3 Ways to Generate Ideas for Your Essay

One of the most challenging aspects of writing your essay can often be where to begin. If your instructor has assigned you an essay where you can write about anything you want, that can be challenging. It is difficult to think of an idea when you have no suggestions or guidelines. However, even if you are assigned an essay about a particular subject, you may still run into challenges with thinking of ideas. So, today we have several strategies that you can use to generate a topic excites you.

1) Brainstorm session

Brainstorming is a great way to generate essay topic ideas. Get together with your study group and do a brainstorming session with each other. Make sure you take a notebook with you and jot ideas as they arise. If you can't meet in person, do a Zoom session or set up a chat through Slack. If you don't have a group to get together with, you can still brainstorm on your own. Jot down ideas as you can, no matter how ridiculous sounding or strange. The rule is for brainstorming is all ideas are worthy of consideration.

2) Freewrite

Freewriting is a writing exercise that opens up your conscious mind onto paper. You write down whatever comes to mind. It's different from brainstorming because it is more free-flowing and also much faster. You don't think when you free write. Set a timer, so it doesn't feel like an overwhelming task. By limiting your time, your brain works a little faster with the challenge. You'd be surprised about how much you know and what ideas come up as a result of this exercise. 

3) Take a look around you

Another way to generate a topic for your essay is to take a look at everything around you. By that, we mean your own life story, circumstances, situations, interests, hobbies, and things that surround you, can be great topics for an essay. Pay attention to movies you enjoy, books you read, articles you save, and anything else you interact with throughout your day. These types of things can be fascinating topics for an essay. Just don't forget to keep your notebook with you and immediately write down anything that sounds interesting. 

Hopefully, with these tips available to you, your essay will be far easier to get started.  If you are still having trouble, consider using a topic generator. Study Spark offers a topic generator that suggests ideas based on the type of essay you are assigned.