Now, it’s time to brainstorm for your chosen essay prompt.

Generally, I like to begin this by asking a series of targeted questions in order to get to the substance of the essay. Explore all that the topic has to offer. Don’t stress about precise language and organization yet. It should be a freewrite of different ideas.

From your descriptive paragraphs, jumbled phrases, or sporadic doodles pinpoint the strongest ideas. From there, you are ready to create an outline.