Mindmapping and Creative Writing ?
NadFaerber
Hi !
How can I use Mindmapping to write stories ?
Nadine
The good news is you're dying . The bad news is I'm alive .-Neurotic
Outsiders
Wayne Lundberg
Thank you for this great opportunity to share the wealth!
First off - when you put the paper horizontally you are telling your
reight/left brain something is different "Wake up!"
Next, when you draw that first ellipse you are telling the right brain
that it is being called on for action.
By these two very fundamental acts you have now engaged the full power
of your brain.
Now - in the center of the page in the center of the ellipse write a
singe word which names the picture in your mind of the topic you are to
write about. Imagine the whole book as a picture story. Just name it.
Now you will be flooded with action, color, characters, etc. And you
need to capture these thoughts, this imagination, quickly and
efficiently so you can develop it later. In effect, the mind map becomes
an outline. The big difference is that the outline is along imaginary
lines so you will simply see the stuff you want to write in your mind's
eye and then put a name of that particular segment onto the mind-map in
some tree branch which will be used to hang further pictures as quickly
as you can write them. Thus the need for one or two - maximum four -
words per picture title.
Do this in a relaxed atmosphere with the TV and every other 60 cycle
gadget turned off. Try to use full spectrum lighting or do this on your
back porch in the early morning or evening hours. Breathe deeply, sigh,
humm, recite the "Oh many padny huuuum" or other mantra. Look upward
through closed eyelids often - to the left for creative, to the right
for logic. (remember the left eye is mostly right brain, vice versa).
Use a Chroma-Lite II to paint blue or turquoise light on your third-eye.
Use colors in your mind-map - the four color cliker is a great tool.
Relax frequently and let your imagination take you into wild zones -
listen to your inner self - let go - soon you will begin to sleep and
may even have a first dream. Don't fight it, just come back to the last
note you wrote and start again. Remember that there is an Infinite
Intelligence at your beck and call. All you have to do is learn to tune
in and listen. Mind Mapping is the absolute greatest tool along with the
Chroma-Lite II and colored pens.
The Ur
Wayne Lundberg wrote:
> NadFaerber wrote:
> > How can I use Mindmapping to write stories ?
> > Nadine
> Thank you for this great opportunity to share the wealth!
Well said, Wayne!
> First off - when you put the paper horizontally you are telling your
> right/left brain something is different "Wake up!"
> Next, when you draw that first ellipse you are telling the right brain
> that it is being called on for action.
> By these two very fundamental acts you have now engaged the full power
> of your brain.
The best description I've seen of why mind-mapping works!
Although the same can be said for outlining on a "vertical" sheet of
paper. The other thing is to use the largest sheet that you can access;
I use desk pads most of the time, and flip charts when I can afford
them.
> Now... the techniques (snipped)...
If you can, use pictures rather than words; this is especially true if
you are not a visual person. Pictures tend to give strong emotions, if
they are chosen properly.
If you do use words, make sure they have a high semantic content and
reaction; every word used should cause a strong emotive reaction.
The biggest problem with using mind-mapping for stories is that
mind-mapping, by its nature is unstructured -- you add ideas and
developments as they occur to you, not in the logical sequence of a
story (intro-conflict-climax-resolution). So, a single story-mind-map
can actually give you a whole slew of stories, depending on the order in
which you take the elements. Mind you, this means that you have multiple
points of view of the same set of events, so you can determine which is
the best for your particular story, long before you sit down to make it
sequential enough for a publisher or editor.
I've been playing with a bit of software that is almost as good as doing
mind-mapping by hand (demo version -- just loaned out my demo disc, so
can't remember the name or the producers). I've also useed Corel's
Flowchart program, but its a little too fixed for me and the way that I
tend to think.
And, as Wayne said, use as many colours as you can. I use a box of
pastel crayons, a set of coloured pencils, highlighters, flipchart
markers and anything else that appeals at the time I'm doing the
planning -- The last MM I did must have had close to a hundred and fifty
different colours and textures. I'm almost tempted to frame it, and
forget the article/story that it was supposed to represent.
Oh, and one practical hint:
Articles and factual stuff tend to be read outwards from the centre when
being translated into words for the linear version.
Stories tend to go in the opposite direction -- from the outside into
the middle.
Why? because non-fiction is structured as a logical progression from the
general to the specific, while fiction is structured from the specific
to the general.
The Ur-Referent Boyd
(Peter B Budvietas)