Hi! First of all, I think with Birmingham you have made a great choice for studying your MA. Birmingham has a great distance learning community and the teaching staff is very helpful and supportive.
My research focuses broadly on the English Reformation, the Marian exile and persecution, the Elizabethan religious settlement, and international scholarly networks. I got the initial idea for my research topic through my MLitt dissertation. However, I also had many conversations about possible ideas and directions that my PhD research could take with friends, teachers, and supervisors. I actually had a long list of possible PhD topics that I talked through with a former professor of mine. By the end I had two topics left, one of which was the one based on my MLitt dissertation and another one that, after having done more research on it, I presented at a conference. I eventually decided for the topic that I felt would fit best to myself.
Another very important influence on my topic was my own academic background. I have a magister degree (a German degree at Masters level) in Protestant theology and a MLitt in Reformation Studies (history). For me, it was important that I could make use of both. Moreover, having studied in different countries myself, made me more curious about scholarly networks and the influence they could have.
Everyone’s ‘research topic finding way’ is different, but I only can recommend that you speak about your ideas with others. In talking about it, you already have to engage with the topic. This will help you to get a feeling for it. Also, the input from others can be very beneficial to develop further research questions. Furthermore, most teachers and professors are happy to help and support you. They usually know what research is already done and can help you to narrow down your individual research topic. So, if you can, then talk to them about your plans and ideas.
Don’t worry if you haven’t found your topic yet. It will come to you and doing a Masters degree will help you finding it. Ask yourself what you are most interested about? Why is it that you are studying history? Is there a topic that you just cannot stop thinking about? If you can define these questions, speak to other people about it, this will certainly help you to narrow it down.
Oh, and don’t be afraid if your project idea changes. The research that I am doing now, looks much different from my initial proposal. As you continue with your study/research your project will develop and often change a little.
This answer got a little long, but I really hope that I could help you. If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out again. Good luck!