Choosing Your Topic: Difference between revisions

Choosing a successful topic is essential to the success of the overall blog <ref group=>Carroll, p. 140</ref><ref group=>Rehner</ref>. A topic expresses one essential idea within writing and ties together each successive post <ref group=>Loos</ref>. Topics can seem to confine creativity, however focus within a blog topic opens [http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/10/06/blogs-without-topics-are-a-waste-of-time  creative possibilities]. A focused topic encourages the audience to engage more actively and interact as a part of a blog [http://www.briangardner.com/niche-blogging  community], ultimately enhancing the popularity of the blog. Creating a successful blog topic can take a significant amount of forethought and preparation through Brainstorming for Blogs, Focusing the Niche, Assessing the Idea and Finalizing the Topic.  

Brainstorming transforms creativity into [http://library.deerfield.edu/research_guides/us_history/topic_worksheet.pdf  organizational thought]. Individual brainstorming encourages writers to get out all of their ideas in order to focus and reorganize them into a cohesive concept through personalization and Brainstorming Methods<ref group=>Mind Tools Ltd.</ref>.

Begin brainstorming by writing down personal interests, dislikes, and topics that appeal to you. With a little introspection you can analyze and learn about yourself, your disciplines or “something that helps define your personality” <ref group=>Lucas</ref> and your passions. In addition to personal interest, you must have experience in your topic ideas in order to establish a credibility in your writing. Consider your personal experiences and how they have shaped who you are and your writing style, as well as your qualifications. Most importantly, use your [http://www.unm.edu/~pre/law/archuleta.htm  personal character] to your advantage when brainstorming in order to allow the audience to understand a little more about you. This transparency will not only make you a relatable online personae, but will also help form a specific audience and blogging community.

The [http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm    Mind Mapping] Method encourages you to “get out of the realm of words alone and see how different spatial representations might help you see the relationships among your ideas" <ref group=>The Writing Center</ref>. This [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_concept_mapping_and_mind_mapping_software    method] begins with a central idea and builds outward, incorporating all possible topic ideas.