I'm really struggling this week to come up with a cool topic for Odyssey. We have to submit a new article every week and sometimes it's hard to think of something new. I have a lot of ideas but in the middle of midterm week, I have no time to spend on making those ideas great! Here is a list to help any of you other writers who are struggling like me!
1) Review your favorite album.
Go through it song by song and write your feelings about each song and maybe your favorite lyrics from each one!
2) Daily thoughts while (insert activity here).
Makes a list of things you think about while driving, showering, sitting through a boring lecture, or even scrolling though twitter!
3) An open letter to the author of your favorite book.
Put it in writing why their writing means so much to you. I've had a J.K. Rowling letting in the works for weeks! Just trying to make it perfect!
4) Describe your dream house!
If you could build your own house with no limit on money how would you do it? Go room by room and floor by floor, both inside and outside. Use your imagination and get creative!
5) Complete a DIY project and write about how it went.
Find something on Pintrest that you want to make. Take pictures of the process and write about any fails or thoughts you have along the way.
6) Rate the Disney Princesses
Put them in order from best to worst or favorite to least favorite and why! Currently Moana is number one on my list!
7) Rate the Marvel/DC super heros or villains.
Do the same thing as you would do with the princesses! Maybe take it a step further and compare Marvel to DC or make up what you think would be the best teams or duos!
8) Take your best paper or project from school and turn it into an article.
If you got a good grade and you did all that work, you might as well let some other people see it! If you had a fun topic (like a response to a book, or a social movement) it could be cool to share!
9) A long list of silly things to do over the summer.
Make a list with something to do each day while on summer break. Making homemade popsicles, going bowling, go to a drive in movie or tie dye some shirts. Make the list as long and inexpensive as possible that way you always have something to do.
10) Poll your family and friends on a topic and post the results.
Ask them about their favorite movies, pizza toppings or anything and write about what they said.
11) Clean your room and write about the stuff you find.
An award from the 4th grade science fair? Your lucky shirt from high school? Maybe you found your old camera that still has pictures on it! This could be really fun and you can find your lost things while doing it.
12) Write about why you love/hate you school.
Self explanatory. Talk about why you love it and the things you wish were better about your school.
13) A list of (X) things only a fan of (insert movie, TV show, professional team, etc. here) would understand.
Write about the things that you love or that drive you crazy about one of your favorite things. Do you watch Grey's Anatomy? Or maybe The Bachelor. I'm sure you know the struggle of watching a show that makes you insane. Explain those feelings so other fans know they're not alone.
14) Buy a writing prompt journal and use some of those to create your topics.
Writing prompts can be super helpful! I love the ones that make you answer questions. It's much easier to write about a topic that is given to you rather than creating one on your own.
15) Describe something using your favorite show.
I wrote an article called "The Start of the Semester as told by That 70's Show." They're really fun to write and you can use funny images of gifs to help tell your story.
16) Pick a song and make it come to life.
Pick a song that tells a story and elaborate on it. Give the people in the song names and dialogue. Create a back story and have fun with it. I've done this before with Hear You Me by Jimmy Eat World and Boston by Augustana.
17) A list of personal essentials and why they're essential.
I'm not talking about your phone. If you never leave the house without chapstick or maybe you cant go a day without using headphones, or reading a book on the go, add them to the list. Think about the small things you couldn't live without and that you need every day to function. List them and write about why you need them.
18) (X) Things you have learned in your (X) years of life.
These are always really fun and super self expressive. Get deep, and be funny! Write about tips like always having gum or an emergency $20 in your car, mixed with things you've learned about hard work and motivation.
19) Make a bucket list.
Create your own list of things you want to do someday. Maybe it'll include places you want to visit, concerts you want to attend or other things like running a marathon. Whatever you want to do, make a list (and include your reasons why you want to do those things) that way you can come back to it.
20) Favorite Things list.
Make a list of your favorite things. This is different than the list of essentials or bucket list. Include your favorite books, t shirts, songs, anything that you love. This way you can always go back to it for inspiration or if you're having a bad day to find something to cheer you up!
21) BONUS TIP - Make a Topics list of your own!
Make a list, just like this one that you can pull out on the day of submission and use it when you're struggling that week. Or use it anytime you want! You're reading this for a reason, you love to write and need some ideas. Make sure you're always writing and practicing at it! Using ideas like these and the thousands of others out there will help you so much if you're trying to get better at writing or finding your writing routine.
