Last week I had a day that represented my life well. Mostly BAD, so why and what can we do about it? Focus is related to information structure. What’s stopping you from making more money, reaching your goals, and bringing your big dreams to life? :), 5 Steps to Hiring Your First Virtual Assistant, 3 Reasons You’re Not Making More Money (And What to Do Instead), The REAL Reason Why I Created an Email List 6 Years Ago, Why NOT Being an Expert Can Help You Grow Your Email List, How She Grew an Email List of 5,000 Subscribers and Had a $20,000 Course Launch (In a Tiny Niche! just an overview of the major points or divisions of the topic) to fit the article length. How Your Money Mindset is Sabotaging Your Business (And How to Fix It), How to Let Go of the Status Quo to Live the Life You Were Meant For, Your Dream Life is on the Other Side of Your Scarcity Mindset, Why It’s So Damn Important to Heal Your Relationship With Money. I love to speak about words and encourage other writers, and since I care about words, I enjoy (most of the time) writing my column. Know Your Audience . If you continue to use our site, we'll assume that you're happy with it. Sometimes I talk about common errors in business writing, sometimes about grammar, sometimes about interesting words and their etymology. Why: Why does the European Union ban the sale and distribution of genetically modified food? It’s also the same reason why it’s so easy to read a blog post, rather than a whole book – the less information to manage, the more you are able to process. How have you decided where to focus and what to cut out? Once you’ve created your groups, go back and think of a word that encompasses each of the items within that group. For example, maybe you want to write a travel blog, but you also love cooking and fashion. For example, my “art, DIY projects, creativity, design, home decor, and fashion” would become “Creativity.”. Now, go back through your list and look for the ways in which some of your topics connect. Using “environmental issues” as our general research interest, for example, let’s ask some questions about environmental issues and agriculture. Another good method for narrowing your focus involves brainstorming a list of terms and questions related to your broad topic. Get Started. Wikipedia portals are a great way to explore subjects and locate issues. Grow, scale, and get the open book lessons I’ve learned along the way. As you work toward narrowing your focus, keep in mind the relationship among subjects, issues, and topics. ), What You Need to Know If You’re Trying to Grow Your Email List, 5 Steps to Build Your Email List, Engage Your Subscribers, and Make Sales With Email Marketing, 5 Reasons You Feel Unmotivated (and How to Get Your Passion Back), 5 Ways To Get Out of a Work-from-Home Rut, How to Use Your Menstrual Cycle to Plan Your Life, How to Use Human Design as an Entrepreneur. A good research project must be narrowed down in order to be meaningful and manageable. Already, you're one step closer to a better grade! Find a portal related to your major and spend some time reading random articles. Covid-19 ONLINE LEARNING: The jury’s verdict? If you’ve been in my sphere for awhile now, you know that one of the things I am most passionate about is community and helping others reach their potential by going after their dreams... “I can’t recommend this podcast and Melyssa enough. Where does pesticide poisoning occur most? Take a look at the diagram below to see where to go to find different levels of information for your topic. How do you know if your topic is too broad? Most articles will not be overly long, so a broad topic will require a very shallow focus (i.e. 5) Turn your topic into a sentence that is a statement. There’s one problem I’ve noticed that seems universal among each blog coaching client I work with — something that is both at the fundamental core of blogging and one of the most difficult things to define about your blog: When I started my blog, I was an expat living in Japan, but knew I didn’t want to write a travel blog. Will you focus on music from the United States, or will you write about music from another country? Will you write about hip hop, jazz, country, pop, opera, or some other type? Now, you have the main topics for your blog, and you also have the sub-topics that encompass that main category. (Thanks to my dh, I don’t need to do it full-time.). 8 reasons why some ASIANS find the SPEAKING of English SO DIFFICULT, BRITISH SLANG words and phrases – what’s POLITE and what’s IMPOLITE – my opinion. I love to write fiction; can get lost in the story and when I make myself laugh or cry, it’s a wonderful feeling. The words you’ll hear will change your life!”, “Loved how raw and heart-centered it was, every few seconds I would nod my head because it resonated so much. That’s exactly the reason why you should consider narrowing every piece of writing you do. Educational EXPECTATIONS as per PERIODS OF LIFE, ONLINE LEARNING has finally been THRUST UPON US – DELIVER IT or DIE, The INTERNET destroys the PERFECT in order to enable the IMPOSSIBLE, 5 Typical IELTS essay PROS AND CONS topics and planning notes with acronyms, 6 Reasons Why Watching Television Can Improve your English. I’m sharing it all! This results in a narrow subject! There’s a wealth of language learning information online. Think about how your interests connect and how you can use them in a way that is meaningful and useful to your specific audience. Imagine that your instructor has given this subject as a writing prompt. It was intended to help us write a speech, but it works for writing, too. Students get tired of hearing that their chosen topic is too broad, but it is a very common problem. A broad topic (such as "journalism") will first require some narrowing. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Narrowing a Topic for an Essay, Speech, or Research Paper "As you explore possible topics, avoid ones that are too large, too obscure, too emotional, or too complicated for you to work within the allotted time. I ate lunch with my friend Vincent Kituku, a speaker who has now focused his efforts on raising money for Caring Hearts and Hands of Hope, a non-profit that provides education for young people in poverty in Kenya. Today, I want to share some tips for narrowing your blog’s niche, making all those random topics work together in unison, and appealing to your specific audience. Demonstration videos. You got this! What: What are considered best practices for ensuring food safety with the use of pesticides? Narrowing the Focus: Writing, Speaking, Editing Choices. You might find something that interests you! Picking one of those to focus on is, to me, like choosing a favorite child. Your educational background, life experience, and interest in certain subjects can all be translated into writing-related specialties. I find this very helpful when I write my blog posts, because it gives me a lot of topics to write about, but I’m able to easily relate them to both one of my main topics and one of my sub-topics. My biweekly column is called Words at Work, and I have been given great latitude in topics. That means marketing Mustard’s Last Stand, the award-winning first novel, must take a back seat. (Photo credit http://bit.ly/Z4pdwK) If you read my other post a while ago about LEARNING TO READ is it the same in ESL?, then you will have a head start. Will you focus on current hits, music from the 1960s, or music from another era? You definitely don’t need all of your topics to connect, but try to combine them into 3-5 mini groups. So once again I shall spread myself too thin and take longer than I should completing the next novel. Basically, if we consider “Field” (or “major”) to be the largest category, the next division within Field would be Subject. Online dictionaries and thesaurus. In the morning, I worked on an article for the Idaho Statesman’s Business Insider. Vincent has mentored my speaking efforts for several years. . Most bloggers think they have a focus for their blog. A  news piece always makes perfect sense when it’s all about a singular event. However, I do have a nagging feeling that you instead chose to ignore it. A lot of them are good, so make full use of them. Answer a few key questions and you’ll get instant access to a customized path to step into more abundance and ease. If you are lucky, you will find out before you conduct too much research, because much of the early research you carry out might be useless once you finally narrow your topic. You always hear people talk about narrowing your writing’s focus to a single idea. Although these are more specific than the subject, they are still too broad; if you were to use these phrases as keywords to search for sources, the large number of results would suggest the need for further narrowing. A good topic addresses a, If your topic can be summed up in a word or two, like smoking, school, If you have trouble coming up with a thesis statement, your topic is probably too broad.​. The best way to narrow your topic is to apply a few of the old familiar question words, like who, what, where, when, why, and how. It might be a word from the group itself, or you might need to think of something else. Not easy. It’s my rock and anchor in a chaotic storm of trying to better my life. One way to do so is to use action verbs and detailed nouns; in the process of integrating such language into the topic phrase, you will likely find not only that the topic becomes narrower, but also that you generate some keywords you can use to help search for sources. It is typical for students to set off on a research topic only to find out that the one they've chosen is too broad. Why not share cultural recipes and your eclectic fashion sense? I know that focus would help me reach one of my goals faster. Maybe, you actually listened to this good advice. Now, I share much more specific topics and have a more narrowed niche, which has done wonders for building my blog and growing my audience. Well, if we choose “prisoner recidivism” as our issue and use strategies such as asking questions (e.g., “What about prisoner recidivism interests me?”; “What factors contribute to prisoner recidivism?”; etc.) All the things. Writing Articles Photos Committees Resources InDesign Narrowing Your Focus: Powered by Create your own unique website with ... Narrowing Your Focus: Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, How to Ace Your University of Wisconsin Personal Statements, Composition Type: Problem-Solution Essays, Thesis: Definition and Examples in Composition, Common Application Essay Option 6: Losing Track of Time, How to Get Started on a Literature Review, M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia, B.A., History, Armstrong State University, If you find yourself in the library staring at a entire section of books that could work as references for your topic, it is too broad! So far my answer has been, “I want it all.” I’m not sure it’s the best answer, but it fits me and my personality. Website crafted by. . A broad topic (such as "journalism") will first require some narrowing. From YouTube videos to entire websites of lessons to various tools like dictionaries and translators, you’ll find a veritable treasure trove of items to pick up instruction from. To demonstrate, let's start with a broad subject, like unhealthy behavior as an example. You always hear people talk about narrowing your writing’s focus to a single idea. Keep in mind that some of the questions you develop using this approach will not be helpful for your research, whether because they are readily answered with a quick Internet search (so are not complex/robust enough to warrant further study), are hypothetical, etc. I had a lot of ideas and nothing that seemed to tie them into anything cohesive. In case you’re writing a report that covers multiple major topics, you divide them into neat sections to make it easier to digest. Don’t worry if they align well together. Example: brewing quality tasting beer and the health of the colonies of yeast used to brew small batches of beer properly. The awards encouraged me to focus for now on the second novel in the Havoc in Hancock series, with the intention of completing the first draft by the end of the month. He or she will save you some time and give you some tips on narrowing the scope of your topic. The other alternative is to focus on just one angle. The question I face daily is, however, do I want to do that or do I choose to spread the love between them all? Tips For Narrowing A Research Topic Aspect . Focus (abbreviated FOC) is a grammatical category that determines which part of the sentence contributes new, non-derivable, or contrastive information. As the question suggests, the topic needs to be narrowed to a specific, manageable focus for research and writing. However, I do have a nagging feeling that you instead chose to ignore it. It’s important to identify three core areas of focus for your blog to succeed. Before you start to write, think about your intended audience. I’m also big on bear hugs, anything unconventional and creative, and teaching people like you how to live an abundant and limitless life. Now, how about finally listening to that good advice? When you think you’ve chosen a topic, it’s time to ask some questions. Why may seed patents be dangerous? You can make a list of somewhat-related, random nouns and see if you can ask questions to relate the two topics. Type-- focus your topic in terms of a specific type or class of people, places, or things [e.g., a study of traffic patterns near schools can focus only on SUVs, or just student drivers, or just the timing of stoplights in the area]. Also, if you’re stuck on what to write about, sometimes all it takes is looking at your list of sub-topics to get inspired. What kind of materials can you find online that’s immensely useful? They don’t. In the case of language learning, it’s one of organization. Numbers are EVERYTHING! A majority of the blogs I followed were DIY blogs, but I wasn’t into the idea of doing crafts everyday, either. Because the best way to grow your business is from the inside out. Posted on September 17, 2009 by Jane. You don't need one to focus your writing in a particular area. In the morning, I worked on an article for the Idaho Statesman’s Business Insider. They’re also good for a quick refresher when trying to compose an email or IM in a foreign tongue. I discuss my passion for burger tacos, my activities at the art center and my interest in Eastern philosophy in rapid fire mode, all in as great a detail as I can muster. In all of the blog coaching sessions I’ve done, my clients are perplexed about what to focus on, when in reality the topics they’re already writing about have the potential to work well together. Say you’re listening to me talk for the last 15 minutes. Maybe, you actually listened to this good advice. In fact, when it comes to actual information, you can probably score more for free from the web than you can ever get from a language learning software. How to Narrow the Research Topic for Your Paper. Keep your list of topics and sub-topics handy so you can refer to it whenever you go to write your next post. We use cookies to customize content and give you the best experience possible. How does the use of pesticides affect food safety? If we learn from our MISTAKES, why are we always SO AFRAID to make ONE? Can’t be done. So I’m going to quickly go over the main points of the other post first. How To Use Free Online Resources For Language Learning. Grace Fleming, M.Ed., is a senior academic advisor at Georgia Southern University, where she helps students improve their academic performance and develop good study skills. I’ve seen several online videos of language training, particularly those that integrate various vocabulary items with pronunciation lessons. However, there’s not a lot all those things will do for you unless you can sort them out. Combination -- use two or more of the above strategies to focus … When you first start posing questions, it’s helpful to start with the journalistic questions:  How?, Who?, What?, Where?, When?, and Why? In my opinion, this isn’t the place to get creative with funky titles, since you want your readers to immediately understand what your blog is about when they see your main categories listed on your site. For example, “nutrition in juvenile prisons” is too broad to effectively research and write about. Deciding what to focus your blog on can feel like a daunting task, but it really doesn’t have to be! Last week I had a day that represented my life well. My blog was a hodgepodge of anything that interested me. I’m a former high school teacher turned entrepreneur who loves few things more than a good hug, hopping on a flight to anywhere, and teaching people like you how to live an abundant and limitless life. To demonstrate, let's start with a broad subject, like unhealthy behavior as an example. Where: Where are pesticides used most frequently? Another good method for narrowing your focus involves brainstorming a list of terms and questions related to your broad topic. Ask! Subjects like these can then be broken down into issues and topics. For the field of Criminal Justice, two subjects might be “Corrections” and “Homeland Security.” These are broad categories that have whole journals, books, and even classes devoted to them. Don’t know who your audience is? What fruits and vegetables are most treated with pesticides (the “Dirty Dozen”) and, as a result, are recommended to buy organic? My book won two awards. Google Analytics has great tools for doing this, but I’ve also learned a TON about my readers by holding an annual survey, too (like this one!). What kinds of things would someone like that be into? How do they CALCULATE your IELTS SCORE? Contrastive focus specifically refers to the coding of information that is contrary to the presuppositions of the interlocutor.. . . You can also use strategies such as applying filters in a database or scanning titles of a recent issue of a journal in your field to help you with your topic. The answer to that question is the starting point for a thesis statement, and a brainstorming session like this can lead to great research ideas. That’s what happens you attempt to provide someone multiple information in a bunch – they slightly remember some of them, forget most and vaguely recall others. It’s probably your relationship with money. In reality, you’ll have a range of different people who visit your site, but try to think about who they are, what they do, what their interests are, and how you can help them. Like many things in life, of course, there’s always a caveat. Narrowing a Topic for an Essay, Speech, or Research Paper "As you explore possible topics, avoid ones that are too large, too obscure, too emotional, or too complicated for you to work within the allotted time. Get your primary lessons from a good language software or a  special class, then use the web to supplement that. Facts, numbers, behind the scenes, and income reports. Listening to these podcast episodes are the highlight of my day. Many of the most popular blogs out there, such as The Huffington Post and Buzzfeed, have lots of topics they focus on, but their topics are still targeted at a specific audience, which makes their posts feel relatable and relevant. List out some topics you actually want to write about. the role of inmate educational programs in the rehabilitation of ex-cons, support programs for ex-inmates in the community once they leave prison. Before you start writing the article, you will need to clarify either the scope of your topic or the depth of your focus. Who owns the most seed patents? Language learning exercises. Later that day I attended an awards ceremony for the Top Idaho Author and Book Awards. Welp, this is a no-brainer. My biweekly column is called Words at Work, and I have been given great latitude in topics. Around these parts, I share my best business secrets, as well as help you cultivate a life of true freedom, purpose, and fun. Really, all they have is a subject. Posts about narrowing focus in writing written by aiyshah2014 Omissions or an incorrect focus will make your business writing less clear. Chances are, not a lot of them. That way, you won’t try to do too much in one research paper. I enjoy editing, and it provides my major income. What can you do to generate and narrow topic ideas, though, when you do not already have a topic in mind? To narrow down the focus of your topic, follow the following three steps: 4) Write down additional specific about your topic. It’s the same reason your writing about a multitude of subjects under one title can end up confusing, despite the writing software declaring its two thumbs up. to identify specific ideas pertaining to it, two topics might be as follows: Those still aren’t research questions, but they are much more precise, and can easily be transformed into research questions. Most articles will not be overly long, so a broad topic will require a very shallow focus (i.e. In all of the blog coaching sessions I’ve done, my clients are perplexed about what to focus on, when in reality the topics they’re already writing about have the potential to work well together. But it would be a fun project. In the process of looking at source materials and gathering more detailed information on a topic, you may find yourself actually narrowing your focus even further. Go to the listing of Wikipedia portals and find one that closely aligns with your major. When did the push to eat organic food first begin? So I wrote about everything. Remembering who your audience is can be hugely important in deciding which topics to focus on. Here’s a nifty exercise I learned from a speaking seminar. You also need to consider tone. Think about how your topics connect, but most of all, think about who your audience is. If we choose the subject of “Corrections,” for example, two issues might be “prisoner recidivism,” or ex-convicts returning to prison after committing more crimes, and “corrections officer retention,” or the rate at which correction officers remain in their jobs. It is a good idea to run your initial research idea by a teacher or librarian to get an expert opinion. We learn to read using these four areas: Joining the…. This is a great resource to see how people look like when speaking a language – it’s something you can emulate for a more complete learning experience. Just write out the things that you’d enjoy spending hours each week sharing with your readers. So why should you narrow the focus of every set of text you write again? Here are some example questions: How: How do government agricultural subsidies impact the price of food? When writing essays for school, you work towards drilling all that research down to one main thesis. Where are genetically modified foods grown the most? Simply put, a lot of online material is disorganized, especially the free ones. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. I can’t forego marketing altogether, however. Eid Mubarak vs Merry Christmas - What's the DIFFERENCE in how people CELEBRATE them? I pivoted my business and I’m now coaching, creating courses, and living my limitless life! Your classmate’s response would likely be, “What about nutrition in juvenile prisons?” As the question suggests, the topic needs to be narrowed to a specific, manageable focus for research and writing. For example: Self-development, happiness, art, DIY projects, community, creativity, travel, inspiration/empowerment, blogging tips, business tips, design, home decor, my life, my dog, goal-setting, and fashion. You may be able to use content you have researched for an earlier assignment to get you started, but you can also use Wikipedia portals, a resource that can help you explore subjects and locate issues. Maybe your audience is mainly self-employed women in their 20s who like to travel. Select one lens and use it for viewing a research problem. Later that morning I met with a new friend who is writing short anecdotes of his time with the Peace Corps in Mexico. All content copyright Kathy McIntosh unless otherwise indicated. This word should be general, simple, and easy for your readers to understand. When I teach magazine writing, I have students list at least five subjects that they have specialized knowledge of or an interest in. Oh, and getting out the compilation of those funny articles on words and writing! Eventually, you will see that the process of narrowing your research topic actually makes your project more interesting. I told him I was cutting back on my editing for a while. How can we reduce an issue to a topic then? For example, maybe you want to write a travel blog, but you also love cooking and fashion. LEARNING TO WRITE – Is it the same in ESL? Generally, a topic is too broad if you can state it in four or five words. Let’s get weird. Why not share cultural recipes and your eclectic fashion sense? Essay, letter, report, email, and daily business English writing tips. For this example, let’s focus on US pop music in … Yay!Top Idaho Author Awards. So so thankful for it!”, Unapologetic Results for Your Business + Mindset. As such, we always recommend using online learning sources as a secondary source of information. Use the portal to identify the field, two subjects, and three issues. Here is a demonstration: This might look random, but your next step is to come up with a question that connects the two subjects. For example, a presentation about your company's new 401(k) program may have the same outline when given to your CFO as well as employees, but the level of details you include will vary. Who: Who is most likely to buy organic food (e.g., what is the profile of the organic food buyer)? He is new to this fast-changing world of publishing, so I shared my knowledge with him, along with lots of encouragement. A quick email … Some online dictionaries are regularly updated, a big deal when you are trying to learn colloquial parlance, business speak and other specialized niches in a language. For example, from my list above, I would combine “art, DIY projects, creativity, design, and home decor” into one group. How many of those will you actually remember tomorrow? It’s okay to write about a few different topics, because your readers are complex people with a myriad of interests. When:  When was the first genetically modified food introduced? This is one of the most important steps! However, some of the questions you generate likely will be promising to explore, or at least lead you to new ways of thinking about the topic. There are plenty of online resources dedicated to giving practical language learning exercises that you can use for practice. Imagine if you were talking with a classmate and stated that you planned to write on this topic for an upcoming assignment. What criteria must be met for food to be labeled genetically modified? That’s why you should narrow your study’s focus early in the writing process. Is there such a thing as an INTERNATIONAL NATIVE ENGLISH ACCENT. Narrowing The Focus Of Your Writing. He asked me to give him a bid for editing. He advised me, not for the first time, to focus on that which I deem most important. Before you start writing the article, you will need to clarify either the scope of your topic or the depth of your focus. The story he asked me to read was good.

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