HOW TO CHOOSE A TOPIC (Overall)

Rachelle D. Sindo
University of the Philippines in the Visayas-Cebu College; BA Mass Communication 2
Mobile number: 09289072778; E-mail address: rachelle_sindo@yahoo.com.ph

SUBJECT: How to choose a topic (General topic)
Characters with space: 3, 509

A Good Choice, Indeed
You love foods. All of us definitely do. Yet, when instances occur that we have to really decide only one food that we could eat, I tell you, it will not be as easy as loving it anymore.

This scenario is somehow similar to a journalist who loves playing with a pen and its ink or with a computer and its encoding software. But then, when the writing is no more free and its time already to choose one specific topic to write, just like picking one food to feed yourself, it will not anymore be a simple task to do.

I could absolutely relate in both situations mentioned above. I am a food lover and at the same time, an amateur journalist. Although food and an article are entirely different things, choosing what to eat and deciding what to write have certain similarities that would make my comparison justifiable.

Let us begin with the question: how do you choose a topic for an article?

Well, this query has been answered so numerous times already but what I will be sharing with you are the class priorities of some of the 2nd year Journalism 103 (Interpretive Writing) students of the Mass Communication program in the University of the Philippines in the Visayas – Cebu College, based on their experiences in their Journalism 102 (News Writing) course.

First on the list is to choose a topic according to your interest just as you choose your food according to what your appetite dictates. “It is easier to write an article if you yourself love to write about it,” says one student.

Your proximity to source or your connection is another approach. Likewise, most of your choices on what to eat are the most accessible foods in your place or foods in which the ingredients needed are readily available. This simply indicates that if you already have an idea of whom to interview for a specific topic, it will not be difficult to make a story of it anymore.

Third in rank is choosing a topic depending upon the relevant events or current issues just as the newest cuisine in town affects your preference of food. Also in the third spot is the consideration of suggested topic of family members and friends. Recommended course of others is similarly an alternative in choosing what to eat.

Surfing the net or researching is also an option. “Nowadays, the world wide web provides you with so many good ideas on what to write,” remarks another student. Correspondingly, exploring restaurants, food chains, and eateries gives you a handful of menu to choose from.

Deciding a topic based on the events attended, activities undertaken, and unique things discovered are all fourth in the list. In one way or another, these are all identical to eating something which you have tried or tasted before and foods that are exotic or rarely eaten.

Sports tidbits and ideas that are products of brainstorming are among the least cited ways of selecting a topic. These may apply to selecting a food that are energizing and foods which are outcomes of prior thinking. According to the sources of the said techniques, sports is ting and is an interesting and unusual topic to write about while brainstorming is an effective way of having various ideas for an article. Sports writing, however, is not everyone’s forte and the process of brainstorming is usually time-consuming. Hence, these are not applied by the majority of the respondents.

One student also wrote a distinctive way of how to choose a subject. A topic that just pop up in his/her mind is what he/she considers to be the topic destined for him/her. This can probably be associated when you choose a food merely because you happened to pass by it or encountered it along your way. Nevertheless, this method should not be practiced since it is not reliable and this mentality is not applicable to journalists who have deadlines to meet.
These are only few of the many techniques on how to choose a topic to write and you can even have your personal manner of doing so. It does not matter how you arrived on a topic as long as it will be a valuable article serving its purpose to persuade, inform or entertain. And this tells so much truth on deciding what food to eat. For as long as it satisfies your cravings, dispenses nutrients to your body, and supplies you with vitality, it will always be a good choice.