Writing a Paper Without a Topic

Writing a Paper Without a TopicAs a student in college, I found myself being confronted with the task of teaching one of my freshman English classes how to write a paper without a topic. In the first semester of college, students are often very anxious about class assignments, and it's easy to see why: completing a high school or college course is already a significant responsibility.Making a presentation at a party or other social gathering is a challenging and difficult task, but with careful planning and organization, it's quite doable. But then, when a presentation is to be given to a group of people that you've never met before, there is a problem. How can you possibly know what questions to ask to get the best result?Writing a paper without a topic is one of the most stressful experiences for a student. It's not only because it requires an extremely long period of research, but also because you have no idea where to begin. If you're used to learning at the pace of the class, th is might be a time when you need to slow down just a little.Once you've figured out a decent topic for your paper, it's time to start thinking about how to structure it. In English, essays can range from highly structured to highly unstructured, but the truth is that it's rarely best to completely ignore the basics of structure. This is especially true when the topic of your paper is not only new to you, but also to your classmates.The important thing about a topic for a paper is that it's unique and its importance is not obvious to other people. If you are running into a problem with this aspect, you can always talk to someone who has written papers similar to yours. They will likely be able to give you some useful advice on how to structure a paper.Another common issue is trying to come up with a story that has nothing to do with the topic. Sometimes it's tempting to go with a story that is already in the paper, but that's not always a good idea. For one thing, no one will think t hat you wrote it to fit the topic.An even more common problem is trying to come up with a plot that's somehow connected to the topic of the paper. Again, this isn't always a bad idea, but it's important to keep in mind that everyone has different writing styles. Your assignment may be better served by having someone else write the paper than to try to recreate your own.There are lots of situations where you need to consider how to write a paper without a topic. By using a good topic for the paper, you will be able to move it along at a decent pace and avoid any major problems.