Few things in academia are more daunting than staring at your own blank computer screen. One of the most common struggles writers express during Writing Studio sessions is just “getting started” on a writing project—they either have no ideas for a paper topic at all, or they have an idea or two but aren’t sure how to put those ideas into writing. Here at the Writing Studio, we like to call this problem the “Blank Screen Blues.”
Many writers overcome the Blank Screen Blues with traditional brainstorming techniques like free writing, mind mapping, or outlining. However, these techniques don’t work for everyone, and they certainly don’t work for every single writing project.
With this in mind, we’ve collected a list of five unique brainstorming strategies to help you overcome the Blank Screen Blues and kick start your next writing project.
1. Talk to Yourself
If you’ve seen the film Darkest Hour or watched the Netflix series The Crown, you know that Winston Churchill’s favorite method for producing first drafts was a method called dictation, or speaking words out loud to be typed or recorded. Other famous writers who have relied on dictation include John Milton, Henry James, and Dan Brown.
Though it may feel odd at first, speaking your thoughts and ideas out loud is a great way to process what you already know about a topic, make surprising connections between ideas, and begin putting your thoughts into writing. If you’re the kind of writer who says things like, “I know what I want to say; I just don’t know how to put my thoughts into writing,” then talking aloud to yourself may be the perfect brainstorming technique for you.
All you need is a recording device (the free voice-recording app on iPhone works well). Go somewhere quiet and comfortable, like a park or library study room, and try speaking your ideas for an upcoming paper into your recording device. After several minutes of talking, listen to your recording and jot down ideas you’d like to include in your paper. Another option is to try the voice typing tool on Google Docs (which will automatically type up everything you say aloud), or even speak aloud to a friend or Writing Studio consultant about your paper, and have them write down your main ideas as you speak.
2. Scan Wikipedia
I should start by saying that because Wikipedia publishes “crowd-sourced” information, it should not be considered a reliable academic source, and you should never cite Wikipedia in an academic paper. However, Wikipedia can be really useful at the brainstorming stages of the writing process.
For starters, Wikipedia can help you understand important contextual information about a complex or broad academic topic. If you’re supposed to write a paper about Don Quixote, for example, it may be useful to start by learning some background information on the literary techniques of metatheatre and intertextuality, or about how the Spanish Golden Age affected literature of that time period. By reading a bit about these concepts, you will understand the material better, and you’ll likely also develop a more specific and compelling topic to write about.
Wikipedia is also helpful for coming up with keywords that you can use in your library research later. For example, if you’re writing a paper on how drought affects the state of California, you might discover some language that will help you yield more relevant results on library databases, like “weather patterns,” “climate change,” “water rights,” and more. These initial research articles may help you narrow your topic idea and help you get writing more quickly!
3. Play Topic Swap
If you enjoy collaboration, then you’ll love Topic Swap. To play, get together with a group of classmates and have each person write down her or his tentative paper topic, research question, or thesis statement at the top of a blank sheet of paper. Pass the sheets around from left to right, and have each person in the group write down a suggestion or thoughtful question for the writer to think about. Keep going until the sheets of paper are full of suggestions and questions.
4. Throw Around a Ball
A fun alternative to Topic Swap is to collaborate with classmates or friends by throwing around a ball (any type of ball will do!). This might sound a little crazy, but it really works! Sit or stand in a circle and state your topic out loud so everyone can hear. Then pass the ball to someone else in the circle. When that person catches the ball, he or she must state one word or idea that comes to mind in relation to that paper topic. That person passes the ball to someone else, who must state another word or idea in relation to the topic. Keep going until you have some fresh ideas for your paper.
5. Create a Word Storm
Sometimes it’s difficult to get past ordinary ways of thinking about an academic topic. When you’re planning to write about a cliché topic that doesn’t actually interest you, the writing process can become especially daunting.
One way to start thinking more creatively about a topic is to develop a word storm. A word storm is a word association activity where you write down all the words that come to mind when you see another word. For an academic essay, you might begin with an intriguing word or phrase from the assignment prompt, textbook, lecture notes, or assigned reading. Then, spend ten minutes writing down anything and everything that comes to mind. After the ten minutes are up, look over your word storm and start grouping words according to categories. Using this technique, you might discover fresh ways to think about a topic as well as some ideas for organization. The following is a really cool website for helping you create word storms: http://www.lonij.net/wordstorm/wordstorm.php
There you have it! Five unique ways to get over those Blank Screen Blues in no time! Good luck, and happy writing!