Mind Map Recipe: Mind Mapping a Book

This is going to be the first in a series of posts that will outline the basic structure of a mind map for a particular subject or topic.  Each recipe will list the levels of branches in the mind map and what to put in them.

I spend a lot time reading development books, and more often than not I always end up having to go back to the book to check something.  A few years ago I started mind mapping each development book I read to help gather and process the information from the book.

Here’s the structure of the mind map:

  • The centre of the mind map will be the title of the book we are reading. I always use an image of some kind to represent the title of the book, but you could also use a keyword to describe the book or a mixture of keywords and an image.
  • The 1st level of branches will contain the chapters within the book. I usually flip through the book and pick out the chapters that I want to mind map.  I space out the chapter branches evenly to give myself enough room for each one.
  • The 2nd level of branches below each chapter contain the sections for that chapter. Now more often than not there won’t be any visible sections in the book, so I flip through each chapter on the mind map and find these sections so that I can group my notes from each chapter.
  • The final level of branches is the notes on the book itself. As we have a structure of chapters and sections, I can now pick a section on the mind map and read that actual section, adding notes as branches as I go along.

Finally, if you’re going to be creating a mind map to use as a long term reference map, then I suggest you do a first pass of the mind map in pencil without putting too much emphasis on presentation.  Then once you have all the notes you require, you can then start a final pass of the mind map.  In this final pass you can substitute keywords for images and make use of colour in your branches.

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Related Articles:

  1. Mind Map Recipe: Next Actions by Project
  2. Mind Map Recipe: Next Actions by Context
  3. Mind Map Recipe: Taking Notes at a Meeting
  4. Tips On How To Use Mind Mapping As A Writing Aid

8 Comments

Scott  on July 23rd, 2008

Matthew

I like this post. I have been working on two books concurrently, and it was difficult to manage at first until I started mapping everything.

When I got organized, it become much easier to handle

Cheers
scott

Matthew  on July 23rd, 2008

Thanks for the comment Scott! Good to hear from people who use mind mapping to better their workflow.

Matthew

Mind Map Recipe Mind Mapping a Book MindMapSwitch | Cast Iron Cookware  on May 26th, 2009

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Konferenser  on June 16th, 2009

Mind maps seem to be increasing in popularity, and many people seem to benefit from the approach, there are also those of us who just don’t get much out of it.

The thing is, mind mapping is almost exclusively a visual tool. To someone who can learn a lot more from listening to or reading a description, this kind of visualization seems esoteric and chaotic. To me, it often can obscure rather than reveal an understanding of the true nature of the problem.

Matthew  on June 16th, 2009

That’s a good point Konferenser.

While mind mapping is a visual tool, it isn’t restricted to the few. Everyone is free to try it out. It does take practice to gain the full benefits of mind mapping, but so do other techniques.

Buzz News  on June 21st, 2009

I’ve tried mind mapping before. It helped me a lot to organize my work. When I studied for my exams it is easier. I recommend mind mapping to everyone. Thanks for sharing the information.

konferens  on June 22nd, 2009

It’s known that when you use Mind Maps on a daily basis, you will find that your life becomes more productive, fulfilled, and successful on every level. There are no limits to the number of thoughts, ideas and connections that your brain can make, which means that there are no limits to the different ways you can use Mind Maps to help you.

Lovelinks  on June 24th, 2009

I have not used mind mapping but most of my friends recommended it to me. They said it helps a lot in studying. Specially to remember the notes. I feel like trying it. Thanks for sharing the information.

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