Collect quotations, images, actions, patterns.
Find quotations, images, actions, patterns, etc. from the text or material under study, the theory pertaining to your topic, or your area of interest that raise questions in your mind and make you want to think and write. Note citation details, including page number, so you can properly attribute these quotations and ideas later on.
Write questions about your topic.
Not just one, but a lot. Free write in response to them. Where do your responses intersect? Is there a topic there? Which questions can’t easily be answered? Is there a topic there?
Figure out what you need to know to answer the question(s) you choose to pursue.
Theory? What Kind of Theory? History? Politics? Biography? Language? Technique? Other works? Details that will
feed your creativity? Now go out and find more primary and secondary sources.
Let the primary sources guide you.
Don’t lose sight of the primary sources you are focusing on as you carry out other kinds of research. Primary sources
generate important questions and hold ideas and answers for you to discover.
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"Experienced writers have a repertoire of writing “moves” they can make to develop their ideas on a given topic. These moves can work in almost any order and on almost any kind of a writing project. You probably also have moves of your own. What are they? Try some or all of these next time you are working on a writing assignment."