Which memories? Describe the place in detail.

Remember that no matter what you write about, you are ultimately the star of your essay. So, if you choose to write about a place, consider what this place means to you, how it has impacted you, and what it can tell readers about your personality, beliefs, and values.

8. Think About People

Similarly, you may choose to write about an influential person in your life. But the bulk of the essay should focus on how this person has impacted you and how you have changed or grown as a result of your interactions with this person.

Answer these questions:

• Who is someone in your life who is very different from you? How have you navigated those differences? What have you learned in the process?

Again, your essay shouldn’t simply describe another person. The admissions officers want to know more about you . But if you have a compelling story about an important person, and if that story provides meaningful insight into you, then you might have a stellar topic on your hands.

9. Answer Questions About Yourself

You’re probably thinking that you’ve already answered a lot of questions about yourself. But here are some more that might spark inspiration for the right college essay topic:

• What are you most curious about?

You don’t need to answer all of these questions. But if a few of them speak to you, start writing and see what emerges.

Remember that it’s important to “zoom in” on your ideas. So, don’t write an essay about all the traditions you’ve grown up with. Write about one tradition and a specific memory associated with it. The more you zoom in, the more detailed you can get. The more details you include, the more your essay becomes one that only you could write.

10. Write a Hook

If you’re still having trouble getting started, focus on writing a strong hook . What’s an interesting first sentence about you that could really grab a reader’s attention?

Here’s an example of a good hook : “I first got into politics the day the cafeteria outlawed creamed corn.”

Doesn’t that sentence make you want to know more? Imagine being a college admissions officer, slogging through essay after essay, many of them very similar. Many of the essays sound stiff, full of high-level vocabulary words but lacking in personality. Then you get to an essay about how creamed corn sparked a student’s interest in politics. Wouldn’t it be a breath of fresh air?

Try writing a few interesting hooks. One might hook you too, and before you know it, you’ll have written a whole first draft!

Next Step: Narrow Down Your College Essay Topic Ideas

Let’s say you’ve completed several of these exercises, and now you have a list of ideas. What’s the next step?

Narrow down your college essay topics like this:

• Does your top idea speak to you enough to run with it? If so, get going! If you’re stuck between 2-3 top choices, outline a beginning, middle, and end for each topic idea. List several specific sensory details you would include. Now, which idea speaks to you the most? Which provides the strongest and most compelling narrative? That’s your topic!

Once you’ve decided on a topic, it’s time to tell your story. Remember to focus on being honest, authentic, and very much you . Zoom in as much as possible, and give clear details that bring your story to life. Show a character arc—who you were at the beginning, how you grew and changed, and who you are now. Feel free to use personality and humor. The admissions officers want to hear your voice!

Final Thoughts: How to Brainstorm Your College Essay Topic

It’s hard to come up with a college essay topic that’s unique, exciting, and impressive. So, take that mindset and throw it far, far away.

Now, approach your college essay with the goal of helping admissions officers get to know the real you. If you’re authentic and write about something that’s meaningful to you, your essay will naturally stand out.

Complete several exercises to brainstorm your college essay topic without editing yourself . Eventually, you’ll find a topic that gets you excited. It’ll be a topic that accurately represents you and that makes you want to think, write, or talk about it more.

That passion, enthusiasm, and authenticity will shine through to admissions officers and make your essay truly memorable. I hope these tips on how to brainstorm your college essay topic were helpful. Good luck and happy writing!

Jason Patel is the founder of Transizion , a college counseling and career services company that provides mentorship and consulting on college applications, college essays, resumes, cover letters, interviews, and finding jobs and internships. Jason’s work has been cited in The Washington Post, BBC, NBC News, Forbes, Fast Company, Bustle, Inc., Fox Business, and other great outlets. Transizion donates a portion of profits to underserved students and veterans in of college prep and career development assistance. Jason is a Brazilian Jiujitsu martial artist, outdoorsman, and avid reader. You can find more content on his blog and YouTube channel.

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• Last Updated: Jan 28, 2023 1:22 PM
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Brainstorming

Brainstorm and explore topics: brainstorming.

• Exploring Topics

Brainstorming , mindmaps and concepts maps are terms that are often used interchangeably. They all refer to a quick, simple technique for generating and focusing ideas and making connections between concepts. 

When brainstorming, don't worry about grammar, spelling, or formatting initially. Just jot down ideas until you can't think of anymore, then go back and make connections between the ideas. If an idea appeals to you, make it the center idea on a new piece of paper and brainstorm more details.

Example of Brainstorming 1

Here's an example of a mindmap. The student used colors to organize her ideas: red is the idea she started with, green are broader concepts, black are subtopics.  She put a red star on the topic she decided to focus on.

Example of Brainstorming

This shows a more formal example of brainstorming to go from a broad topic (global warming) to more narrower topics (like environment and political), to even more narrow topics (like rising sea levels and roles of government).

Try It Yourself!

Start with a single idea:

The broad subject I'm thinking about is...

Then simply write all the ideas and concepts you can think of related to the central idea.

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Brainstorming Strategies

This guide includes strategies for generating ideas at the start of the writing process. Read through the list, choose one or more you feel ready to try, and get started brainstorming.

To generate new ideas

To start drafting, to work through anxiety about an assignment, to start working with sources, to plan your approach.

• Visual aids
• Brainstorm in a new space. Try writing by hand, on your phone, on a large sheet of paper, in an email draft, or any space that feels new to you. Write down any ideas that come to mind about your assignment.
• Talk it out. Try recording your ideas about your essay on your phone (or another voice recorder). Later, you can go back, listen, and transcribe.
• Work with a partner. Ask your partner to take notes as you talk through your essay. Then, take notes as your partner describes their own ideas. Exchange notes.
• Reverse brainstorm. If your paper is meant to solve a problem or make a recommendation, reverse the problem. Ask yourself, “What would have the opposite effect? What wouldn’t help with this problem?” Write down everything that comes to mind. Then, reverse your notes to come up with a list of useful recommendations.
• Brainstorm in a language other than English. If you speak, read, or write more than one language, use all of your languages in the brainstorming process. You may think of some ideas in your native language and others in English—give yourself the freedom to get your ideas out in whatever language they come in. By the end, your paper will include a mix of words, phrases, drawings and/or questions in one or two languages. (You can do this work on a blank sheet of paper or using the Brainstorming Cluster .)
• Write the easiest part of your paper first instead of starting with the thesis, argument, or introduction. For example, you might begin by describing your evidence, writing about your object of analysis, or using a key term from your assignment or class discussions as a starting point. Pre-writing will help you develop your main ideas later.
• Set a timer and type (or write by hand) without stopping. Start small (five–ten minutes), and then try for a longer stretch. Resist the temptation to pause, and focus on keeping your hands moving. This might require following a tangent or skipping to a part of your argument that feels easier to write, even if it’s disconnected. The goal is to get your ideas freely flowing and to get rid of that stressful blank page.
• Write down what you’re worried about. Take out a new page or open up a new file, and write about any anxieties you have about this assignment: Is there a concept you’ve struggled with this semester? Critical feedback you’ve received in the past? A really busy week ahead? Try to produce one page of free writing. Nobody will read what you’ve written, and you can write in any language. The goal is simply to get these first thoughts or fears out of mind. When you reach a stopping point, start planning your work: switch to another brainstorming strategy, create a todo list, and/or identify who you might ask for help.
• Write a draft for yourself (rather than a draft in which you think about the reader or instructor). Write down any idea that comes to mind, in response to the assignment—you can be as messy, unstructured, or informal as you’d like. Later, you can focus one step of your revision on meeting your readers’ needs.
• Pull quotes, data, or arguments from your sources. Then, draft how you’ll frame each piece of evidence. Why is it important? How does it support or complicate your argument? Do you agree? What do you know about the author or context?
• Start by close-reading. If you’re working on a paper that requires close-reading, take out your text and select a short passage that interests you. Reread, underlining or circling any parts that seem important. Freewrite for ten minutes—write down any ideas that come to mind about what you have read. Answer the following questions to get started: Why do you think you chose this passage over others? What is significant about it? Do you notice any patterns or repetition? Any contradictions? How do you think others might interpret this passage? If you wanted to explore these ideas more, what other passages would you select?
• List the “action verbs”
• List the questions you know you’ll need to answer
• List points from your readings/notes that you know you’ll want to use
• Make a to-do list of all the actions you will need to perform to successfully complete this assignment
• A topic outline: list topics and sub-topics for short assignments that do not require an argument (memos, cover letters, response papers, etc.)
• A claim outline: list claims and sub-claims for an argumentative paper to check whether the logic of your argument makes sense
• A storyboard outline: when you have a lot of important points, but don’t yet have a clear idea of what order they work best in, write them out on note-cards and experiment with arranging them in different orders
• Write down one important word or phrase in the middle and circle it.
• How do the other items you need to include connect to this main idea? Would you use straight lines to connect these ideas? Overlapping circles? Draw your ideas in any form you’d like.
• After, consider what the relationship between your ideas might be. Take notes for possible transitions or missing links.
• Alternatively, try filling out the Brainstorming Cluster or Flow Chart .

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Brainstorming: Choosing a Topic, Formulating a Thesis

If you are preparing to write a paper for a course, think about what initially motivated you to enroll in the course. Is there a topic with which you already are familiar that you hope to explore in more depth? Is there a topic covered on the syllabus that caught your attention? Is the professor an expert in a particular sub-field who might be able to suggest open areas of inquiry that are suitable for your writing project? Has the professor identified (and recommended) specific areas that remain open for investigation?

If you are working while attending law school, does your place of employment confront any legal issues that you could analyze? Can you make use of the expertise you already developed in the field to dive deeper into an issue that might not be as accessible to a layperson? Can your employer offer any guidance regarding how your research could be useful in your workplace?

What was your undergraduate major area of study? Can you find a topic at the intersection of your undergraduate studies and legal studies that captures your interest? Did you conduct substantial research on any topic during college or while pursuing another graduate degree? Can you use your understanding of this area (key vocabulary, reliable resources, etc.) as a launching point for your next writing project?

If your topic suffers from a dearth of references, perhaps because the legal issue is so new, can you think of an analogous topic that has been researched to a greater extent? Can you offer insight by drawing this analogy and suggesting that scholars approach the new development in a manner similar to that which already has been taken to the analogous topic?

Your topic must be stated narrowly but can remain neutral and descriptive; the topic serves as a label for the legal area that you intend to address in your writing project. In contrast, your thesis presents your position in a prescriptive (“should”) statement: [Someone] should [do something] about [some problem] because […].

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Writing Center

Brainstorming, throw some ideas out there.

Many students find that choosing a topic is a difficult step in the writing process. Brainstorming is a technique used to create a number of topic ideas and eventually narrow the choices down to one topic. Brainstorming can also be used to break down a specific topic into subtopics. Either way, it is a simple way to jumpstart your mind.

Brainstorming works for individual work as well as group work. It can be completed verbally, by jotting things down, or even by drawing. There is no right or wrong way to do it.

Listing or Bulleting:

For this technique, you simply jot down thoughts (phrases, words, questions, etc.) that come to mind. It is a word association activity. For example: what does the word “childhood” make you think of? Thoughts can range from general topic ideas to subtopic ideas. Here is an example:

Sample assignment – write about something from your childhood.

1. Brainstorming general topic ideas:

• Playgrounds/playing outside

2. Brainstorming subtopic ideas:

• Doing the dishes
• Once a week
• Dishwasher or hand wash
• Breaking dishes
• Hated doing it, but got an allowance

Clustering/Mapping

This technique starts out in an extremely unorganized manner, but it works its way toward organized ideas. Simply grab a piece of blank paper, and write the topic/assignment in the center. From there, write any ideas, thoughts, etc. around the center. When you are finished, take a look at your mess and start connecting related ideas. Connect ideas by circling, drawing lines, or highlighting in coded colors. For example, clustering around something from your childhood might look like this:

There are a number of ways to brainstorm; clustering and listing are two commonly used techniques. You may find that you can even create your own brainstorming technique.  Once ideas are listed or connect, individual ideas can continue to be broken down until you feel you have enough specifics to start outlining your writing.

Guided Brainstorming

You can also use a more structured or guided form of brainstorming, such as the one found on the back of the Writing Center’s “Brainstorming” handout . Here is an example of what that completed form might look like:

There are a number of ways to brainstorm: these are just some common techniques. You may find that you can even create your own brainstorming technique. Once ideas are listed or connected, individual ideas can continue to be broken down until you feel you have enough specifics to start outlining your writing.

Keep an open mind for all ideas – no idea is silly in brainstorming. Eventually you will eliminate the ideas you do not like.

By Amanda Neubauer, M.A. Last updated October 2016 by Allison Haas, M.A.

Tips for Successful Brainstorming: A Guide for Stumped Students

Are you finding yourself struggling with your paper, even if you haven’t written a single word? Having a hard time thinking up the perfect thesis or argument for your final paper? Do you feel the minutes ticking away as you are staring at a blank computer screen? Putting off that paper that’s due in 48 hours because you can’t think of anything to write? Try these quick and easy tips for brainstorming to come up with that perfect argument or paper structure! All you need is a pad of paper (BIG — maybe even legal-sized), a pen, and your noggin!

Help! I’m having trouble:

Trying to think of an idea..

• What do I like about the essay topic?
• What made me think the most when we were discussing the materials in class?
• Is there anything I didn’t like and want to argue about in my paper?
• Are there themes that I want to express further?
• Is there anything I didn’t understand and want to try to figure out or decode?
• Write the answers to these questions down in a list format. Put down anything that comes to mind.
• Now pick one or two items on the list that you find most appealing or interesting.
• Congratulations! You have now found a theme for your paper!

Writing about a specific scholar’s ideas.

• Reread the article(s) that you have been assigned to write about. Read them critically and closely, especially if you have skimmed them in the past (because we all do that!).
• What do I truly think about this scholar’s arguments? (Ignore what your professor has said for the moment.) If there is anything you dislike or disagree with, note it. This can produce the most juicy and provocative essay material!
• Why do I feel the way I do about the argument? What are my reasons for feeling this way?
• Is there anything that the scholar has argued weakly, in your opinion?
• Are there any ideas in the scholar’s argument that you would like to see further explored or expanded upon?
• How can you expand on what the scholar has to say?
• One thing to remember when you are writing about other peoples’ writing is that you are a legitimate part of the academic discourse. Your ideas matter! Never feel unqualified to comment on a scholar’s writing. If you can come up with a compelling argument, then your opinion will be a legitimate one!
• Be daring and take risks. It’s ok to be critical!

Coming up with a good thesis statement, even though I’ve picked a theme.

• Finding a good thesis statement or concrete argument can be one of the biggest challenges of starting a paper. It is easy to come up with something to say, but can be hard to come up with a “so what”. Here are some ideas for narrowing down your argument. Add post-it flags and highlighters to your materials list for this step!
• The number one, best thing you can do to come up with a compelling thesis is to reread with a theme in mind! It can be painful, yes, but think about it—you will be refreshing yourself on ideas in the material and finding potential quotes at the same time! Think of the time you will save when you are writing your paper. You will no longer need to look frantically for quotes!
• Take notes! This is one of the most important things. Note places where your theme appears and look for connections between these moments. Are there any subthemes or patterns you notice in the text?
• Is there any pattern or connection here that strikes me or bothers me?
• Are there any tough puzzles or questions in the text that I would like to close read and solve? Any past puzzles that I have solved in rereading?
• What is the importance of this theme or what is the author trying to say with it?
• Try to formulate your thoughts into a few sentences or an outline of your general argument.
• Congratulations! You now have a thesis/argument!

If all else fails:

Create your own writing consultations! Find a friend or “writing buddy” who is willing to talk about ideas with you for 20 minutes or so. It can be even better if your friend knows nothing about the subject. Sometimes talking to another person can help you find great ideas that you never knew you had. Plus, talking to a friend is way more fun than panicking about a paper on your own.

Further Resources

Visit these great websites for more great brainstorming tips!

Dartmouth Writing Center has great tips to maximize reading and come up with great essay topics.

UNC Writing Center has a really comprehensive page that maps out many different formal brainstorming techniques, complete with diagrams and charts to help you visualize.

This handout was written by Maria Whittle for use by the Pomona College Writing Center. 12/10/2009.

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Brainstorming Topics: 24 Great Topics to Get Creativity Flowing

These brainstorming topics are a great place to start if you are looking for a new creative idea for your writing work.

A brainstorming session can be a great way to get new ideas for a blog post, article book, podcast, short story or even a novel. If you’re hoping to get the creative juices flowing or struggle with writer’s block and want to start thinking creatively again, start with brainstorming is the place to start. There are many brainstorming techniques you can use to get the ideas flowing. Some of the more popular ones include:

• Listing or Bulleting
• Clustering or Mind Mapping
• Guided Brainstorming
• Group Brainstorming
• Brainwriting
• Rapid Ideation
• Storyboarding

Sometimes before you can begin brainstorming, you need the right central idea. Use it as a jumping-off point. Our article packed full of brainstorming tips explains more. Here are some brainstorming topics that can start the process. These topics are intentionally vague and open-ended because your mind can take you down many different paths as you explore them.

General Brainstorming Ideas for Those New to Brainstorming

1. childhood memories, 2. global warming, 3. impact of education, 4. a social controversy, 5. the impact of pets on your life, 6. write about a particular culture, brainstorming topics for students, 7. your favorite historical character, 9. great literature, 10. enterpreneurship and innovation, brainstorming strategies for marketing professionals, 11. a bad idea, 12. one big idea, brainstorming topics for creatives, 13. a mood board, 14. an inspiring image, brainstorming topics for writing, 15. memoir and personal experience, 16. fantasy and world-building , 17. sci-fi , 18. historical fiction, 20 romance and relationships, 21. mystery and suspense, 22. adventure and exploration, 23. dystopian and satire, 24. philosophical and thought-provoking.

If you are new to brainstorming, here are some ideas to get you started on the activity:

Childhood is something that has many different subtopics a writer could explore. You could talk about the emotions of childhood, or you could write about the responsibilities of childhood. This is an effective brainstorming starting point because everyone has a childhood. Whether it was a good one or a bad one, this is a universal topic that all writers can write on.

Because this is such a broad topic, you have many different paths you can go down for your brainstorming. Some ideas include vacations you took as a child, favorite toys you had, people who influenced or were important to you as a child.

Global warming is another broad topic that works well as a brainstorming idea. You can explore your opinion, discuss the human impact on global warming, and discuss its economic, geographic, and political impacts. As you brainstorm this topic, consider potential solutions you find. Add a section to your concept map that discuss solutions. After completing this activity, you will find multiple options to write about with this one broader topic.

Education is another broad topic that can work well for brainwriting activities. You can write about its impact on your life personally or its impacts on society. You can have a subtopic that explores some of the benefits of the right education or the drawbacks of a flawed educational system.

Education also gives you the chance to brainstorm techniques. What works in education, and what doesn’t? What is the role of the teacher and the student in education? The answers to these questions provide much information you can transform into articles and papers.

Another effective brainstorming technique is to take a current social controversy and make it your central idea. Then, spend time exploring the who, what, where, when, and how surrounding this topic. You can share ideas to solve the issue or explore potential causes, depending on your goal for the activity.

This topic can be effective if you brainstorm ideas for a blog post. You can engage with your audience well when you talk about something important to them, and social controversies tend to fit the bill well. You can also get a lot of engagement when using a hot-button topic like this.

Pets are something many people feel strongly about. If you have a pet, you know how close you can get to them. Consider using “pets” as the main topic in your freewriting activity, and then branch off with the different subtopics.

You can explore many things with this topic. For instance, you can look at the emotions you feel about your pet or have a subtopic that explores pet care concerns. You can talk about ethics and costs, as well.

Is there a culture you would like to learn about or know quite a bit about and would like to study further? This can be a great brainstorming topic. Start with the culture as your central idea, and then brainstorm facts about it.

What influences have you seen on the culture? What are some facts about it that are worth exploring? How has the culture changed? These are the ideas that can create the subtopics for your brainstorming session.

These ideas might get you started by brainstorming a topic for a research paper or essay.

Is there someone from history that you enjoy studying? This could be your brainstorming topic. Put that character as your central topic, and then brainstorm and map about them.

You’ll find quite a few paths to follow with this idea. Start with biographical information as one branch of your mind map, then move to impact and political or societal views for additional branches. As you dig into the research, add even more to the map until you have a full picture of who they are and how they impacted society.

Do you have a passion for weather or physics, or chemistry? Pick a science-related topic, and build that into your brainstorming session. You can delve deep into various aspects of the topic as you brainstorm.

This brainstorming topic works well if you need to write an academic paper. It also works if you are just interested in the topic in general.

A final idea for brainstorming topics is to look more closely at a particular piece of literature. Place the work’s title at the center of your concept map, then build branches to talk about characters, setting, and plot. You can also explore alternate endings to get some creative writing in.

If you write your work, you can use this idea to get your creativity flowing. Place the title or main plot point in the center of your graph, and start brainstorming. For some inspiration, read our guide to classic literature books .

The vibrant world of entrepreneurship and innovation has its unique allure. Students might entertain the creation of community-centric business models. Additionally, they could weigh in on how budding entrepreneurs are poised to redefine tomorrow.

History, with its tapestry of events and figures, offers a treasure trove of topics. Imagine if key historical events had taken a different turn? Or how about delving into the lives and legacies of influential leaders?

Brainstorming in the professional environment happens all the time. Some of the best ideas come from group brainstorming sessions. If you need help getting started, rather than taking on a topic, consider one of these activities:

If you’re looking for the next great idea with your group, consider listing the bad ideas first. This gives you room to state an idea that you think is bad, but it might actually be good, but it also lets you get all of your creativity out. Often, you will find some gems even within those ideas you think are bad. 

Remember, brainstorming aims to get all of the topics out. Some won’t be important to your writing or your project, but stating them is a good starting point. If you’re brainstorming in a group, letting them state their bad ideas first is a good way to break the ice and make people feel less inhibited about sharing their real ideas.

In marketing, you often start with a big idea or promotion, but you need to find a way to get that idea or promotion into the minds and eyes of your target audience. You can use a brainstorming session to do this.

Start with your big idea as the central point. Then, have you or your team break it down into smaller parts. Soon you will come up with different avenues you can tap as you work towards reaching your audience with your main marketing message. 

If you are creative in any industry, you know the frustration when your ideas run dry. Here are some brainstorming topics and ideas that can get your creativity flowing again.

The mood of the creator inspires much creativity. Create a board where you can brainstorm about a particular mood. For instance, you can add adjectives, images, and colors you associate with that mood. 

Make this brainstorming activity highly visual—the more visual, the better. With the images and ideas on your board, you will have a starting point for your creative work.

Whether it is something from nature or a classic artwork, find an inspiring image to start your brainstorming session. Put the image, rather than a word, at the center of your mind map or brainstorming flow chart. Then, build ideas from it.

You may find inspiration for a work of fiction in this way or an idea for your piece of art. Using the beauty around you can easily inspire your creative side if you spend a little time thinking about what you see. 

Deciding what you want to write about next and exploring your ideas is ripe for brainstorming. But sometimes, it helps to be more specific. Try these brainstorming topics for writing:

Diving into the depths of personal experiences, memoirs present a rich tapestry of emotions and events. Writers can explore pivotal moments that drastically changed the course of their lives. Alternatively, they could unravel an unexpected encounter with a stranger that left an indelible mark on their psyche. Venturing into the realm of dreams, one might pen down the most vivid and bewildering dream they’ve ever had, weaving it with real-life implications and interpretations. Read our guide to the best memoirists .

Consider a universe where shadows take on their own lives, having untold secrets and tales. Or, delve into the intricacies of a mystical tribe just discovered, detailing their rituals, customs, and magical practices. You could brainstorm about the intriguing concept of a common creature, perhaps something as humble as a rabbit or a butterfly, suddenly gaining unprecedented power and upending the established order. Read our guide to the best fantasy books .

Science fiction propels readers into the unknown, pushing the boundaries of current understanding. Envision Earth’s transformation after establishing contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. Brainstorm about what if time travel became possible? Dive into the moral dilemmas and societal changes such a breakthrough might entail. In a more abstract vein, imagine a dystopian future where raw emotions become commodities, traded and sold amongst individuals. 

History is always a good muse for writers. Imagine a clandestine romance blossoming amidst the vibrant backdrop of the Renaissance. Or, brainstorm the inner turmoil of a soldier caught in the crossfires of a devastating historical war. Through the eyes of a commoner, writers can also capture the essence of a major city during a significant historical event, blending factual events with fictional flourishes.

19. Horror and Thriller

Picture a quaint town with a chilling secret: every resident inexplicably goes mute for one day each year. Or, delve into the consequences that unfurl when someone stumbles upon an old tome with the sinister power to control minds. Adding a touch of mystery, brainstorm a detective’s harrowing journey as they become obsessed with a crime that evidence suggests might never have happened. Read our guide to the best horror authors .

Romance, with its myriad of emotions, offers vast narrative possibilities. Think of a heart-wrenching love story where two souls from parallel universes cross paths. Reflect on the challenges and bittersweet moments of a love story set in a world where humans only live for 30 years. Or, brainstorm a tale of two bibliophiles who, over time, fall in love through letters secretively left within the pages of a shared library book.

Mysteries have an innate allure, drawing readers into their web of intrigue. What could be the hidden story behind a series of anonymous gifts a woman receives every spring? Upon noticing the peculiar habits of a town’s residents, a journalist could embark on a quest for truth, revealing dark secrets. Alternatively, writers can craft a suspense-filled narrative about passengers on a stranded train, discovering unexpected ties that bind them together.

Adventures, with their thrill and unpredictability, make for captivating tales. Brainstorm the perilous journey of adventurers on a quest to discover a mythical city built entirely of gold. Dive into a child’s exhilarating escapade in a world that comes to life within a painting, complete with challenges and allies. Or, delve deep underwater, following explorers as they navigate an uncharted cave system’s dark, beautiful corridors.

The dystopian genre pushes writers to consider stark, often bleak, versions of the future. Brainstorm a tightly controlled society where memories are archived and any undesirable ones can be selectively erased. In stark contrast, picture a world reclaimed by nature, where humanity’s remnants grapple with survival. Or, peer into the daily lives of individuals residing under a massive dome after Earth’s atmosphere turns deadly. Read our guide to the best satire  authors

For those seeking deeper introspection, philosophical themes can be a goldmine. Contemplate on the very essence of human nature by exploring whether true altruism exists. Envision a society sculpted by the impossibility of deceit, where every spoken word is the absolute truth. Or, in a poignant narrative twist, imagine the intricacies of living in a world where everyone knows their exact date of death from the moment they’re born. Read our guide to the best philosophy books .

For more brainstorming ideas, check out our round-up of the best software for brainstorming .

Nicole Harms has been writing professionally since 2006. She specializes in education content and real estate writing but enjoys a wide gamut of topics. Her goal is to connect with the reader in an engaging, but informative way. Her work has been featured on USA Today, and she ghostwrites for many high-profile companies. As a former teacher, she is passionate about both research and grammar, giving her clients the quality they demand in today's online marketing world.

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12  Gather Ideas and Form a Working Thesis

Kathy Boylan and Jenifer Kurtz

Once you understand the assignment, you will need to collect information in order to understand your  topic and decide where you would like the paper to lead. This step can be conducted in various ways.  Researching to build content knowledge is always a good place to start this step.

After you have conducted some research, begin brainstorming your topic. You can do this in a variety of  ways such as:

• Free Writing
• Listing ideas
• Generate a list of questions
• Clustering/ Mapping (creating a bubble chart)
• Create a basic outline

Next, you will want to formulate a working thesis. A working thesis is different than the thesis found in a  final draft in that it will not be specific nor as narrowed as the final thesis. Think of a working thesis as  the general focus of the paper, helping to shape your research and brainstorming activities. As you will  later spend ample time working and reworking a draft, allow yourself the freedom to revise this thesis as  you become more familiar with your topic and purpose.

How do you start writing a draft? There isn’t just one right way to begin writing. Some people dive right in, writing in complete sentences and paragraphs, while others start with some form of brainstorming or freewriting. Others choose a strategy based on the writing task and how familiar they are with the topic. A writing instructor may want you to try out different methods so that you can figure out what works best for you. You may want to have more than one method in case you get stuck and need to break out of a writing block. There are several methods that help you generate ideas and see connections between ideas without writing in complete sentences. We can call these methods “brainstorming.” They all have some common rules:

• Write down all of your ideas; don’t eliminate anything until you are done brainstorming.
• Don’t bother with editing at this stage.
• Work as quickly as you can.
• If you get stuck, stop and review your work OR get someone else’s input.
• Each method can work as a solo technique or with others.

A cluster is a method of brainstorming that allows you to draw connections between ideas. This technique is also called a tree diagram, a map, a spider diagram, and probably many other terms.

• To make a cluster, start with a big concept. Write this in the center of a page or screen and circle it.
• Think of ideas that connect to the big concept. Write these around the big concept and draw connecting lines to the big concept.
• As you think of ideas that relate to any of the others, create more connections by writing those ideas around the one idea that connects them and draw connecting lines.

Here’s an example:

Notice that you can use color, larger type, etc., to create organization and emphasis. Remember that your cluster doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s. Create the cluster in the way that makes the most sense to you. Once you have finished the cluster, you can use another technique to generate actual text.

Listing is just what it sounds like: making a list of ideas. Here are two kinds of lists you might use.

Brainstorm list: Simply make a list of all the ideas related to your topic. Do not censor your ideas; write everything down, knowing you can cross some off later.

What I know/don’t know lists: If you know that your topic will require research, you can make two lists. The first will be a list of what you already know about your topic; the second will be a list of what you don’t know and will have to research.

Outlining is a useful pre-writing tool when you know your topic well or at least know the areas you want to explore. An outline can be written before you begin to write, and it can range from formal to informal. However, many writers work best from a list of ideas or from freewriting. (Note: A reverse outline can be useful once you have written a draft, during the revision process. For more on reverse outlining, see “ The Revision Process ”.)

Traditional Outline

A traditional outline uses a numbering and indentation scheme to help organize your thoughts. Generally, you begin with your main point, perhaps stated as a thesis (see “ Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis ”), and place the subtopics, usually the main supports for your thesis/main point, and finally flesh out the details underneath each subtopic. Each subtopic is numbered and has the same level of indentation. Details under each subtopic are given a different style of number or letter and are indented further to the right. It’s expected that each subtopic will merit at least two details. Most outlines use either a phrase or a sentence for each item.

There are several reasons why a person might get a tattoo.

I. In memory of someone or something

• her favorite flower
• the date of the competition
• a memorable image from the event
• a symbol that represents an inside joke
• the name of his unit

II. To express individuality

• a culturally significant symbol
• an image associated with that culture
• an original piece of artwork
• a symbol associated with a famous artist or movement
• a symbol that is particularly eye-catching
• an image that is beautiful

Rough Outline

A rough outline is less formal than a traditional outline. Working from a list, a brainstorm, or a freewrite, organize the ideas into the order that makes sense to you. You might try color-coding like items and then grouping the items with the same color together. Another method is to print your prewriting, then cut it up into smaller pieces, and finally put the pieces into piles of related items. Tape the like items together, then put the pieces together into a whole list/outline.

Freewriting

Freewriting is a technique that actually generates text, some of which you may eventually use in your final draft. The rules are similar to brainstorming and clustering:

• Write as much as you can, as quickly as you can.
• Don’t edit or cross anything out. (Note: if you must edit as you go, just write the correction and keep moving along. Don’t go for the perfect word, just get the idea on the page.)
• Keep your pen, pencil, or fingers on the keyboard moving.
• You don’t need to stay on topic or write in any order. Feel free to follow tangents.
• If you get stuck, write a repeating phrase until your brain gets tired and gives you something else to write. (Variation: I like to complain at this point, so I write about the fact that I’m stuck, I really hate having to do this, why isn’t it lunch-time already, etc.)
• Freewriting can be used just to get your mind working so that you can write an actual draft. In this case, you can write about whatever you want. Freewriting to generate ideas usually works best when you start with a prompt–an idea or question that gets you started. An example of a writing prompt might be “What do I already know about this topic?” Or “What is the first idea I have about my topic?” If you started with a list or an outline, you can freewrite about each item.

Looping is a technique built on freewriting. It can help you move within a topic to get all related ideas into writing.

• To begin, start with a freewrite on a topic. Set a timer and write for 5-15 minutes (whatever you think will be enough time to get going but not so much that you will want to stop).
• When the time period ends, read over what you’ve written and circle anything that needs to be fleshed out or that branches into new ideas. Select one of these for your next loop.
• Freewrite again for the same time period, using the idea you selected from the first freewrite.
• Repeat until you feel you have covered the topic or you are out of time.

Asking Questions

To stimulate ideas, you can ask questions that help you generate content. Use some of the examples below or come up with your own.

Problem/Solution: What is the problem that your writing is trying to solve? Who or what is part of the problem? What solutions can you think of? How would each solution be accomplished?

Cause/Effect: What is the reason behind your topic? Why is it an issue? Conversely, what is the effect of your topic? Who will be affected by it?

The set of journalist’s questions is probably the most familiar for writers. Using the journalist’s questions, sometimes called the five W’s, is an effective way to write about the basic information about your topic. Here are the questions:

• Who: Who is involved? Who is affected?
• What: What is happening? What will happen? What should happen?
• Where: Where is it happening?
• When: When is it happening?
• Why/how: Why is this happening? How is it happening?

If you imagine the questions as a cube, and separate why and how into two, you can use that visual image to remember the six questions.

Key Takeaways

• It is essential to understand the assignment before one begins writing.
• There are many different ways to brainstorm content for an essay.
• Which brainstorming technique to use might change depending on the type of assignment.

This chapter uses information from:

Successful Writing v. 1.0 which is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 license.

The Word on College Reading and Writing by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License .

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6.3: Brainstorming for Ideas

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• Page ID 6498

• Steven D. Krause
• Eastern Michigan University

Whether you are assigned a particular topic or are allowed to choose your own topic within certain guidelines, the next step is to explore the ideas that you might write about in more detail. This process is called “brainstorming,” though some instructors and textbooks might refer to similar techniques as “invention” or “pre-writing.” Regardless of what it’s called, the goal is the same: to lay the foundation for focusing in on a particular topic and the working thesis of a research-writing project.

I recommend you keep three general concepts in mind when trying any approach to brainstorming with your writing:

• Not all of these approaches to brainstorming will work equally well for everyone or work equally well for all topics. Your results will vary and that’s okay. If one of these techniques doesn’t work for you, try another and see how that goes.
• When trying any of these techniques, you can’t censor yourself. Allow yourself the freedom to brainstorm about some things that you think are bad or even silly ideas. Getting out the “bad” or “silly” ideas has a way of allowing the good ideas to come through. Besides, you might be surprised about how some topics that initially seem bad or silly turn out to actually be good with a little brainstorming.
• Even if you know what topic you want to write about, brainstorm. Even if you know you want to write about a particular topic, you should try to consider some other topics in brainstorming because you never know what other things you could have written about if you don’t consider the possibilities. Besides, you still should do some brainstorming to shape your idea into a topic and then focus it into a working thesis.

Freewriting

One of the most common and effective brainstorming techniques for writing classes, freewriting, is also easy to master. All you do is write about anything that comes into your head without stopping for a short time—five minutes or so. The key part of this activity though is you cannot stop for any reason! Even if you don’t know what to write about, write “I don’t know what to write about” until something else comes to mind. And don’t worry—something else usually does come to mind.

Looping or Targeted Freewriting

Looping is similar to freewriting in that you write without stopping, but the difference is you are trying to be more focused in your writing. You can use a more specific topic to “loop” back to if you would like, or, if you do the more open-ended freewriting first, you can do a more targeted freewriting about one of the things you found to be a potentially workable idea. For example, you might freewrite with something general and abstract in mind, perhaps the question “what would make a good idea for a research project?” For a more targeted freewriting exercise, you would consider a more specific questions, such as “How could I explore and write about the research idea I have on computer crime?”

Group Idea Bouncing

One of the best ways we all get different ideas is to talk with others. The same is true for finding a topic for research: sometimes, “bouncing” ideas off of each other in small groups is a great place to start, and it can be a lot of fun.

Here’s one way to do it: name someone in a small group as the recorder. Each person in turn should give an idea for a potential topic, and the recorder should write it down. Every person should take a turn quickly “bouncing” an idea out for the others—no “I don’t know” or “come back to me!” Remember: no ideas are bad or silly or stupid at this point, so do not censor yourself or your group members.

Clustering is a visual technique that can often help people see several different angles on their ideas. It can be an especially effective way to explore the details of a topic idea you develop with freewriting or looping. On a blank sheet of paper, write a one or two word description of your idea in the middle and circle it. Around that circle, write down one or two word descriptions of different aspects or characteristics of your main idea. Draw circles around those terms and then connect them to the main idea. Keep building outward, making “clusters” of the main idea as you go. Eventually, you should get a grouping of clusters that looks something like the illustration below.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Journalist Questions

One of the key elements of journalistic style is that journalists answer the basic questions of “What?” “Who?” “Where?” “When?” “How?” and “Why?” These are all good questions to consider in brainstorming for your idea, though clearly, these questions are not always equally applicable to all ideas. Here are some examples of the sort of journalistic questions you might want to ask yourself about your idea:

• What is my idea? What are the key terms of my idea?
• Who are the people involved in my idea? Who is performing the action of my topic? Who are the people affected by my idea?
• Where does my idea take place? Where did it come from? Is it restricted to a particular time and place?
• When did my idea happen? How does it relate to the other events that might have taken place at a similar time? Are there events that happened before or after my idea that might have effected it?
• How did my idea happen, or how is it still happening?
• Why did my idea happen, or why is it still happening?

Brainstorming with Computers

Computers are a great tool for fostering these and other collaborative brainstorming techniques. For example, group idea bouncing can be used effectively with Internet “chat rooms,” with instant messaging software, or with local area network discussion tools.

You can also collaborate on your brainstorming activities with computers with little more than simple word processing or email; Here are three variations on a similar theme:

• Email exchange: This exercise is conducted as an exchange over email. Each person in a small group does a looping/targeted freewriting to discover ideas for things she is interested in doing more research about. Then, each person in the group can post his looping/targeted freewriting to all of the other members of the group simultaneously. Email also allows for members of the group to collaborate with each other while not being in the same place--after all, email messages can be sent over great distances--and not at the same time.
• “Musical computers:” This approach is similar to the previous two exercises, but instead of exchanging diskettes or email messages, members of a group of students exchange computer stations in a computer lab. Here’s how it works: a group (up to an entire class of students) does a looping/targeted freewriting at a computer station for a set period of time. When time is up, everyone needs to find a different computer in the fashion of the children’s game “musical chairs.” Once at the new computer station, the new writer comments on the original freewriting exercise. The process can be repeated several times until everyone has had a chance to provide feedback on four or five different original freewritings.

Example 5.2

• By yourself, work with at least two of the brainstorming techniques described above or other brainstorming techniques described by your instructor.
• Working with others in a small group, work with at least two of the brainstorming techniques described above or other brainstorming techniques described by your instructor. For example, have all the members of the small group each complete their own freewriting or clustering activity on the topic of her choice. Then, compare results. How do each of you react to different exercises? Are some techniques more useful for some?