As a student, you’ll be asked to write several papers during your schooling. For most students, this is a struggle. They find it hard to organize their thoughts, submitting works that are unclear and unfocused. That’s why brainstorming in writing is important. Brainstorming can take many forms, from creating an outline for a paper to keeping a list of ideas and thoughts. The method you choose depends only on what works best for you. What matters most is that brainstorming helps you to take your random, scattered thoughts and develop them into something more useful.
The benefits of brainstorming include the following:
Having a Plan
It’s a situation that plenty of students have found themselves in: you’re halfway through writing a paper, when you realize that you have no idea what to say next about your topic. This is a very frustrating experience, to say the least. Luckily, when you take some time to brainstorm beforehand, you’ll always have a plan for what to write next. As a result, you won’t find yourself struggling to complete your work as the deadline moves closer.
Making Clear Points
No matter what topic you may be writing about, your teacher or instructor will want you to make clear, relevant points due to it. If you just dive into your work without planning beforehand, odds are good your work will come across as random and unfocused. There’s no way you’re getting the best grade possible with that approach. That’s one of the key reasons why brainstorming is so important. You need time to develop your ideas before beginning the writing process. That way, when you actually sit down to write the essay, you’ll never lose focus on your main arguments.
Being Original
Again, all professors want you to make clear points in your work. Usually, they also want you to make original points. Many essay assignments essentially require you to make an argument about a subject. Too often, students make arguments that are commonplace. To many professors, this is too easy. It’s not difficult to prove a point that others have made several times before. If you want to earn the best grade, you need to show that you can think critically about your topic and explore it in a unique way. Brainstorming gives you the chance to sort through your thoughts and come up with an idea that is truly unique.
Improving Organization
Unless you’re writing a story or poem for a creative writing class, your instructors will expect your work to be concise and organized. Even if you have a strong grasp on language and have an interesting point to make, your work will suffer if it sounds rambling and unclear. Regardless of how a strong writer you may be, you still need to take some time to prepare in order to ensure that your work is properly organized.
Students may feel that brainstorming is just an extra step that makes completing an assignment an even longer process than it already is. That’s not the case, though. Brainstorming actually helps save your time by giving you a clear plan to stick to.