Code School: Landing on an Idea Worth Writing

One of the problems my students most often bring to me when I assign new work is their feelings of inadequacy around being asked to choose a topic. For some, it’s that they think they will not pick something important enough. Others worry their top choices will not be researchable, or else that they will step on the teacher’s toes with their choice of topic. Landing on an idea is difficult, and reaching reflexively for old standbys leads to the creation of essays that contribute no original t...