What is a TOPIC?
When asked to choose a topic for a research assignment you might struggle to find something you want to write about that is:
A good rule of thumb for telling if you have a topic or a subject is to frame it as a question:
Can that question
You should ideally be able to answer the question relating to your selected "topic" in a research assignment.
You also should NOT be able to answer your question about your topic with a simple YES or NO.
To further focus your question, ask:
Your ENG 101 instructor asks your class to write an argumentative paper (argumentative papers will argue for or against an idea and you must support your claim with supporting evidence). The topic should
To begin your assignment, you must have a topic.
Write a question you might have about the economy of an Appalachian community.
Try asking yourself:
1. Who is your reader?
2. What is your purpose?
3. Who are you, the writer? (What image or persona do you want to project?)
1. How can you achieve your purpose?
2. Can you make a plan?
Keep returning to the problem
What different kinds of readers might you have?
Journalistic questions
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? So What?
From Brizee, A. (2010, April 17). Prewriting (Invention) General Questions. Retrieved from [Purdue].
The Zero Draft is an ideation technique for individuals often used by writers and is essentially a form of focused free-writing. For marketers and agency professionals, it can help focus the first stages of a new project by establishing what you currently know and getting your initial ideas out of your brain and onto paper.
Taking your central theme or topic:
Write down everything you currently know about the subject.
Write down what you need or want to know about the subject, but don't currently know.
Reflect on why the subject is important.
Add anything else that takes your fancy -- this is a chance to get whatever's floating around in your head out into the world.
The Zero Draft method is all about getting everything you can think of relating to your topic down on paper, so don't be concerned if it looks messy and unfocused. The goal is just to get past the initial block that often plagues creative professionals in the early stages of a new project.
From Mansfield, D. (2016, November 17). 10 Creative Exercises That Are Better Than Brainstorming​. Retrieved from [Where Marketers Go to Grow].