Notes may be easily connected to other notes to signify a relationship just by dragging one on top of the other. Every node in the diagram is called a note.It is so fast and easy to update and export or print, I am really impressed: This intuitive diagram now captures the entire extensive cast of characters of my new novel and their relationships within three different story lines in one powerful visual. Heck, I spent more time than that tweaking a perfectly good diagram, just because it was fun! I then spent just two hours to shop for the right mind-mapping software, another ten minutes to buy, download and install Scapple, plus maybe another hour to learn the program. This data collection took about a half-dozen hours spanning several days. I consolidated phrases jotted down on single sheets of paper, scribbles from various Post-It Notes™, various pages of sundry notebooks, and transcriptions of 2AM whispered voice recordings–you know, like most authors do. Scapple neatly pulled together, in one info-packed diagram, my brainstorming of a list of characters and their relationships to each other. Scapple is fast, simple, effective, and works well with my favorite writing software, Scrivener.Ĭheck out my own big picture diagram below for my latest novel. You can peruse over a hundred possible mind mapping tools and techniques from that list. See the resource list at the end of this article for other similar tools. Scapple is better for diagramming any-to-any relationships, which is precisely what I needed. Most are hierarchical, like branches on a tree, or progressive forks in a road. In the past I’ve pressed various mind mapping tools into service, some free, but none really met my needs. This type of project is not for the feint of heart, but gives a story depth and dimension. Most of my books weave lots of characters in and around at least a few different story lines. And yes, I’m writing the middle book last. I’m in the early stages of creating the final book in a near-future dystopian science fiction trilogy. We’ll examine my current work in progress to illustrate. Helps alleviate an otherwise encroaching cloud of insanity. Yup, I start documenting my early writing workflow for my latest book with a tool called Scapple–to rough out a story, to imagine and to define character and multiple story line relationships. To dress in any way short of fine tooling or rubbing, as stone.To work roughly, or shape without finishing.So let’s define the word Scapple, the name of a tool I’m growing to really love: Now I’m considering incorporating them in my published works. I’ve used mind maps for a few years now in writing the book. Enter the mind map and tools to ease the task of creating one. That got me thinking if I couldn’t do better beyond just moving my character list and a brief sentence of their role in the book. Either way, it’s a good idea shared by some famous best sellers. I’m hoping its the former, not the latter. Since I cast a lot of characters in my stories, most of near-epic length, this is either a simple helpful suggestion or an indictment of too many characters. Recently, several of my readers have suggested that I locate my customary cast of characters page at the beginning of my books. And unlike with paper, you can move notes around and never run out of space.An example of a visual ‘mind map’ created using Scappleįirst, why is a mind map important to an author, especially for long-form projects like a novel? The idea behind Scapple is simple: when you are roughing out ideas, you need complete freedom to experiment with how those ideas best fit together.Ĭreating notes is as easy as double-clicking anywhere on the canvas and then typing making connections between ideas is as painless as dragging and dropping one note onto another. There's no built-in hierarchy at all, in fact-in Scapple, every note is equal, so you can connect them however you like. Scapple doesn't force you to make connections, and it doesn't expect you to start out with one central idea off of which everything else is branched. If you've ever scribbled down ideas all over a piece of paper and drawn lines between related thoughts, then you already know what Scapple does. It isn't exactly mind-mapping software-it's more like a freeform text editor that allows you to make notes anywhere on the page and to connect them using straight dotted lines or arrows. Scapple is an easy-to-use tool for getting ideas down as quickly as possible and making connections between them.
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