Mindmanager for Writing

[scipio]

I am writing 5 essays for my graduate classes. Without Mindmanager my mind would be hung up on all the ideas that are falling out of my head.

How do you use Mindmanager to facilitate the writing process?

Do you use another software for writing?

 

[ArcCaster]

MindManager is great!

Get the ideas down fast, leapfrog off of any or each to related ideas, group them, change the groups; any change is apt to initiate a host of other changes.

Finally, sequence the ideas.

Then, with your mapped skeleton in front of you, open up an editor, copy the first bone, and start adding flesh. Repeat until all the bones are in the editor and fleshed out.

 

[kewms]

I used MindManager for quite a while, but in the last few months I've gone retro: index cards. Cheap, no learning curve, infinitely flexible.

On the other hand, I'm about to input a whole stack of cards into MindManager in order to put an outline together for a client.

My most valuable writing tools are:
* Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html) -- outlining, organizing, writing, editing
* DevonThink Pro (http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/devonthink/index.html) -- research-oriented freeform database
* DevonAgent (http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/devonagent/index.html) -- browser and search tool, ties directly to DevonThink.

All three are Mac only, and together they more than justify buying a Mac.

Katherine

 

[scipio]

Cmaps

Katherine:

Thank you for the suggestion. In return, I wanted to pass on one of my own. Cmaps is a free mind mapping tool. Though it is not as powerful as the ones mentioned thus far, it does allow one to make a stronger emphasis on the propositions connecting two key terms. It can run on all the major platforms and seems to be widely used around the world. Its link can be found at: http://cmap.ihmc.us/.

Has anyone had the opportunity to use brainstorm and mindola? I would be interested to see how that has worked out for other people.