Using AI for Idea Generation, Outlining, and Overcoming Writer’s Block

Getting started on your writing can be hard. Sometimes, you’re not sure where to go with a given topic. Other times, you may have way too many topics to consider. Generative AI (Gen AI) can be a good tool to help you get started, especially since using these tools feel more like a conversation than writing.

Here are a few tips on how to use Gen AI to help get you writing.

Check First

If you plan to use Gen AI for your assignment, make sure you have explicit permission from your instructor to do so. Check your course outline or assignment instructions to understand your instructor’s expectations. If their expectations are unclear, ask them directly before assuming AI is permitted.

Find Your Starting Point

Some university assignments give you so much freedom with your research topics that you don’t know where to start. You can leverage AI tools to help you refine a vague idea.

Sample prompts:

1. Suggest 2 research questions about social media and its impact on identity.
2. I am planning to write an essay for philosophy class. Suggest 5 different topics related to the meaning of happiness?

Sometimes, you may already have a set topic, and you just want to explore the various directions you can take.

Sample prompts:

1. Provide 3 different perspectives on the impacts of virtual classrooms on university students and learning.
2. Provide one perspective and a counter-perspective on the effects of using AI in education.

Discuss Your Plan

Specifying your main arguments can also help the AI tool gain a better understanding of your overall goal. You can request a tentative outline for your essay to help get you started.

Sample prompts:

1. I want to write an essay about how social media and interconnectedness promote a culture of disposables. I plan to talk about the increase of visibility but also the oversaturation of content. Can you suggest how I should organize this essay?
2. In my paper, I plan to contrast the view that happiness is a moral obligation with the perspective that happiness is a personal responsibility. I plan to look at utilitarianism and compare it to the more modern discussions about toxic positivity. Can you give me advice on structuring this comparative essay?

Record Your Thoughts

Preliminary thoughts are often messy, and that’s okay. Many writers benefit from talking about their ideas before putting them on a page. Think about the last time you approached a friend or a teacher about a subject to get your thoughts out.

Since AI chatbots are designed to feel like a conversation, you may benefit from simply starting a discussion about your work or topic. You can approach it from a casual, conversation angle or an informed, scholarly discourse.

Sample prompts:

1. Do you think social media and digital visibility is making it too easy for us to compare ourselves with others? Would that be a bad thing?
2. There’s this idea that “true happiness” has to consider the overall happiness of all humans, but the modern world feels like it’s more focused on individualism and personal happiness. Both perspectives have good points, but what do you think?

Conclusion

While AI is a powerful tool, remember not to rely on Gen AI to do the work for you. Use AI to spark ideas, organize your thoughts, and break through writer’s block. Do not use AI to delegate thinking, undermine effort, or write your paper for you.

Other Helpful Resources

For more resources to help you get started on writing, check out these blogs:

• Prewriting
• Finding and Evaluating Sources
• Three Tips for Outlining Your Essay
• Dealing with Writer’s Block
• The “Messy” First Draft
• From Procrastination to Progress