HANDOUT 1

Step 1: choosing A Topic

The first thing you must do in any kind of writing is to choose a topic. For our purposes, we will define a topic as the subject that you are going to write about. The most important thing to remember about picking or choosing a writing topic is to choose something that is of interest to you. This is a relationship that has often been commonly overlooked in many writing courses. If the topic, or subject of the assigned writing is not of interest to the writer, even an experienced writer will have a difficult time doing a good job.

Often, your instructor will assign a theme or topic. This is a common practice because many students have a difficult time getting started in their writing process, and assigning a topic eliminates one of the most difficult steps for the student. However, most topics can be adapted to some subject that does interest you – all you have to do is open your mind to the possibilities.

Consider the possibilities if your teacher assigned a writing topic on “anything to do with time”. Think of the titles that a theme paper on “time” might include:

	Clocks
	Some Clocks I Know
	Clocks Have Personality
	How To Repair A Clock
	Watch Repairing As A Profession
	Late Again
	Better Late Than Never
	My Neighbor Reminds Me Of A Clock
	On Tardiness
	Famous Quotations On Time
	How I Learned To Be On Time
	How I Learned To Be On Time For My
	Eight O’clock Class
	The Clock In The Hall
	The Time Clock
	Big Ben
	What Time Is It?
	The Character Of A Clock
	Hickory Dickory Dock
	Man Is The Slave To Time
	The Value Of Time
	Mother’s Grandfather Clock
	On Getting Up Early
	Punctuality And The Filipino
	Clocks Are Man’s Best Friend
	Clocks Are Man’s Worst Enemy
	I Hate Clocks
	My Girlfriend Needs A Clock
	My Boyfriend Thinks Like A Clock
	The Value Of Being On Time
	A trip Through A Clock Store
	An Old Watchmaker I Once Knew
	Cuckoo
	Time Machine
	The Value Of A Minute
	Every Second Counts
	Time And Time Again
	Meal Time At My House
	A Time For Living
	A Time For Children
	A Time For Love
	Time: Its Relationship To The Universe
	Oh No! Late Again
	Managing Time
	Time Management
	So Much To Do And So Little Time
	A Step back In Time
	Does Time Really Matter?
	Timeout!
	It’s All In The Timing
	Who Invented Time?
	If Only I Had More Time
	Time Is Money
	A Most Precious Gift; The Gift Of Time
	Bed Time
	Perceptions Of Time
	Time: The Universal Language
	Making Time Count

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