"What Should I Write About" How to Select Your Topic

By Katharine Hansen

At the beginning of this process, you may feel as if you have entered a strange territory without a map. You need guanidine for choosing your topic if you must select your own or for narrowing a general topic assigned to you. This section shows you how to get ideas for topics and what subjects are best to avoid.

Three Criteria for a Topic

Whether you write a literary, argumentative, position, or description paper, the subject you select must meet three important criteria.

• The topic should interest you.
• It should be written your abilities.
• There should be enough information available on it to complete a paper.

The first criterion is the most important. Something besides fear of failure has to sustain you through all the hours it takes to research, write and revise a report of term paper. Make the paper a process of discovery for yourself, something you want to know or say about a topic. That desire will help to see you through to the end of the project.

The second criterion is also essential. You may be interested in a topic, but not have the background of ability to handle it in a paper. Say, for example, you are interested in the flights or voyagers 1 and 2. You want to do a report on some of the computer programs that send commands to the small spacecrafts. The scientific journals are filled with complex diagrams and explanations, but you find none of it makes any sense to you. You have no background in computer programming and no ability to translate technical information into plain English.

You will either have to find a book or an article that translates the material for you or find another topic—perhaps what voyager 2 revealed about the rings of Uranus or the surprises the spacecraft uncovered as it passed by the outer planets. Although the topic about the computer programs fulfills two of the three criteria—it interests you and there is plenty of information—if it is beyond your abilities, you will not be able to complete a paper successfully.

Finally, make sure enough information is readily available for you to develop your paper. For instance, you may have heard about rock-and-roll bands springing up in Tibet. The subject intrigues you, and you feel you have enough musical background to write about it. But your preliminary research turns up only a half-page article in a weekly news magazine. Obviously, you are not going to be able to build a ten- or fifteen- page report on one short article. A better topic may be the rise of rock bands in China and Japan, a phenomenon covered in the U.S. and international press.

Finding a General Area of Interest

Suppose your must choose the topic of a paper yourself. Although this task might seem somewhat overwhelming at first, it can be broken down into manageable steps. The first step knows where to go for ideas about general of broad subject areas.

There are several major sources for topic ideas; textbooks; reference books that list term paper or report topics; teachers and librarians; your own or your friends' interests and experiences; and on-line databases, Internet, and Web sites. If you must do a term paper for a history course, for example, skim through your history textbook to find a broad subject area that interests you. Perhaps you find the European voyages of discovery appealing. Or your interest may be piqued by the medical practices of the Middle Age or the complex politics of the Balkans in the mid-1990s

If your textbooks do not provide a topic of interest, investigate the reference section of any bookstore or library. You are likely to find books that list hundred of term paper or report topic under all subject areas—history, literature, art social science, political science, and psychology. One of these topics may appeal to you.

Teachers and librarians are also good sources for ideas. They can help you to pinpoint an area of interest or can suggest topics that you haven't considered. It is a good idea to get to know your reference librarian, and this can be one way to introduce you. Good reference librarians are invaluable guides through the maze of research and reference sources. Their expertise can save you hours of effort.

If none of these sources yields any result, you can fall back on yourself or on your friend. Think about the movies, magazine, books, or activities that interest you: science fiction, sports, the war on drugs, international relations, music, the environment, psychic phenomena.

What would you like to know about these topics? What opinion do you have about them? Do you think drugs should be legalized? Do you feel that the government should do more or less to help protect the environment? In your opinion, have science fiction movies or TV series had any impact on shaping our current world? Should professional athletes be allowed to play in the Olympic Games? Are psychic phenomena real or imaginary?

One of these four sources—textbooks, reference books, teachers and librarians, your own or your friend' interest—will give you a general topic area for your paper.

Subject Areas to Avoid

Part of the process of choosing a topic knows which subjects not to use. In your search for a topic, keep in mind these guidelines for subjects to avoid.

• Subjects that is too recent. If a new law has just been passed, for example, there will not be enough information about its impact to serve as the subject of paper.

• Subjects that is too sensitive or controversial. Some issues, such as the firing of a popular principal or a recent racial incident in school, are highly emotional and likely to provoke strong reaction on all sides. It is often difficult to find objective information to present a fair treatment of the topic.

• Subjects that is hard to investigate. This can include subjects that are too narrow or specialized to have much information, too technical for your own and the readers' background, or for which information is too difficult to acquire. For example, the information may be in specialized libraries closed to the public, in international institutions, or written in a language you can not read.

• Subject that are distasteful or uninteresting to you. You may be tempted to accept any topic just to have something to write about. However, material that is unappealing to you at the beginning will tend to become more so as you would on it. If you dislike the subject of your paper, it's a good bet your readers won't like the way you write about it. Your own distaste or boredom will come across in your writing.

Remember the three criteria mentioned previously as you search for a usable topic: It must interest you, it must be within your abilities, and there must be enough information readily available on the topic to complete a paper.

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The authors wish to thank the wonderful folks for their years of dedication and faith in all our work, and all the successful students who have used our site. For information about all aspects of paper writing especially essay, term paper, research paper, thesis and dissertation please visit the author’s Web site. Katharine Hansen www.academic-writing.net

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Want to Find Fresh Exciting Topics to Write About? Here's How

By Mervyn Love

Keeping an editor supplied with topical articles can be a bit of a struggle at times. With these simple strategies you can soon have fresh new ideas pouring onto the page.

If you're like me, then the major problem is finding the topic that will have editors chortling with glee because he knows his readers will love it. The actual writing of the article holds no fears; it's just finding the right topic and one that's going to be a winner. So here are a few tips on capturing those elusive ideas.

Perhaps the first and easiest thing you should do is pick up the nearest newspaper and read the headlines. If you think this sounds just a little too down-to-earth - think again. There are many best-selling articles that have been jump started into existence by a newspaper headline.

Here are a couple of headlines I came across whilst writing this:

'Laptop Thief Has Bank Details of 15,000 policemen.'

This could start you thinking about laptop security and how you can best protect your data from being compromised. You could write an article on the various methods of blocking viruses and keeping out SPAM. How about an article on the growing trend of hi-tech theft, or the use of the internet and computers by the criminal fraternity? What steps are the banks taking to prevent fraud and identity theft?

'A Monster Following For Nessie.'

Apparently, in this news item, the Loch Ness monster was voted the most famous Scot! This could lead to articles on famous mythical creatures. Is there any basis in fact for them? Were there really flying dragons in Wales, etc? What about an article on real life monsters, unusual creatures that live in far away places or under the sea? How about how the tourist trade capitalizes on myths and monsters, with examples of some wacky souvenirs?

Often a story will grab your interest about some subject you've never heard of before, or about one that has been lurking in the back of your mind for a while and now is the time to follow it through.

Other ways to find new topics is to visit the library or a good bookshop and browse the titles. Go to sections you are unfamiliar with and see what titles will jump start your imagination and produce some exciting and informative ideas. Pick up a magazine on a topic that you are vaguely interested in and read it just for fun. Several ideas may jump out at you whilst you're reading. Your mind makes associations and sees things in new ways when it's relaxed by reading.

Keep a look out when you're on a shopping spree. There are always plenty of items for sale you've never noticed before, and some of them are fads.

Fads are good to write about because they tie into the current collective consciousness and therefore people are interested in reading about them. Food items, clothes, gadgets, furniture, gardening, pets - almost any consumer section is prone to fads and fashions at some time.

Don't be afraid to let your mind wander. Just put your mind into free fall and you will most likely end up with several new topics you wouldn't have dreamt pf before. You find yourself enthusiastic about writing your new article and may even end up with a list of new topics that will keep you busy for several few weeks!

Don't be afraid to have a go at a new idea or topic. There is a huge amount of information available to you on any subject you care to mention, especially on the Internet.

Read as much as you can, take notes, talk to people who know the subject you're interested in, and you will soon be turning out articles that editors will grab with alacrity.

Visit WritersReign http://www.writersreign.co.uk for a sackful of resources, useful links, markets, writing competitions, software, articles for writers, and more. There's a free Article Writing Course at http://www.writersreign.co.uk/WRac.html up for grabs too. Sign up for it now before the opportunity slips quietly into obscurity... you know it makes sense!

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Writing An Article? Find Interesting Topics To Write On

By Jimmy Walker

Many of you have been there. You find yourself sitting at your desk, looking at a blink Word document, and thinking of a topic to write on. You want to write on a topic that webmasters and web surfers would be interested in. But you can’t seem to think of anything that is interesting or that you have expertise in.

I am sure you have wondered how some authors are able to publish hundreds of articles online. Ever wondered where they get so many interesting ideas? The answer is all around you. As you sit and read this article on finding new article topics, there are possibly several ideas for topics, literally, within your reach that you can write on.

For example, take a look at your desk. You, like most of us, may have paper scattered all over it, lunch from two weeks ago hidden behind the monitor, and half of the ties you own stuffed in one of the drawers. Well, I am exaggerating a little, but you get the idea. The question you can ask yourself is how would I fix this? How simple can that be? Figuring out a way to remedy this problem can become useful information that can potentially be used by millions of workers with the same problem.

Another overlooked source for article topics is your television. Television shows and news programs are full of ideas for article topics. For example, while watching the local news, a report on a family that has been exposed to carbon monoxide nearly dies from the poisonous, odorless gas. Again, question how you would have remedied this problem and what you would do to prevent it from happening in the future? If you are not familiar with certain aspects of a subject, be sure to do your homework.

Browsing the internet, driving in your car, and listening to the radio are also great sources to find potential article topics. What about talking to coworkers and friends? In many cases, conservations with friends are usually dominated by problems that friend is currently experiencing. Some conversations may even lead to the remedy of a particular problem. After generalizing the conversation, you will have an article topic to write on, with a real life reference as proof.

Webmasters and internet users are constantly looking for fresh, useful information. The range of that information is as wide as your imagination can span. Provide information that users will find helpful and objective.

Jimmy Walker is the founder of CitePlanet.com, an online database of quality citations from books, periodicals, and electronic sources. Post samples of your work on CitePlanet!

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