Mind Mapping - Alternative Thinking - A Thousand Words is Not Worth One Picture
We have all heard the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words.
" The sentence seems to convey some idea of equality.
Mind mapping gives the like to that thought.
A good mind mapping picture is worth far more than a thousand words.
The mind map itself will generate many more possibilities than a few pages of writing.
It's easy to show how to generate a mind map.
In less than a minute we can demonstrate the technique and the many possible uses.
Having made this claim, let us write a description of the beginning of the creation of our map, visualize the creation, and see how the methods compare.
Open the mind mapping software or get a set of colored felt tip pens and lets begin.
In the center we see a small rectangle with the words - 'New Map'.
Not very descriptive.
Hit the return key and we get an edit box.
Type in the words Article Ideas.
Now we have something to work with.
Hit the insert key.
Type in the old favorite, 10 Tips, and hit return.
This is already giving us ideas but lets stick with the main subject.
What other thoughts do we have for articles we would like to write? How about Places We Love? Hit the insert key.
We just learned something from a mistake.
10 Tips was highlighted so Places was added as a child to this branch but we wanted it as a separate branch from the center.
Highlight Article Ideas and insert again.
Now enter Places We Love.
With Places We Love highlighted work that insert key, Maui, London, New York, San Francisco, Santa Monica, any beach, and on and on.
Highlight Maui - road to Hana, north shore big wave surfers, whale watching, surfing, Paia Fish Company, local musicians, the banyan tree, Maui marathon, etc.
In a minute or so we have generated a couple of days of writing.
If you become addicted to this process, you may find yourself with a large diagram which might be interesting as a piece of art (especially if you have used a lot of colors!) but not too productive about specific projects.
One by one, highlight the items that really appeal to you.
Look at the icons in the upper tool bar.
By clicking on a check mark, a heart, or a smiley face you can make a visual notation of where you want to concentrate for the next few days.
Probably not a good idea to introduce negativity into the creative process but you may have come up with some ideas that you just plan don't like, maybe even hate them.
Mark them with an X, a sad face, a thumbs down.
Think about why you don't like them and use that to trigger some more good ideas.
Certainly more productive than a simple delete.
Well, we have used half a thousand words and maybe covered one twentieth of our picture.
The good news is that maybe all these words will convince you to give mind mapping a try.
" The sentence seems to convey some idea of equality.
Mind mapping gives the like to that thought.
A good mind mapping picture is worth far more than a thousand words.
The mind map itself will generate many more possibilities than a few pages of writing.
It's easy to show how to generate a mind map.
In less than a minute we can demonstrate the technique and the many possible uses.
Having made this claim, let us write a description of the beginning of the creation of our map, visualize the creation, and see how the methods compare.
Open the mind mapping software or get a set of colored felt tip pens and lets begin.
In the center we see a small rectangle with the words - 'New Map'.
Not very descriptive.
Hit the return key and we get an edit box.
Type in the words Article Ideas.
Now we have something to work with.
Hit the insert key.
Type in the old favorite, 10 Tips, and hit return.
This is already giving us ideas but lets stick with the main subject.
What other thoughts do we have for articles we would like to write? How about Places We Love? Hit the insert key.
We just learned something from a mistake.
10 Tips was highlighted so Places was added as a child to this branch but we wanted it as a separate branch from the center.
Highlight Article Ideas and insert again.
Now enter Places We Love.
With Places We Love highlighted work that insert key, Maui, London, New York, San Francisco, Santa Monica, any beach, and on and on.
Highlight Maui - road to Hana, north shore big wave surfers, whale watching, surfing, Paia Fish Company, local musicians, the banyan tree, Maui marathon, etc.
In a minute or so we have generated a couple of days of writing.
If you become addicted to this process, you may find yourself with a large diagram which might be interesting as a piece of art (especially if you have used a lot of colors!) but not too productive about specific projects.
One by one, highlight the items that really appeal to you.
Look at the icons in the upper tool bar.
By clicking on a check mark, a heart, or a smiley face you can make a visual notation of where you want to concentrate for the next few days.
Probably not a good idea to introduce negativity into the creative process but you may have come up with some ideas that you just plan don't like, maybe even hate them.
Mark them with an X, a sad face, a thumbs down.
Think about why you don't like them and use that to trigger some more good ideas.
Certainly more productive than a simple delete.
Well, we have used half a thousand words and maybe covered one twentieth of our picture.
The good news is that maybe all these words will convince you to give mind mapping a try.