Center for Writing Excellence Blog

How to Come Up with Topics for Open-ended Assignments

 

Hi, I’m Alicia Canton. I’m a Writing Center consultant, class of 2023, majoring in Policy Studies and minoring in African and African-American Studies. I’m also an Elon College Fellow.

When it comes to writing papers for class, I have found that most difficult assignments are the ones that are open-ended. Sure, it’s nice to have the freedom to write about a topic of my choice, but when I’m juggling the work of other classes, it’s much easier to answer a specific prompt.

Nonetheless, we will all continue to get assignments where we are responsible for coming up with the topic. Generating ideas is something I often have trouble with as a writer, but thankfully UNC Chapel Hill’s Writing Center offers brilliant brainstorming techniques and advice for practically any other obstacle a student writer might face. Here are some suggestions from their website.

First Steps

Before you even think about starting your assignment, you should always make sure you understand the instructions. How many times have you found yourself realizing right as you turn in an assignment that you completely misread part of the rubric or forgot to include a crucial element? 

It can be tempting to skim through the rubric once and feel like you “got it,” but if you want to avoid this predicament in the future, try analyzing the rubric as soon as you get it. Here are some notes from UNC.

• Read the Instructions. Even if your professor thoroughly described the assignment in class, read the instructions on your own word for word. If something confuses you, reach out to your professor with questions.
• Annotate the Assignment. Underline and circle key verbs like summarize, compare, or synthesize that give guidance on how to format your paper, and adjectives like concise or persuasive that describe the stylistic expectations.

Looking at the rubric might sound like useless advice when the problem is that you can’t come up with ideas. However, when you have clearer expectations for what the end product should look like, it can be easier to get started. If anything, analyzing your rubric is much more productive than simply staring at a blank screen.  If you want to see this process in action, check out this video.

Free Writing

Free writing is exactly what it sounds like: simply writing down every thought that pops into your head. If you’re worried about wasting time, set a timer for 15-20 minutes. Turn off your internal critic and forget about grammar, spelling, legibility, and cohesion. Just write.

Obviously your free-write will be nowhere near fit to turn in, but that’s not the point. Writing out the thoughts and ideas bouncing around in your head helps you articulate them in a way that can better translate to a rough draft.

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping and webbing are visual techniques that can help you put your thoughts down on paper. Here is how you do it:

Find a blank, line-free sheet of paper. At school, I’ll usually grab some paper from a printer or use the back of an old assignment. In the center of your paper, write the main idea. This might be the topic of the assignment, for example, “The Civil War. ”Jot down some ideas. Branching off from the central point, spend 5-7 minutes writing down some key ideas, phrases, and questions. Find connections. Once your time is up, draw lines connecting related ideas.

To see this process in action, check out this video from UNC.

Ask for help

If you’re still having trouble generating ideas on your own, try bouncing ideas off a friend, a classmate, or a peer at Elon’s Writing Center. Here at The Writing Center, we are trained to help you with brainstorming and any other writing concerns you may have.

 

Additional References

“Brainstorming.” The Writing Center, writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/brainstorming.