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Often times when you begin the process of writing a paper, you lack inspiration and simply do not know where to begin. Finding a topic or main argument for a paper is a difficult task for many writers, but one of the best ways to help you get started is to brainstorm.
Brainstorming is the process of coming up with ideas. You can brainstorm in order to decide on a topic, to explore approaches to your paper, or to deepen your understanding of a certain subject.
Brainstorming Your Topic
Brainstorming Your Topic
You will need to choose a topic for the paper. The topic must be a career that you would like learn more about. The career should be specific. Instead of “Medical Field”, your topic should be “Nursing” or “Medical Assistant”. You could also get more specific if you choose to, such as “Pediatric Nurse”.
If you do not already know what career you want research, use a piece of scrap paper and make a couple lists.
- Jobs that you know you DO NOT want
- Jobs you have heard about
- Jobs that might be interesting
Just because you choose a career for this paper does not mean that it is definitely the job or career you want to go into. It just means that you want to learn more about it.
You can also complete the O'Net Interest Profiler to get a list of careers that match your interests. It will take you 5 minutes to complete this!Click the picture to go to the website
Brainstorming the Details
Brainstorming the Details
Once you have your topic, it is time to brainstorm some specific details about the career. At this point you have reached “Choose Idea” in The Writing Process graphic. However, now you need to go back to “Collect Ideas” to brainstorm the topic that you chose. That is how the process works...you often repeat steps as you progress through the steps to completing your paper.
When it comes to brainstorming details for a paper, finding the technique that works for you can greatly improve your writing efficiency. There are many brainstorming techniques to choose from, but we will cover two popular ones:
- Mind Mapping - Write down key words or phrases relevant to the career you chose.
- Asking Questions - Write down every question you have about the career you chose.
These brainstorming techniques are demonstrated below.
What should you brainstorm? You should think about these questions:
- What types of things do you think would be good to know before getting into this career?
- What have you always wanted to know or wondered about this career?
These are some details to think about:
- Job description - what does someone with this job do?
- Requirements to get the job - what kind of education do you need?
- Job outlook - are there a lot of jobs in this field?
Mind Map Example
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Asking Questions Example
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SUBMIT your assignment
On a scrap piece of paper, use one of the two options shown above to brainstorm your topic.
Snap a picture of your brainstorm and send it to your instructor (email or Facebook messenger)
Keep in mind that brainstorming is just a way to get all your thoughts and questions down on paper. It is okay if you write things down that you do not end up using in your paper. This brainstorming will help you remember what you want to research and learn about.
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