Handout 4

STEP 4: Brainstorming, or Identifying the Aspects of Your Topic

            Brainstorming is a pre-writing strategy designed to identify aspects and ideas related to the topic you are writing about.  This is an important step because it provides the foundation for your writing and it gives you an “idea resource” that will be available to you during the writing process.  Let’s consider a topic based on the title “Qualities Of A Good Teacher”.  Start brainstorming by simply jotting down any qualities you can think of as they come to mind.  Your list might look something like this:

bulletEmpathy
bulletAbility to explain
bulletAbility to maintain order
bulletHonesty
bulletSubject knowledge
bulletAbility to inspire
bulletImpartial and fair
bulletInterest in students
bulletA sense of humor
bulletAppearance and cleanliness
bulletClass manner and voice
bulletUses common sense
bulletQuick thinking ability
bulletGood personality
bulletPatient

Of course, you can probably think of many other traits you would like to see in your teacher, but this is a good start.  If your output is to be a short paper of 500 words, you will probably only focus on three or four of these qualities.  However, many of these qualities could become important as secondary or incidental components of the other main qualities you are focusing on.  For example, patient and honest could easily go together, as could empathy and interest in students. 

In addition to providing a crude outline in the form of an idea resource, this list also helps with writer’s block.  Even the most experienced writers sometimes experience “blank spells” when they just can’t think of anything to say.  Brainstorming gives you a foundation to go back to through which you can reorganize your thoughts and get back on line writing again.

Don’t discount this brainstorming process.  Even the most experienced writers will use some type of system like this to organize and maintain their thoughts, and they will continuously add ideas to the list during their writing process as new ideas come to them.  If you think you can simply sit down and write the perfect paper, you are wrong!  A good paper requires careful planning, and brainstorming is one of the most important steps in writing a successful paper.

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