“We want to look our past in the face, see it for what it really was, and release it so we can live today.“
Basic Text, p. 29
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Many of us had trouble identifying our resentments when we were new in recovery. There we sat with our Fourth Step in front of us, thinking and thinking, finally deciding that we just didn’t have any resentments. Perhaps we talked ourselves into believing that we weren’t so sick after all.
Such unwitting denial of our resentments stems from the conditioning of our addiction. Most of our feelings were buried, and buried deep. After some time in recovery, a new sense of understanding develops. Our most deeply buried feelings begin to surface, and those resentments we thought we didn’t have suddenly emerge.
As we examine these resentments, we may feel tempted to hold onto some of them, especially if we think they are “justified.” But what we need to remember is that “justified” resentments are just as burdensome as any other resentment.
As our awareness of our liabilities grows, so does our responsibility to let go. We no longer need to hang on to our resentments. We want to rid ourselves of what’s undesirable and set ourselves free to recover.
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Just for Today: When I discover a resentment, I’ll see it for what it is and let it go.All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.
The University of Toledo is suspending nine undergraduate programs in response to a controversial new higher education law that is set to take effect this summer.
Admission to Africana studies, Asian studies, data analytics, disability studies, Middle East studies, philosophy, religious studies, Spanish and women’s and gender studies programs has been suspended starting with the 2025-26 school year “in compliance with SB1”, according to a Monday news release from the university.
Students currently enrolled in one of the programs can still complete their degree and all nine of these programs will remain available as minors.
“I also want to be clear that these disciplines remain an important part of UToledo,” Dr. Scott Molitor, Toledo’s interim provost and executive vice president of academic affairs, said in a written statement. “Faculty will continue to teach courses that are part of minors, certificates or concentrations, as well as significant components of our core curriculum.”
Senate Bill 1 bans diversity efforts, regulates classroom discussion, prohibits faculty strikes, creates post-tenure reviews, puts diversity scholarships at risk, and creates a retrenchment provision that blocks unions from negotiating on tenure, and eliminates undergraduate degree programs that produce on average less than five degrees annually over a three-year period, among other things.
State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, introduced the bill at the end of January, it quickly passed both chambers and Gov. Mike DeWine signed it into law March 28. It affects Ohio’s public universities and community colleges, and is set to take effect at the end of June. Youngstown State University faculty are trying to get a referendum on the November ballot to block S.B. 1.
UT was already undergoing an annual review of low-enrolled academic programs when DeWine signed S.B. 1 into law, according to the university.
“At the same time UToledo was undergoing its program review process, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law Senate Bill 1, which includes language that requires universities to eliminate undergraduate programs that have conferred fewer than five degrees annually over any three-year period,” according to the university.
Those nine programs had 57 students majoring in them during the spring semester and 15 students graduated from those programs during the 2023-24 school year, according to the university.
Toledo is suspending 12 additional degree programs unrelated to S.B. 1. They are:
Bachelor of Business Administration in Organizational Leadership and Management
Bachelor of Science in Health Information Administration
Master of Arts in Philosophy
Master of Arts in Sociology
Master of Education in Educational Research and Measurement
Master of Education in Educational Technology
Master of Education in Educational Psychology
Master of Music in Music Performance
Master of Science in Geology
Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction: Early Childhood
Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction: Educational Technology
Ph.D. in Foundations of Education: Research and Measurement
“It is important to keep our academic portfolio current with the degree programs our students want and that industry needs from their higher education partner,” Molitor said. “This is now our third year of an annual process to evaluate our programs and make sure we are allocating resources to areas in high demand, which requires us to both look for new programs we should start offering and existing programs that we should stop offering.”
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Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
The Ohio Capital Journal is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to connecting Ohioans to their state government and its impact on their lives. The Capital Journal combines Ohio state government coverage with incisive investigative journalism, reporting on the consequences of policy, political insight and principled commentary.
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“The most effective means of achieving self-acceptance is through applying the Twelve Steps of recovery.“
IP No. 19,
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Most of us came to Narcotics Anonymous without much self-acceptance. We looked at the havoc we had wreaked in our active addiction, and we loathed ourselves. We had difficulty accepting our past and the self-image produced by it.
Self-acceptance comes more quickly when we first accept that we have a disease called addiction, because it’s easier to accept ourselves as sick people than as bad people. And the easier it is to accept ourselves, the easier it becomes to accept responsibility for ourselves.
We achieve self-acceptance through the process of ongoing recovery. Working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous teaches us to accept ourselves and our lives. Spiritual principles like surrender, honesty, faith, and humility help relieve us of the burden of our past mistakes. Our attitude changes with the application of these principles in our daily lives. Self-acceptance grows as we grow in recovery.
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Just for Today: Self-acceptance is a process set in motion by the Twelve Steps. Today, I will trust the process, practice the steps, and learn to better accept myself.All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute UNSUBSCRIBE to stop receiving all NAWS emails.
“We need to develop empathy and concern for others, and to let go of self- obsession without losing sight of ourselves.”
Living Clean, Chapter 5, “Friendship”
Negotiating a balance between caring for ourselves and for others takes much self-awareness. It requires ongoing focus, discernment, and thoughtful action. Finding that combination of loving generosity in helping others while maintaining appropriate boundaries–the healthy interplay between independence and interdependence–is a lifelong pursuit for a recovering addict.
Through the work we do on ourselves, our bent toward self-obsessiveness lessens as our empathy for others tends to deepen. What used to be a single-minded concern for “this addict” often becomes tempered with a genuine concern for other NA members. Many of us roll up our sleeves and get to work helping new members because we want them to experience the same relief and connection that we did. We have found a new way of life and want to share with them how we did it. Fair enough. But we may end up feeling like we need to save them and that we are the only ones who can do it. We take it personally when our suggestions are rebuffed. We mistakenly blame ourselves if they don’t stay clean.
This perspective is detrimental to our own recovery, reflecting a bit of that self-obsession we thought we had exchanged for kindness. We must show ourselves some care–and demonstrate some humility, even self-respect, often by taking a step back while still making ourselves available to help when asked. Knowing where support ends and enabling begins can be a baffling process that we revisit again and again throughout our recovery. Some of us develop excellent instincts in this regard and can support other addicts through the process of discovery for themselves.
I can care about others while still caring for myself. I can help others find what I’m finding in NA while maintaining my self-respect and being pragmatic about my powerlessness over other people.All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute
“In the Third Step, faith gives us the capacity to actually make a decision and carry that decision into action.”
NA Step Working Guides, Step Three, “Spiritual Principles”
When we look back at early recovery–regardless of how recent or distant that may be–we can see how faith inspired some of our decisions and helped us to act on them. Many of us credit some sort of blind faith for getting us through the doors of our first meeting. We decided to get some help and found our way to Narcotics Anonymous.
As our heads cleared, we saw that our every effort to clean up on our own had failed. Consciously or not, we surrendered and made that crucial admission in Step One. We took another leap of faith by entertaining the possibility that we could stay clean and be restored to sanity. Faith that the recovery that we’d seen work for others could also work for us brought us to Step Three.
Deciding to turn our will and life over to the care of the God of our understanding was huge. It might have seemed too big, really. Other members reassured us, “You’re just making a decision. You’ll have a lifetime to figure out what that looks like, plenty of time to practice.” So, okay, we decide . . . now what?
Some of us get stuck here or find ourselves cycling through the first three Steps, sure that we’ve dropped a stitch. We get lucky–as we do so often in NA–when we’re sitting in a meeting, only half listening, and we hear just what we need to propel us into action: “The footwork of Step Three is Step Four.” And so on.
The faith we practice as NA members gives us the courage to make other momentous decisions: to change careers, to exercise more, to marry, to end a marriage. When we’re secure in our recovery, faith enables us to ask ourselves some really tough questions, like “What do I want?” and “What’s holding me back?” Faith steadies us as we make decisions, supports us as we clear the way forward, and keeps us humble as we find out what we’re capable of.
Faith will show in my actions today, as I make the time to do the things I ought to do and say the things I need to say.All NAWS subscriptions are free. We are able to provide this service due, in part, to the generous contributions of our members. If you are a member, you can make a contribution here: www.na.org/contribute
This handout discusses techniques that will help you start writing a paper and continue writing through the challenges of the revising process. Brainstorming can help you choose a topic, develop an approach to a topic, or deepen your understanding of the topic’s potential.
Introduction
If you consciously take advantage of your natural thinking processes by gathering your brain’s energies into a “storm,” you can transform these energies into written words or diagrams that will lead to lively, vibrant writing. Below you will find a brief discussion of what brainstorming is, why you might brainstorm, and suggestions for how you might brainstorm.
Whether you are starting with too much information or not enough, brainstorming can help you to put a new writing task in motion or revive a project that hasn’t reached completion. Let’s take a look at each case:
When you’ve got nothing: You might need a storm to approach when you feel “blank” about the topic, devoid of inspiration, full of anxiety about the topic, or just too tired to craft an orderly outline. In this case, brainstorming stirs up the dust, whips some air into our stilled pools of thought, and gets the breeze of inspiration moving again.
When you’ve got too much: There are times when you have too much chaos in your brain and need to bring in some conscious order. In this case, brainstorming forces the mental chaos and random thoughts to rain out onto the page, giving you some concrete words or schemas that you can then arrange according to their logical relations.
Brainstorming techniques
What follows are great ideas on how to brainstorm—ideas from professional writers, novice writers, people who would rather avoid writing, and people who spend a lot of time brainstorming about…well, how to brainstorm.
Try out several of these options and challenge yourself to vary the techniques you rely on; some techniques might suit a particular writer, academic discipline, or assignment better than others. If the technique you try first doesn’t seem to help you, move right along and try some others.
Freewriting
When you freewrite, you let your thoughts flow as they will, putting pen to paper and writing down whatever comes into your mind. You don’t judge the quality of what you write and you don’t worry about style or any surface-level issues, like spelling, grammar, or punctuation. If you can’t think of what to say, you write that down—really. The advantage of this technique is that you free up your internal critic and allow yourself to write things you might not write if you were being too self-conscious.
When you freewrite you can set a time limit (“I’ll write for 15 minutes!”) and even use a kitchen timer or alarm clock or you can set a space limit (“I’ll write until I fill four full notebook pages, no matter what tries to interrupt me!”) and just write until you reach that goal. You might do this on the computer or on paper, and you can even try it with your eyes shut or the monitor off, which encourages speed and freedom of thought.
The crucial point is that you keep on writing even if you believe you are saying nothing. Word must follow word, no matter the relevance. Your freewriting might even look like this:
“This paper is supposed to be on the politics of tobacco production but even though I went to all the lectures and read the book I can’t think of what to say and I’ve felt this way for four minutes now and I have 11 minutes left and I wonder if I’ll keep thinking nothing during every minute but I’m not sure if it matters that I am babbling and I don’t know what else to say about this topic and it is rainy today and I never noticed the number of cracks in that wall before and those cracks remind me of the walls in my grandfather’s study and he smoked and he farmed and I wonder why he didn’t farm tobacco…”
When you’re done with your set number of minutes or have reached your page goal, read back over the text. Yes, there will be a lot of filler and unusable thoughts but there also will be little gems, discoveries, and insights. When you find these gems, highlight them or cut and paste them into your draft or onto an “ideas” sheet so you can use them in your paper. Even if you don’t find any diamonds in there, you will have either quieted some of the noisy chaos or greased the writing gears so that you can now face the assigned paper topic.
Break down the topic into levels
Once you have a course assignment in front of you, you might brainstorm:
the general topic, like “The relationship between tropical fruits and colonial powers”
a specific subtopic or required question, like “How did the availability of multiple tropical fruits influence competition amongst colonial powers trading from the larger Caribbean islands during the 19th century?”
a single term or phrase that you sense you’re overusing in the paper. For example: If you see that you’ve written “increased the competition” about a dozen times in your “tropical fruits” paper, you could brainstorm variations on the phrase itself or on each of the main terms: “increased” and “competition.”
Listing/bulleting
In this technique you jot down lists of words or phrases under a particular topic. You can base your list on:
the general topic
one or more words from your particular thesis claim
a word or idea that is the complete opposite of your original word or idea.
For example, if your general assignment is to write about the changes in inventions over time, and your specific thesis claims that “the 20th century presented a large number of inventions to advance US society by improving upon the status of 19th-century society,” you could brainstorm two different lists to ensure you are covering the topic thoroughly and that your thesis will be easy to prove.
The first list might be based on your thesis; you would jot down as many 20th-century inventions as you could, as long as you know of their positive effects on society. The second list might be based on the opposite claim, and you would instead jot down inventions that you associate with a decline in that society’s quality. You could do the same two lists for 19th-century inventions and then compare the evidence from all four lists.
Using multiple lists will help you to gather more perspective on the topic and ensure that, sure enough, your thesis is solid as a rock, or, …uh oh, your thesis is full of holes and you’d better alter your claim to one you can prove.
3 perspectives
Looking at something from different perspectives helps you see it more completely—or at least in a completely different way, sort of like laying on the floor makes your desk look very different to you. To use this strategy, answer the questions for each of the three perspectives, then look for interesting relationships or mismatches you can explore:
Describe it: Describe your subject in detail. What is your topic? What are its components? What are its interesting and distinguishing features? What are its puzzles? Distinguish your subject from those that are similar to it. How is your subject unlike others?
Trace it: What is the history of your subject? How has it changed over time? Why? What are the significant events that have influenced your subject?
Map it: What is your subject related to? What is it influenced by? How? What does it influence? How? Who has a stake in your topic? Why? What fields do you draw on for the study of your subject? Why? How has your subject been approached by others? How is their work related to yours?
Cubing
Cubing enables you to consider your topic from six different directions; just as a cube is six-sided, your cubing brainstorming will result in six “sides” or approaches to the topic. Take a sheet of paper, consider your topic, and respond to these six commands:
Describe it.
Compare it.
Associate it.
Analyze it.
Apply it.
Argue for and against it.
Look over what you’ve written. Do any of the responses suggest anything new about your topic? What interactions do you notice among the “sides”? That is, do you see patterns repeating, or a theme emerging that you could use to approach the topic or draft a thesis? Does one side seem particularly fruitful in getting your brain moving? Could that one side help you draft your thesis statement? Use this technique in a way that serves your topic. It should, at least, give you a broader awareness of the topic’s complexities, if not a sharper focus on what you will do with it.
Similes
In this technique, complete the following sentence:
____________________ is/was/are/were like _____________________.
In the first blank put one of the terms or concepts your paper centers on. Then try to brainstorm as many answers as possible for the second blank, writing them down as you come up with them.
After you have produced a list of options, look over your ideas. What kinds of ideas come forward? What patterns or associations do you find?
Clustering/mapping/webbing:
The general idea:
This technique has three (or more) different names, according to how you describe the activity itself or what the end product looks like. In short, you will write a lot of different terms and phrases onto a sheet of paper in a random fashion and later go back to link the words together into a sort of “map” or “web” that forms groups from the separate parts. Allow yourself to start with chaos. After the chaos subsides, you will be able to create some order out of it.
To really let yourself go in this brainstorming technique, use a large piece of paper or tape two pieces together. You could also use a blackboard if you are working with a group of people. This big vertical space allows all members room to “storm” at the same time, but you might have to copy down the results onto paper later. If you don’t have big paper at the moment, don’t worry. You can do this on an 8 ½ by 11 as well. Watch our short videos on webbing, drawing relationships, and color coding for demonstrations.
How to do it:
Take your sheet(s) of paper and write your main topic in the center, using a word or two or three.
Moving out from the center and filling in the open space any way you are driven to fill it, start to write down, fast, as many related concepts or terms as you can associate with the central topic. Jot them quickly, move into another space, jot some more down, move to another blank, and just keep moving around and jotting. If you run out of similar concepts, jot down opposites, jot down things that are only slightly related, or jot down your grandpa’s name, but try to keep moving and associating. Don’t worry about the (lack of) sense of what you write, for you can chose to keep or toss out these ideas when the activity is over.
Once the storm has subsided and you are faced with a hail of terms and phrases, you can start to cluster. Circle terms that seem related and then draw a line connecting the circles. Find some more and circle them and draw more lines to connect them with what you think is closely related. When you run out of terms that associate, start with another term. Look for concepts and terms that might relate to that term. Circle them and then link them with a connecting line. Continue this process until you have found all the associated terms. Some of the terms might end up uncircled, but these “loners” can also be useful to you. (Note: You can use different colored pens/pencils/chalk for this part, if you like. If that’s not possible, try to vary the kind of line you use to encircle the topics; use a wavy line, a straight line, a dashed line, a dotted line, a zigzaggy line, etc. in order to see what goes with what.)
There! When you stand back and survey your work, you should see a set of clusters, or a big web, or a sort of map: hence the names for this activity. At this point you can start to form conclusions about how to approach your topic. There are about as many possible results to this activity as there are stars in the night sky, so what you do from here will depend on your particular results. Let’s take an example or two in order to illustrate how you might form some logical relationships between the clusters and loners you’ve decided to keep. At the end of the day, what you do with the particular “map” or “cluster set” or “web” that you produce depends on what you need. What does this map or web tell you to do? Explore an option or two and get your draft going!
Relationship between the parts
In this technique, begin by writing the following pairs of terms on opposite margins of one sheet of paper:WholePartsPartParts of PartsPartParts of PartsPartParts of Parts
Looking over these four groups of pairs, start to fill in your ideas below each heading. Keep going down through as many levels as you can. Now, look at the various parts that comprise the parts of your whole concept. What sorts of conclusions can you draw according to the patterns, or lack of patterns, that you see? For a related strategy, watch our short video on drawing relationships.
Journalistic questions
In this technique you would use the “big six” questions that journalists rely on to thoroughly research a story. The six are: Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How?. Write each question word on a sheet of paper, leaving space between them. Then, write out some sentences or phrases in answer, as they fit your particular topic. You might also record yourself or use speech-to-text if you’d rather talk out your ideas.
Now look over your batch of responses. Do you see that you have more to say about one or two of the questions? Or, are your answers for each question pretty well balanced in depth and content? Was there one question that you had absolutely no answer for? How might this awareness help you to decide how to frame your thesis claim or to organize your paper? Or, how might it reveal what you must work on further, doing library research or interviews or further note-taking?
For example, if your answers reveal that you know a lot more about “where” and “why” something happened than you know about “what” and “when,” how could you use this lack of balance to direct your research or to shape your paper? How might you organize your paper so that it emphasizes the known versus the unknown aspects of evidence in the field of study? What else might you do with your results?
Thinking outside the box
Even when you are writing within a particular academic discipline, you can take advantage of your semesters of experience in other courses from other departments. Let’s say you are writing a paper for an English course. You could ask yourself, “Hmmm, if I were writing about this very same topic in a biology course or using this term in a history course, how might I see or understand it differently? Are there varying definitions for this concept within, say, philosophy or physics, that might encourage me to think about this term from a new, richer point of view?”
For example, when discussing “culture” in your English, communications, or cultural studies course, you could incorporate the definition of “culture” that is frequently used in the biological sciences. Remember those little Petri dishes from your lab experiments in high school? Those dishes are used to “culture” substances for bacterial growth and analysis, right? How might it help you write your paper if you thought of “culture” as a medium upon which certain things will grow, will develop in new ways or will even flourish beyond expectations, but upon which the growth of other things might be retarded, significantly altered, or stopped altogether?
Using charts or shapes
If you are more visually inclined, you might create charts, graphs, or tables in lieu of word lists or phrases as you try to shape or explore an idea. You could use the same phrases or words that are central to your topic and try different ways to arrange them spatially, say in a graph, on a grid, or in a table or chart. You might even try the trusty old flow chart. The important thing here is to get out of the realm of words alone and see how different spatial representations might help you see the relationships among your ideas. If you can’t imagine the shape of a chart at first, just put down the words on the page and then draw lines between or around them. Or think of a shape. Do your ideas most easily form a triangle? square? umbrella? Can you put some ideas in parallel formation? In a line?
Consider purpose and audience
Think about the parts of communication involved in any writing or speaking act: purpose and audience.
What is your purpose?
What are you trying to do? What verb captures your intent? Are you trying to inform? Convince? Describe? Each purpose will lead you to a different set of information and help you shape material to include and exclude in a draft. Write about why you are writing this draft in this form. For more tips on figuring out the purpose of your assignment, see our handout on understanding assignments.
Who is your audience?
Who are you communicating with beyond the grader? What does that audience need to know? What do they already know? What information does that audience need first, second, third? Write about who you are writing to and what they need. For more on audience, see our handout on audience.
Dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias
When all else fails…this is a tried and true method, loved for centuries by writers of all stripe. Visit the library reference areas or stop by the Writing Center to browse various dictionaries, thesauruses (or other guide books and reference texts), encyclopedias or surf their online counterparts. Sometimes these basic steps are the best ones. It is almost guaranteed that you’ll learn several things you did not know.
If you’re looking at a hard copy reference, turn to your most important terms and see what sort of variety you find in the definitions. The obscure or archaic definition might help you to appreciate the term’s breadth or realize how much its meaning has changed as the language changed. Could that realization be built into your paper somehow?
If you go to online sources, use their own search functions to find your key terms and see what suggestions they offer. For example, if you plug “good” into a thesaurus search, you will be given 14 different entries. Whew! If you were analyzing the film Good Will Hunting, imagine how you could enrich your paper by addressed the six or seven ways that “good” could be interpreted according to how the scenes, lighting, editing, music, etc., emphasized various aspects of “good.”
An encyclopedia is sometimes a valuable resource if you need to clarify facts, get quick background, or get a broader context for an event or item. If you are stuck because you have a vague sense of a seemingly important issue, do a quick check with this reference and you may be able to move forward with your ideas.
Closing
Armed with a full quiver of brainstorming techniques and facing sheets of jotted ideas, bulleted subtopics, or spidery webs relating to your paper, what do you do now?
Take the next step and start to write your first draft, or fill in those gaps you’ve been brainstorming about to complete your “almost ready” paper. If you’re a fan of outlining, prepare one that incorporates as much of your brainstorming data as seems logical to you. If you’re not a fan, don’t make one. Instead, start to write out some larger chunks (large groups of sentences or full paragraphs) to expand upon your smaller clusters and phrases. Keep building from there into larger sections of your paper. You don’t have to start at the beginning of the draft. Start writing the section that comes together most easily. You can always go back to write the introduction later.
We also have helpful handouts on some of the next steps in your writing process, such as reorganizing drafts and argument.
Remember, once you’ve begun the paper, you can stop and try another brainstorming technique whenever you feel stuck. Keep the energy moving and try several techniques to find what suits you or the particular project you are working on.
How can technology help?
Need some help brainstorming? Different digital tools can help with a variety of brainstorming strategies:
Look for a text editor that has a focus mode or that is designed to promote free writing (for examples, check out FocusWriter, OmmWriter, WriteRoom, Writer the Internet Typewriter, or Cold Turkey). Eliminating visual distractions on your screen can help you free write for designated periods of time. By eliminating visual distractions on your screen, these tools help you focus on free writing for designated periods of time. If you use Microsoft Word, you might even try “Focus Mode” under the “View” tab.
Clustering/mapping. Websites and applications like Mindomo, TheBrain, and Miro allow you to create concept maps and graphic organizers. These applications often include the following features:
Connect links, embed documents and media, and integrate notes in your concept maps
Access your maps across devices
Search across maps for keywords
Convert maps into checklists and outlines
Export maps to other file formats
Testimonials
Check out what other students and writers have tried!
Papers as Puzzles: A UNC student demonstrates a brainstorming strategy for getting started on a paper.
Works consulted
We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial. We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.
Allen, Roberta, and Marcia Mascolini. 1997. The Process of Writing: Composing Through Critical Thinking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Cameron, Julia. 2002. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. New York: Putnam.
Goldberg, Natalie. 2005. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, rev. ed. Boston: Shambhala.
Rosen, Leonard J. and Laurence Behrens. 2003. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook, 5th ed. New York: Longman.
You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Brainstorming is crucial in writing as it helps writers generate a wide range of ideas, explore different perspectives, and develop a strong structure for their writing. It allows for free-flowing thinking, encourages originality, and can help overcome writer’s block. Essentially, brainstorming lays a solid foundation for effective writing by providing a space to explore ideas without immediate judgment.
Here’s a more detailed look at why brainstorming is important:
1. Generating Ideas and Overcoming Writer’s Block:
Brainstorming helps overcome writer’s block by providing a platform to generate ideas without initial constraints.
It allows writers to explore various angles and topics without the pressure of immediate evaluation.
By encouraging free-flowing thought, brainstorming can lead to unique and innovative concepts.
2. Structuring and Organizing Thoughts:
Brainstorming helps writers visualize the overall structure of their writing, facilitating organization.
Techniques like mind mapping or creating outlines help organize ideas and establish a logical flow.
This structure provides a roadmap for developing a clear and coherent piece of writing.
3. Promoting Critical Thinking and Originality:
Brainstorming encourages critical thinking by prompting writers to explore different perspectives and challenge assumptions.
It provides an opportunity to think outside the box and develop original ideas.
This can lead to more engaging and thought-provoking writing.
4. Enhancing the Writing Process:
Brainstorming helps writers understand the topic better and identify areas where more research or clarification may be needed.
It fosters a more dynamic and engaging writing process, rather than a rote exercise.
By actively engaging with the topic, writers can create more compelling and meaningful writing.
Brainstorming – The Writing Center
Introduction. If you consciously take advantage of your natural thinking processes by gathering your brain’s energies into a “storm,” you can transform these en…
UNC Writing Center
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Adam McCann, WalletHub Financial Writer Jan 27, 2025
Living in the right place after you retire can make your money go a lot further. That’s important considering the fact that 66% of non-retired adults say their retirement savings aren’t on track. To determine the best states to retire, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 46 key indicators of retirement-friendliness, from financial factors like tax rates and the cost of living to things like access to quality medical care and fun activities.
Top 5 States to Retire (2025)
Florida
Minnesota
Colorado
Wyoming
South Dakota
You can see the full rankings and some additional commentary below.
“Retirement is supposed to be relaxing, but it can also be incredibly stressful given that it typically puts people on a fixed income, which may not be enough for them to live comfortably. As a result, the best states for retirees are those that have low taxes and a low cost of living to help retirees’ budgets stretch as far as possible. Having access to excellent medical care and homemaking services is also crucial, especially for people who don’t plan to retire in close proximity to their families.”
Overall RankStateTotal ScoreAffordability RankQuality of Life RankHealth Care Rank 1Florida62.7622272Minnesota62.7427613Colorado61.71151834Wyoming60.7913385South Dakota60.76181946Pennsylvania60.4422597New Hampshire58.64238148Delaware58.62435189North Dakota58.4514301310Wisconsin57.7517202111Virginia57.0821141912North Carolina56.727163613Missouri56.4413313214Alaska56.2316371515Maine55.833312016Iowa55.522892917Vermont55.043771018Utah54.8025222519Ohio54.1726123420South Carolina53.458383921California53.383924522Montana53.1735111623Massachusetts53.06494224Idaho53.0429263025Michigan52.6932133126Texas52.3720343527Nebraska51.854321828Nevada51.535424329Connecticut51.524517630Arizona51.4134292331Kansas50.8530283732Georgia50.2419394033Oklahoma50.0410474234Illinois49.6641152835New York49.5847101136Maryland49.5444251737Alabama48.933434938Tennessee48.586484639Oregon48.3342322640Indiana48.2931334141Hawaii47.755027742Arkansas47.7012494443West Virginia47.4811445044Rhode Island47.0240402245New Jersey46.3646361246New Mexico45.9938453347Washington45.8148232448Mississippi45.339504749Louisiana44.5424464850Kentucky42.46364145
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.
Adjusted Cost of Living
Lowest
1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. West Virginia
4. Arkansas
5. Mississippi
Highest
46. New York
47. Alaska
48. Massachusetts
49. California
50. Hawaii
Best State vs. Worst State: 2x Difference
Alabama vs. Hawaii
Annual Cost of In-Home Services
Lowest
1. Mississippi
2. Arkansas
3. Oklahoma
4. Pennsylvania
5. Alabama
Highest
T-45. Iowa
T-45. Maine
48. Washington
49. New Mexico
50. Montana
Best State vs. Worst State: 3x Difference
Mississippi vs. Montana
Show More
In-Depth Look at the Best States to Retire
Florida
There’s a reason Florida is known as a retirement paradise – it ranks as the best state to retire due to its relatively low taxes for retired people, including no estate, inheritance or income taxes. Plus, Florida receives more funding per senior from the Older Americans Act than all but two other states. This funds things like transportation, homemaker assistance and nutrition programs for seniors.
In addition to financial factors, Florida provides an ideal environment for retirees. It has the second-most shoreline miles of any state, allowing for plenty of relaxing at the beach. It also has the second-most adult volunteer activities, fifth-most theater companies, and seventh-most golf courses and country clubs. There are plenty of ways for seniors to stay healthy and happy, which is reflected in the fact that Florida has the third-lowest death rate in the country for people ages 65+.
Unfortunately, the overall cost of living is pretty high in Florida compared to many other states, but that doesn’t stop the Sunshine State from taking the top spot for retirees.
Minnesota
Minnesota is the second-best state for retirement, in large part due to health reasons. Minnesota has the most health care facilities, the second-most nursing homes, and the third-most home health care aids per capita. Its geriatrics hospitals also rank as the fifth-best in the nation. Due to the great health care conditions within the state, Minnesota has the third-lowest percentage of seniors with a disability, the fourth-lowest percentage with poor mental health, and the fifth-highest percentage who are in good physical health.
When it comes to overall quality of life in Minnesota, the state has the 10th-best elder abuse protections in the country, which guard elderly residents against physical and financial harm. The state also has the 15th-lowest violent crime rate, and the fifth-highest percentage of people who do favors for their neighbors.
On the financial side, Minnesota has the 10th-lowest share of residents ages 65+ who are in poverty and the fifth-lowest percentage who went hungry in the last 12 months.
Colorado
Colorado is the third-best state for retirees, offering taxpayer-friendly conditions with no estate or inheritance taxes. In addition, it has the seventh-lowest poverty rate for residents ages 65+ and the 10th-lowest percentage of seniors who have faced hunger in the past 12 months.
Colorado is a great state for retirees’ physical and mental health. It has one of the lowest rates of social isolation for seniors, and it boasts the 10th-best geriatrics hospitals in the country. It also has the fourth-highest percentage of seniors who are in good health and the third-highest percentage who are physically active.
On top of all that, Colorado has plenty to keep seniors active and engaged. For example, it has the sixth-most volunteer opportunities, the ninth-most scenic byways and the 11th-most theaters per capita.
Ask the Experts
In order to choose the best state to retire for you, you must carefully consider various factors such as your finances, health and how you plan to spend your time. For advice on these choices, we turned to a panel of experts in fields such as aging and taxes. Click on the experts’ profiles to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:
What is the most common mistake that retirees make when choosing where to live?
What are some tips for living on a fixed income in retirement?
What are the top factors retirees should consider when choosing a state for retirement?
The financial impact of high inflation has many Americans reevaluating their retirement plans. What are some new points of concern for future retirees in considering where to retire?
How might changes to the tax code influence retirement security?
Suzanne B. Shu Ph.D. – Dean of Faculty and Research, SC Johnson College of Business; John S. Dyson Professor in Marketing, The Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management – Cornell University Read More
Dr. Michael E. Bitter Ph.D., CPA, CGMA – Retired Rinker Distinguished Professor of Accounting and Chair of the M.E. Rinker, Sr. Institute of Tax and Accountancy – Stetson University Read More
Juan E. Gallardo Ph.D. – Texan Smart Financial Education Center, Director; Dr. Sam Pack College of Business, Instructor – Tarleton State University Read More
Karen Magruder LCSW-S – Assistant Professor of Practice, School of Social Work – University of Texas at Arlington Read More
Steve Benton Elder Financial Safety Center Financial Counselor – The Senior Source Read More
Barbara O’Neill Ph.D., CFP®, CRPC, AFC®, CFEd, CPFFE – Distinguished Professor Emerita, Rutgers University and Owner/CEO, Money Talk: Financial Planning Seminars and Publications, Author of Flipping a Switch: Your Guide to Happiness and Financial Security in Later Life Read More
More Experts
Methodology
In order to identify the most retirement-friendly states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Affordability, 2) Quality of Life and 3) Health Care.
We evaluated those dimensions using 46 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for retirement. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), we used the square root of the population to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across states.
We then calculated each state’s weighted average across all metrics to determine its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.
Affordability – Total Points: 40
Adjusted Cost of Living: Double Weight (~10.00 Points)
Retired Taxpayer-Friendliness: Full Weight (~5.00 Points) Note: This metric measures taxation on retirement income, property and purchases, as well as special tax breaks for seniors.
Tax-Friendliness on Estate or Inheritance Tax: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
Annual Cost of In-Home Services: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
Annual Cost of Adult Day Health Care: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
Share of Population Aged 65 and Older Who Could Not Afford a Doctor Visit: Full Weight (~5.00 Points) Note: This metric measures the share of the population aged 65 and older who needed to see a doctor in the past 12 months but were restricted due to cost.
Quality of Life – Total Points: 30
Share of Population Aged 65 and Older: Double Weight (~2.50 Points)
Risk of Social Isolation: Full Weight (~1.25 Points) Note: This metric considers the following six risk factors of social isolation in population aged 65 and older: a) Divorced, separated or widowed; b) Never married; c) Poverty; d) Disability; e) Independent Living Difficulty and f) Living alone.
Elderly-Friendly Labor Market: Full Weight (~1.25 Points) Note: This metric takes into account both the share of population aged 65 and older working and the number of part time employees for every full-time employee for population aged 65 and older.
Share of Population Aged 65 and Older in Poverty: Full Weight (~1.25 Points)
Elderly Food Insecurity Rate: Full Weight (~1.25 Points) Note: This metric refers to the share of the population aged 60 and older who faced the threat of hunger in the past 12 months.
Expenditures Captured by the Administration on Aging per Population Aged 60 and Older: Full Weight (~1.25 Points) Note: The Older Americans Act (OAA) is administered by the Administration on Aging. It funds “personal care, congregate meals, transportation and nutrition-education programs for seniors.”
Access to Public Transportation: Full Weight (~1.25 Points) Note: This metric measures the share of commuters who use public transit as a proxy for the availability of public transportation.
Access to Scenic Byways: Full Weight (~1.25 Points) Note: This metric takes into account both the number of scenic byways and the length of scenic byways.
Shoreline Mileage: Full Weight (~1.25 Points)
Museums per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.25 Points)
Theaters per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.25 Points)
Golf Courses & Country Clubs per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.25 Points)
Bingo Halls per Capita*: Full Weight (~1.25 Points)
Access to Adult Volunteer Activities: Full Weight (~1.25 Points) Note: This metric measures the number of rated charity organizations per capita*.
Elderly Volunteer Rate: Full Weight (~1.25 Points)
Share of Residents Who Do Favors to Their Neighbors (proxy for Neighborhood Friendliness): Full Weight (~1.25 Points)
Drinking-Water Quality: Full Weight (~1.25 Points) Note: This metric measures the share of the population potentially exposed to water exceeding a violation limit.
Health Care – Total Points: 30
Family Medicine Physicians per Capita: Double Weight (~3.16 Points)
Dentists per Capita: Full Weight (~1.58 Points)
Nurses per Capita: Full Weight (~1.58 Points)
Home Health Aides per Capita: Full Weight (~1.58 Points) Note: Home health aides often help older adults who need assistance. In some states, home health aides may be able to give a client medication or check the client’s vital signs under the direction of a nurse or other healthcare practitioner.
Share of Geriatricians Required to Meet Estimated Need (Geriatrician Shortfall): Double Weight (~3.16 Points)
Health-Care Facilities per Capita: Full Weight (~1.58 Points)
Quality of Public Hospitals: Full Weight (~1.58 Points) Note: This metric is based on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ ranking of public hospitals.
Well-Being Index for Population Aged 55 and Older: Full Weight (~1.58 Points)
Share of Population Aged 65 and Older with Good or Better Health: Full Weight (~1.58 Points)
Share of Population Aged 65 and Older with Poor Mental Health: Full Weight (~1.58 Points) Note: This metric refers to the share of population aged 65 and older who reported their mental health was not good 14 or more days in the past 30 days.
Share of Population Aged 65 and Older with a Disability: Full Weight (~1.58 Points)
Share of Population Aged 65 and Older Who Are Physically Active: Half Weight (~0.79 Points)
Share of Population Aged 65 and Older Who Are Obese: Half Weight (~0.79 Points)
Share of Population Aged 65 and Older with Inadequate Sleep: Full Weight (~1.58 Points) Note: This metric refers to the share of adults aged 65 and older who reported sleeping less than seven hours in a 24-hour period on average.
Life Expectancy: Full Weight (~1.58 Points)
Death Rate for Population Aged 65 & Older: Full Weight (~1.58 Points)
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected as of December 20, 2024 from the U.S. Census Bureau, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Council for Community and Economic Research, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Kiplinger Washington Editors, County Health Rankings, Genworth Financial, United Health Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Corporation for National and Community Service, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Great Nonprofits, American Board of Medical Specialties, Gallup Healthways, The Tax Foundation, America’s Scenic Byways, Bingo Halls U.S.A., NOAA Office for Coastal Management, U.S. News & World Report and WalletHub research.
Editorial and user-generated content on this page is not reviewed or otherwise endorsed by any financial institution. Please keep in mind that it is not a financial institution’s responsibility to ensure all posts and questions are answered.Ask your Question
Please look at the reference documents noted here, TOTAL tax for the average person is lower in California than more than half of the states. The same for crime, look at numbers per 100,000 population and you will see the facts.
I am not a fan of California politics but look at the numbers. California fails on Housing cost but in almost every other category it beats states such as Texas, and other states everyone…
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