Informative essay topics should be interesting, specific, and supportable. The purpose of an informative essay is to educate the reader about a topic in a relatively short and direct manner. Students generally need to write at least a few informational essays during high school and college. Choosing good informative essay topics can be difficult, but choosing well is very important because a poor topic can ruin even a well-written essay. By selecting a bad topic, the writer makes the task of writing the essay more difficult and decreases the likelihood that the reader will find the essay to be interesting or educational.
A writer who chooses informative essay topics that he finds interesting is much more likely to be able to write engaging essays than one who arbitrarily chooses topics. Interest in the subject matter makes the writer engage with the topic at a much deeper level, usually resulting in a deeper, better-researched paper. Additionally, topics that interest the writer are much more likely to interest the reader. In some cases, however, particularly in high school, choosing the topic is not always a possibility, so skillful presentation of the topic becomes essential.
Essays, particularly those assigned in school, are generally quite short, so it is important to choose highly specific informative essay topics that can be addressed in detail in only a few pages. Depending on the intended audience, one can usually assume that the reader has some general knowledge about a topic. Writing about a specific facet of a topic is generally much more interesting and informative than attempting to discuss an entire broad subject. Attempting to write a five or six page essay on existentialism will probably do a disservice to the topic; a better essay would explain one particular aspect of or argument relating to existentialism.
Informative essay topics also should be grounded in supportable facts. Opinion essays, while valid and interesting in some cases, are not objectively supportable and generally will not be accepted as informative. A writer who chooses a readily supportable topic will be able to cite established facts in his essay, thereby lending it more credibility. Sometimes, especially for new writers, it is best to pick informative essay topics about which one has no personal convictions. It can be difficult to keep an essay objectively grounded in fact when one has strong opinions on the topic.