Using Mind Maps To Write Articles
I’ve been asked a lot about this subject on twitter. Mind map software, using mind map software and especially about using mind map software to write articles. So here it is “how I use mind map to write articles”. This won’t make much sense to you unless you understand the basics of what a mind map is. Also, I use MindMapper there are a lot of different mind map softwares available this is just the one I use. Different software will have different capabilities.
About My Articles
When I sit down to write articles I usually write them in sets of between five and 20 articles (usually between 10 and 15). I use mind maps to help me organise my research and outline my articles. I then use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to actually write the article, and finally I use the ubiquitous word to edit it. My articles are usually in the 500 to 600 word range. This is how I do it, I hope it’s helpful for you. But mind mapping isn’t for everyone, some people just find it more trouble than it’s worth. So take from this article what you can use and ignore the rest.
The Research
If it’s a subject I already know well I can mainly skip the very first part of the research and move straight on to titles. If I’m writing about a subject I’ve recently written about them I can just pull up my research map.
For a subject that is new to me I open up a blank mind map and title it with my subject. Then I go to Google and start my research. Whenever I find a useful website I copy its address into the mind map, for every branch of the mind map there is a note section — which is one of the reasons I use a mind map rather than simply bookmarking sites. As I start to see subtopics then I can add branches to my mind map for these and organise each website into an appropriate branch.
This means that at a glance I can see how much information I have for each sub topic, what the subtopics are, and where I need to do more research.
Then The Titles
Once I have a grasp of the subject I will open up a new mind map that will form the basis of my outlines for actually writing the articles. The title of my mind map will of course be the subject. Then I will think of my titles. I have a titles swipe file, templates swipe file, and of course my research to help me find suitable titles.
One of my favourite resources at this stage is my templates swipe file. I have a mind map whose initial branches titles and whose sub branches are subtitles or parts of the article. Four example a sample title will be “Don’t Make These (Blank) Mistakes In (Blank)”. This will then have some branches of :
- introduction
- mistake one
- About the mistake
- Why it is a mistake
- What you should be doing instead
- mistake two
- About the mistake
- Why it is a mistake
- What you should be doing instead
- mistake three
- About the mistake
- Why it is a mistake
- What you should be doing instead
- conclusion.
I can simply copy this branch over to my subject map and fill in the blanks.
Now The Subtitles
As soon as I’ve got all the titles and templates that I want I can look at each article individually and fill in its subheadings. I should be able to fill in the subheadings from the research that I’ve already done, or because they come from one of my templates swipe files. This is usually a very quick part of the process. I know what I want to say in the article — because of the title. A lot of my articles will be from templates so while I will need to do is fill in the blanks for the sub heads.
Final Bit Of Research — The Notes
A subject I know well, or that I find very simple I probably won’t need to make any more notes. I will be able to go straight to writing the article at this stage.
If I don’t know the article well I will probably go into the notes section each sub branch, look at my research notes and make a few notes of my own stop I usually do this in bullet points format, after all it’s just from me.
Onto The Writing
Once I have all my articles and outlined I then export the mind map into word. I then simply print it off, fire at Dragon NaturallySpeaking and write my articles. Then I can edit them in word and have a finished article.
So there you have it that is how I do it. If you have any comments, need any more explanations, or just want to tell me how wonderful I am please leave me a message in the comments and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. I hope you found this helpful. If you want to follow me on twitter
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Very informative. What mind-mapping software do you prefer?
I use MindMapper – you can find it (with a free demo) here: http://www.mindmapper.com/
What a clear and simple tutorial thank you! I was recently introduced to mind mapping and just this morning was stubbing my toe trying to figure out how to make it work for articles.
Thanks!
Jan
Thanks for your compliments Jan – please contact me if I can help you further.
[...] A great blog post by Nicola Lane: Using Mind Maps To Write Articles Posted by jdeltd Filed in Communication, Marketing, Real Estate Marketing [...]
Terrific post, Nicola! Clear, crisp, and to the point. Any particular reason you didn’t use a screen capture to SHOW what you’re recommending since mindmapping is a visual media?
Not knowing what your health challenges are, I’m not sure if you could handle teaching directly online, but you’re so clear here that I’m wondering if you’ve considered teaching short webinars about subjects like this…? If you’d like some help, please feel free to contact me directly. You’re already following me on Twitter (@MeriWalker). That’s how I found your blog today!
Best of luck to you? Meri Walker, The Virtual Meeting Coach
I forgot to mention that I’ve been using http://www.mindomo.com for free, collaborative mindmapping for about 18 months now and love it! Check it out!
Nice blog. I apply the same method when writing business working paper.
Thank you for the helpful information! My chld used to make mindmaps in 5th grade for writing, and I never knew it was an actual ‘professional’ technique.
How informative… I am freelancing online doing translations for now, but hoping to get into writing too. Your tip on using mind-map to organize the job is a wonderful strategy that I will surely follow.
I hope your heart condition improves. If you haven’t read “The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell, I recommend it.
Just followed you in Twitter, I hope to read great tweets from you.
hi there, I was so happy to have just found your blog. Such a great and informative site on the subject of article writing! I am new at this and hungry for information. I was especially pleased when I saw that you use the Dragon voice recognition software which I just bought yesterday, and which so far, I am totally loving. I need to look more into mind maps, which is another thing I just learned from your page and which sounds like the kind of organizational tool that I could really use in my article writing.
One thing that I have been trying to learn from more experienced article marketers, and which I would love your comments on, is some sense of how many articles, it takes to make a successful six-figure living in this business. I’m starting to get the sense that the people who really do this well are writing literally hundreds of articles per month, spinning them into hundreds more versions, and submitting them through automated software to hundreds upon hundreds of websites. I guess I can get into that, however it is certainly not what I had in mind when I first discovered the thrill and the possibilities of making money through article writing and affiliate marketing.
I guess I had this romantic notion that I would get to apply my creative writing skills and write one good article at a time, each of which would be a labor of love, and that through my writing talents I would generate fans, traffic, and sales. Maybe I’m getting too cynical too early, but I’m starting to see this as much more of volume game than I originally thought it was.
Anyway, GREAT blog, thanks for the tips. I’ll bookmark you and link to you. Would love to hear your thoughts on any of the above if you get a chance.