The "So What?" Test

Whenever you plan on writing a research paper, there is an extremely important point that you must constantly keep in the forefront of your mind--even English teachers frequently mention it as something students fail to do time and time again. What is it? To be sure to choose a topic worth arguing about or exploring. This means to construct a thesis statement or research question about a problem that is still debated, controversial, up in the air.

So arguing that drinking and driving is dangerous--while you could find a ton of evidence to support your view--would be pretty worthless nowadays. Who would want to read something they already knew? You would not be persuading them of anything and all your work would be pretty meaningless.

What this means is that during the topic-formulating stage and throughout the process, always keep asking "SO WHAT?", or to paraphrase the famous Canadian journalist Barbara Frum: "Tell me something new about something I care about." That will automatically make your paper significant and interesting both for you to write and the reader to study.