Free Your Mind-- Mind Mapping Software

Because of my new-found love for Wordle as a writing tool, I thought I'd share a tool I use for just about every stage of finishing a first draft. Mind mapping software. What is a mind-map, you ask? Remember those bubble diagrams and flow charts you learned to make in grade school English? That's a type of mind-map.

The easiest way for me to brainstorm--whether it's a new story or one I'm trying to finish-- is longhand. But sometimes I need to have a more concrete worksheet to go from. I am a huge mess-maker when it comes to flow charts, which is counterproductive to my brain, so software works for me to keep me organized.

I prefer FreeMind for its simplicty of use. It's also FREE, plus, one of the label icons is a penguin (for Linux, I know, but still, it's adorable).

So what can this program do for me, you might ask. I can't tell you that, but here's how I use it.

During the initial "What-if" stage, where the story is in its infancy, I use the software to follow different story threads simultaneously, searching for the one I like best. I like being able to compare ideas side-by-side, and because the roots are collapsible with a click, I can hide the nodes I'm not currently working on-- the alternate realms of possibility. Once I have all my potential ideas organized, I find an ending that works for me, and work toward it.

For those honest-to-goodness outliners, it's easy to format a mind map into your standard three act structure-- or the beginning, middle, and end, if you prefer. Because of the ability to create so many child nodes, as the program calls them, you can continue adding story ideas as you write to flesh the story out further and keep yourself organized.


Another way I like to use it for plotting is as a character development tool. I usually try to plan my main characters around their purpose in the story: antagonist, obstacle character, double-crosser, etc. You can make a node for each character, give their relation to the main character or protagonist, and add character traits, quirks, physical features, and their role in the story. I tend to make one outlining each character's motivation, as well.

The right tool for the right job, as my father always used to say. At least this one is a multi-tasker.

Anyone use any other free online software for writing besides wordle and mind maps?

The Benefits of Drafting in First Person

Playing around with Wordle and the first chapter of my revised manuscript of EVANGELINE. Looks like I need to do a search for "just" and see where I can use something else. Of course Evie is the most common word in the chapter now that I've switched it to third person, but I wonder if there's a way to reduce the number of times I use it. The whole manuscript would probably benefit from a chapter by chapter word cloud before I start querying again. See, Wordle isn't just for stalling. ;)

However, I did notice something quite interesting during this revision (yes, NaNoWriMo had become NaNoRevisMo around these parts, lol). Most of the prose and exposition sounds more natural being delivered by an invisible narrator than the main character-- to me, that is. Whether or not that's the truth is yet to be seen, but it's not the first time I've re-written a manuscript in a different tense.

I'm actually thinking that despite which perspective I wind up using, writing the first draft in first person was very helpful to me in getting deeper into the mc's head. When I draft in third person, I often feel there's something missing, or that I'm watching the main character from outside, rather than in their heads.

I actually began the novel before Evangeline in rotating first person with four female main charaters. Over the course of writing the novel, I decided to switch it to third, but by then I had already been privy to my character's secrets and desires, inside their head rather than a simpel on-looker. Finishing their stories in third made perfect sense at that point, and kept my novel from being unfavorably compared to an urban fantasy "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants". (Which also had four first person female povs, and even went to one of the exact same places as one of the Traveling Pants girls, as I found out too late. Grr...) And I know I was able to get a better feel for each character by starting off in first person, as if they were telling me their story in private.

My current WiP, Mara's Story, is the first novel where I didn't have to struggle to get into the main character's pov. So it will likely stay in first person, which I think is the only way to tell that particular story. Since it is a mystery, I like the limited point of view, and I enjoy the intimacy and tension that I used to show the main character's inner-struggles. I can't imagine this story NOT being told by Mara.

As for EVANGELINE, this month marks one year since I began it during NaNo 2008. I couldn't resist dusting it off and trying to breathe some new life into it once this year's NaNo story fizzled out before it got started. I'm also shamelessly soliciting for betas-- either to just read and give me your thoughts, or for a full-on critique-- after I get it cleaned up in the next week or so.

Anyone learning any other tips for writing first drafts? Especially those of you still cruising along on your NaNo without looking back. Any fun new tools for stalling-- er, I mean drafting that I don't know about?

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on free mind map software!