As a young lad, I took on my first scientific experiment simply because I could. Like most curious youngsters who own walky-talkies, I could only resist for so long the urge to bury one of them (well behind enemy lines) in the bread aisle at the local grocery store, to see what startled shoppers might make of extroverted wheat. This, my first foray into the field of agorology — the very scientific study of shopping, shoppers and shoppingcarts — told me just what I needed to know.

Just a few short years ago, the idea of taking a college course through the Internet was something online “techies” considered. Now that people realize how convenience it is to take a class without leaving home, more and more people are taking advantage of using their computer to learn.

–> What is it you want to order?

Have a clear idea of what you want to order. Do you want to browse through a category, or do you want to read a particular author or do you know the name of the book itself.

As a writer, you can begin by asking yourself questions and then answering them. Your answers will bring your subject into focus and provide you with the material to develop your topic. Here are twenty questions or “thought starters” that present ways of observing or thinking about your topic. Each question generates the type of essay listed in parentheses after the question.

Beyond the strategies outlined in the previous section, these questions might help you begin writing.

Explore the problem — not the topic

1. Who is your reader?
2. What is your purpose?
3. Who are you, the writer? (What image or persona do you want to project?)