10 Steps to Writing an Essay -- Step 3: Brainstorming

Brainstorming is the art of thinking critically to discover original, hidden insights about a topic. Assuming you've done a fair amount of research, you should now have a solid base of concepts to play around with for an essay. The task is now to stand on the shoulders of the scholars you've read and find something original to say about the topic. It is not enough to regurgitate what they have said. You must go beyond them to propose an original idea. Your paper should expose some new idea or insight about the topic, not just be a collage of other scholars' thoughts and research -- although you will definitely rely upon these scholars as you move toward your point.

Since the days of Aristotle, a variety of "invention techniques" or "heuristics" have been used for coming up with ideas. Depending on your topic, some invention techniques may work better than others. The overall goal when using any method is to discover unique ideas that take you and your reader beyond the obvious. The following wheel briefly describes nine of the most common methods for finding ideas. After reading the brief descriptions of each technique, download the Brainstorm Now file (a Word document), and begin brainstorming by answering the questions asked you.

Explore the evidence. Any assertion you or others settle on requires a certain amount of evidence, be it in the form of studies, facts, reasoning, personal anecdotes, or authoritative quotations. First locate the assertion; then ask what evidence there is to believe it. Assess the strength of this evidence. What issues or flaws are associated with this evidence? How could it be stronger? Should you believe it? Why or why not?

Look beyond the obvious. Having an insight means to have an idea others don't already see or realize themselves. We almost always have some obvious observations about issues. Your job in writing an essay is to come up with something new, something original and exciting. Your job is to tell the reader: It's not about X. Instead, it is really about Y!

Identify assumptions. An assumption is any unstated assertion that one assumes to be true, but which may actually not be true. Every issue or problem has a few assumptions related to it. Usually these assumptions are part of the reason why the problem is a problem in the first place. Ask yourself what is being assumed in the topic or problem? What do people take for granted to be true? What if this assumption were false?

Define the problem. Figure out what the problem is. Until you figure this out, your brainstorming won't have any direction or purpose. Ask yourself not only what the problem is, but why it is indeed a problem. A problem for whom? When did it first become a problem? What is the root of the problem?

Do more research. If the ideas don't yet flow, perhaps you need to do more research about the topic. Continue to educate yourself about the problem or issue. Reading up on it will soon give you the orientation needed to put you in the right direction. As you get more knowledgeable about the topic, seek out longer, more in-depth works, such as books in the library or articles on JSTOR.

Ask questions. Write down ten questions about the problem or issue. They can be any ten questions, just write them down (e.g., What caused X?, How is X defined? What can X be compared to?). Asking these questions will generate answers that may contain useful ideas. Some questions won't lead to fruitful answers, but the few that do may lead you to a major insight that could form the basis of your paper.

Carry a notecard. Even when you're not consciously thinking about the topic, your brain can be simmering away with the issue on a subconscious level. Keep a notecard with you to record insights as they sporadically surface. When you write down the insight, you teach your brain to produce more insights, and soon by the end of the day your notecard will be full.

Write in your Journal. Putting your thoughts into words allows you to think more clearly about the issue or problem you're exploring. The written word conjures up other words which in turn help spawn ideas about the topic. Write about the problem in your journal, in your blog, or even on scrap paper. After a while you will see that writing is a powerful tool for thinking. The pen or keyboard takes you beyond what you can accomplish in silent meditation.

Examine biases. Recognize that you have some unconscious biases in the way you view the world around you. These biases could be social, economic, religious, environmental, ethnic, or cultural predispositions that prevent you from seeing the issue in another light. Ask yourself how a person from another walk of life (a Buddhist monk in Nepal, for example) might view the same problem. What about an elderly person, or a child? An American versus an Egyptian? Step outside yourself.