How To Come Up With An Extraordinary Research Paper Topic Idea

Imagine a situation: you have a paper to write. (Not very unusual, right?). You take the assignment guidelines and sudden realize that your professor did not give you the topic to write on and it is now your responsibility to choose one. This is what gets you finally stuck and you sit there in front of a blank page, loosing your time and trying to think of something. Sounds familiar? Looks like we have a solution for you. Numerous brainstorming techniques were invented specifically for such cases.

What is brainstorming?

If you never heard of brainstorming, you can guess from the name itself that it's a technique of attacking the problem with all the power your brain is capable of. You need to set your mind in a critical situation, as this is the most efficient stage for the brain to work in. You need to intensely think about the topic for your paper, including different possibilities and variations. Give the problem your full attention and you will come up with several variation of topics in no time. There are different brainstorming techniques, including individual and group brainstorming.

Group brainstorming.

It is always better to have several bright minds working on the same problem. If you have fellow classmates with the same problems, gather them and give these techniques a try:

1. Associations. You all have your subject and possible field in front of you. Start the timer and write down everything that comes up associated with the topic. Don't be afraid to write down something stupid – you never know what you can develop it into. Exchange the lists for more ideas.
2. Questions. Ask each other questions in the field – something that interested you for a long time or just came into your mind. It will help you find out what you might be interested in and give you some material to think on.

Individual brainstorming.

If all of your friends have already found a topic or you simply don't have time or possibility to try and brainstorm the topic in groups, you can as well do it on your own.

1. Free writing/ free speaking. This is something similar to the associations techniques. Just set a time for yourself and write down or speak outloud everything that comes to mind and it at least distantly related to the field.
2. Mind map. Get a piece of paper and right your topic in the center of it. Right down everything that is connected to it in your mind, making connections to the topic and between separate statements.