Hiram Library Research Guide: Choose Your Topic

Freewriting

Freewriting helps you explore your topic, uncover ideas, and notice patterns you might use in your research.

• Set a timer (3–6 minutes).
• Choose your topic and write all ideas that come to mind—keep your pen moving and don’t stop to edit.
• Don’t worry about perfection; the goal is to get your thoughts on paper.

See examples and try it yourself here.

Listing

Listing helps you quickly get ideas on paper and see what you already know about your topic.

• Write each idea on its own line (bullets, numbers, or separate lines).
• Use words, phrases, or full sentences—order doesn’t matter.
• Add new ideas as they come.

Why it helps:

• Identifies gaps in your knowledge.
• Generates subtopics and connections between ideas.

Try it yourself: Explore listing with a guided example.