After several years of teaching a seminar for first-year Ph.D. students, the author began to question his three-pronged topic-selection advice: (1) Fill a gap in the literature; (2) Identify a problem that has not been studied adequately; and (3) Add a brick to the wall of knowledge. Recalling his Colonial America seminar with historian Michael Kammen, who maintained a file folder of GTFR (Good Topics for Future Research), the author asked professors at his school how they discovered research topics. From these conversations, four key lessons were gleaned: (1) Future research arises from current research; (2) Future research can be autobiographical; (3) Future research often arises from conversations; and (4) Future research can derive from what others want and might pay for. The writer concludes that in addition to offering research-methods courses, graduate seminars should also discuss the range of sources for creative work.