Some Thoughts on Research & Writing - Part 1

Picking a Topic

One of the most important parts of starting to a new writing project is picking a topic. Sometimes the assignment specifies a topic; sometimes writers have to generate their own topics. If a writer already has a topic, the problem is just coming up with a thesis for the essay. If the writer has no specified topic, it gets a little more difficult. Here are some guidelines that will work for either situation if you are a writer.

1. Pick a topic that interests you, or if you have an assigned topic, pick an area of the topic that you want to learn more about or about which you already have a little knowledge. It is hard enough to write, let alone to write about a subject in which you have little interest. And if you didn't care about the topic to start, you will despise it by the time you are done!

2. Make sure the size of the topic fits the size of the assignment. If you are assigned a five page essay, you probably are not going to do a very good job covering all the details of the American Civil War. At best, you would only be able to touch on the major battles, ignoring the details of the battles, the political issues, the important politicians and generals on both the North and South, the development of wartime technology, the after effects of the war, or even how and why it began. However, any one of these subtopics might work if you focused narrowly enough. For example, you might want to write on the development of wartime technology as exemplified by the ironclad ships, the Monitor and the Merrimack.

3. Once you select a topic area, you need to write a working thesis that will be the control for all of your research and help you write your first draft. If the topic is the development of wartime technology as exemplified by the ironclad ships, the Monitor and the Merrimack, then the working thesis might be, "The ironclad ships used by the North and South in the American Civil War represented a huge step forward in the Navy's wartime technology." The job of the paper wold then be to prove that this statement is true.

To be continued...