After going through chapter 5, and being immensely interested in the helpful checklist at the end, I found myself going straight back to the beginning. The section of brainstorming topic ideas under choosing a topic through basic research stood out to me the most because I relate to it the most. No matter how good or bad something I write is, or how difficult or simple the prompt is, my greatest struggle is the initial brainstorming. Sometimes I will get lucky and an idea will immediately come to me, and from there I can create a map of where I want to go with it, but for the days I don't have that kind of luck, I find myself stressing out over a topic that isn't even in existence in my head yet. I take seriously the steps given in the textbook such as, first reading online to find trustworthy sources as well as discussing, making a list to make a topic more specific, freewriting, and making a mind map, but before I can do any of that, I have to think of a topic or at least an inkling of an idea for my piece. Free writing does not work for me. If anything, I just become more confused if already lost. When I have something in mind, free writing can help me go from there, but if I have no idea what I'm writing, free writing will assure I stay that way. Sometimes the mind map can work, but I still need something to go off of, rather than a blank slate of mind. Once I have an idea, then I can use these steps to help me form a more approachable topic. I need to learn a way to come up with an initial thought and then to go from there to a topic using the helpful steps listed. Discussion is one of the few topics I read about that I use first. For example, I felt stressed already about coming up with a project one idea, seeing as many people had already found the perfect topic, so I discussed with my peers and mat and eventually eased my mind to a point where I can write my rough draft and not be worried the whole time.
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