You know you have a great friend when that person gives you a book you can’t put down.  My truly good friend, Sharon, gave me MINDMAPPING for Christmas. I have turned to this book over and over in the past few months for inspiration and guidance in problem solving my way to better fiction writing.  I love it.

Problem solving with Mind Mapping

The author, Joyce Wycoff, succinctly tells those of us who never had “bubble maps” or other non-linear forms of brainstorming in school just how to tap into the wonderful world of firing synapses.

Essentially, Wycoff teaches the reader to place a puzzle or problem in the middle of a paper and allow the fun and productivity to begin.  Because you don’t have to exhaust all the ideas of one concept before moving on to another, you literally map out more extensive ideas by jotting down whatever pops into your head.  You can go back to areas you thought were done and add new ideas, or create another offshoot just by drawing a line from one thought to the next. This skipping around works in harmony with the way the human brain functions, and the lack of constraint helps you come up with more and often better ideas.

Next time Daisy needs to solve a mystery I may have to help her create her own mind map.

• Title: Mindmapping – Your Personal Guide To Exploring Creativity and Problem Solving
• Author: Joyce Wycoff
• Pages: 173
• Publisher: Berkley Books, New York