As you plan your sprawling manuscript for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), you might want to make a mind map.
A number of digital tools can help you create a visual outline of your novel, organize research and brainstorm plot twists. The mind-mapping company Mindjet will let you test their PC and Mac tools for free. Their iPhone and iPad apps are currently free in the Apple App Store as well.
Here’s more about the tool: “Use a Mindjet visual map as a freeform whiteboard — one that lets you quickly gather and display everyone’s thoughts. Focus on keeping up with the flow of ideas, knowing you can organize them later. Add more detail in sub-topics (branches) to the more important ideas. Expand and collapse sub-topics to control the level of detail displayed … Add related attachments, notes, and links. Having all relevant information in a single map lets everyone see their ideas and related content in context.”
Follow this link for a more detailed exploration of other mind mapping apps.
This is our fourth NaNoWriMo Tip of the Day. As writers around the country join the writing marathon this month, we will share one piece of advice or writing tool to help you cope with this daunting project.