My Partnership to Success Journey – Day Fifteen

On Day Fifteen of Partnership to Success, John introduces us to the concept of “mind mapping”.

Basically, a mind map is a hierarchical diagram of high-level thoughts and ideas that will go into making your product.

So if you were writing an eBook, your mind map would probably contain the main chapter headings with all of the main sub-topics that you will write about within each chapter branching off those headings.

In other words, what you should end up with is a diagram of your product’s structure.

You can read more about mind maps here.

My verdict on this process?

It is certainly useful to begin with a preconceived idea of how your product will be structured. However, for me at least, this top-down process has its limits.

You see, I find that my writing process itself – or, more broadly, the product creation process – is, in fact, my thinking process. It is only when I begin the task of writing details that thoughts occur to me about what I should include. That, in turn, leads me to further thoughts about which topics should follow on from other topics, and so on.

And the introduction of new thoughts and ideas can lead me to change the structure of the final piece. For instance, some topics may be presented better if they are put earlier or later into the order of thoughts and ideas.

So while my completed mind map is certainly a useful blueprint, I am expecting it to change once I start creating my final product.

You, however, might find mind mapping to be an indispensable aid that you must get right before you begin creating a product. We are all different, and you have to find what works for you.

I’ll sign off today by admitting that I’m getting more and more excited as I draw closer to actually creating my first product!

Check back with me soon to see how I get on with my further product creation prep!

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Go to Day Sixteen

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