I returned from an art quilt retreat to find my writing space covered with random pieces of paper. I shouldn’t have been surprised, because that is the way I left it. Once again, I had succumbed to the oldest lie I tell myself: “I’ll remember this later when I have time to write.” Although I had jotted down ideas, I hadn’t labeled anything, much less organized it. Silly me.
Since I couldn’t muster the energy for cleaning up my space (much less warm-up writing exercises), I thought of trying something new. One of my critique buddies suggested creating mind maps when brainstorming. The technique sounded interesting, but I had never tried it. Since I had spent a week immersed in the visual arts, it seemed like a good time to experiment with the mind-map technique—or at least a version of it.
The idea is to write a few concept words in the middle of a page. From there, let your mind wander. If your concept is about your main character, then open your mind to anything that pertains to her—background, hopes, fears, favorite foods. Write the words around your concept, with lines connecting the thoughts in a way that makes sense to you. See where the flow takes you. Just remember to label the page, and don’t leave it in a pile of random notes.