Mind mapping book projects

Mind mapping can be an effective tool for aspiring book authors in sorting the content of their planned book and help put things in proper perspective.

I had to admit there are moments my creative side gets hungry and drained at the same time. Being able to jolt out of it required much better understanding on how the brain works that includes getting both sides involved concurrently on a project.

To help me get through this process, I use mind maps to plot out my ideas. Afterwards, write the text version of the mind map image to explain it further.

The last time I published a book was in 2004. Work for it started in 2006 and dragged due to concerns with its content. After attending a mind mapping workshop last week, I started working on my book outline using the said tool. It dawn on me how scattered my ideas were.

So finally, I took the task of finishing the text version of the mind map and will be working on the final manuscript by reorganizing the content and adding a few more. Changes can still happen during this process.

I'm now contemplating of including a colored detailed mind map (with images) for easy reference. There are a few form templates in the book too and might included a mind map counterpart for easy visualization purposes.

Number of chapters have been reduced from ten to five.


The blog introduction part is the biggest and have been very tempted in reducing it. However, I can't allow the curse of knowledge to make me take for granted the target audience needs.

For the ethics part, I'm supposed to include personal conduct commitments online. However, I suppose that bloggers need flexibility to express how they feel at a particular moment.

This chapter has the assumption that the blogger is clear on the theme of their blog and ready to put structure in their ideas.


This part documents how I usually promote my blog. Amazed on the amount of work required just to ensure a blog's longevity.

I have my own niche in this online world and definitely do not belong to the a-list kind of crowd. That is why on matters relating to money and other sensitive concerns, I lumped it under insight to ensure that what I share at this part is based on practical personal experience and may not necessarily shared by other players in this field.

Updates (March 1, 2012):

The book was released last August 2008. It had mind maps included to introduce each chapter.

Blogging from Home Book by Janette Toral

View more documents from Janette Toral