Accuplacer Next Gen: Brainstorming Strategies

The brainstorming or invention strategies below can jump start your writing and help you see different facets of your topic. Consider using one or more strategies at various times in your writing process: from generating first ideas to gathering more evidence.​

Imagine your audience. How old are they? What is their level of education? What is their familiarity with your topic? Ask additional questions that will help you understand your audience better. Now, make a list of questions that your audience might have about your topic. Answer those questions. 

Write for 10 minutes about your topic, keeping your pencil moving and not edit anything. When you are finished, re-read what you have and compose a single sentence that summarizes the most important idea of your writing. Next, use that sentence as the first sentence of another 5 to 10-minute free write, or “loop.” Continue this process of looping until you discover a clear angle or aspect of your topic. 

To develop your topic more fully and get a better understanding of the relationships among the parts of a broad topic, watch this video on clustering and try it for yourself. 

Don't forget that just talking with a friend or tutor about your ideas, concerns, or common interests can be very helpful. Hearing an opposing viewpoint or understanding a problem from a different perspective may give you something new to write about. Let the conversation flow naturally. Your friend can help by jotting down bits of the conversation so you have a rough record for later use. Was there something in the conversation that excited you? Can it be developed into a thesis or a paper?

You can try this at home by free talking. Use the same method above, but instead of your friend recording the conversation, note things you say that interest you. 

Explain a topic by answering the following questions. Use this information help you organize your paper. Did you have difficulty answering some questions? Do some areas of your topic need further development, or do you need to change your focus?

1. Who is doing it?
2. What is the issue?
3. When does it begin and end?
4. Where is it taking place? 
5. Why does it occur?
6. How is it done? 

Use these questions to help you discover more specific and critical ways to think about your topic. Finding answers to the questions that pique your curiosity will ultimately lead to your thesis and provide the development you need to support it.

Sources:

Clark, Irene. Writing in the Center, Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1985. Print.
Lundsford, Andrea, and Robert Connors. The Everyday Writer. New York: St. Martins, 1977. Print.
McAndrew, Donald A., and Thomas J. Reigstad. “Tutoring When the Writer Does Not Have a Draft.” Tutoring Writing: A Practical
Guide for Conferences. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2001. Print.