How to make a mind map

Central node

The topic or project in the middle, in a few words. Everything else grows out of it.

Main branches

The big themes, one line each from the centre. Four to seven is usually enough to see at a glance.

Sub-nodes

The detail under each theme, branching out from it. Go a level deeper wherever an idea needs it.

Links

A dashed line between ideas on different branches that affect each other, with a word or two to say how.

Keywords, not sentences

One to four words per node. Short words are quicker to read, easier to remember and leave room to grow.

A colour per branch

Each branch and everything on it shares one colour, so the eye can follow a theme across the page.

Notes

The detail that does not fit in a keyword: a name, a date, a reminder. Kept on the node, out of the way.

Icons and pictures

A small picture next to a node makes it easier to find and to remember.

A Year 10 media group is planning a fortnightly school podcast. Before writing any scripts they map the whole project: who it is for, what goes in it, who does what, how it is recorded and how it gets to listeners.

The same map as an outline

• School podcast
  • Audience: Years 7 to 9 · Parents · Listen on the bus
  • Content: Sports round-up · Staff interviews · Book of the week
  • Team: Host · Producer · Editor
  • Recording: USB microphone · Audacity · Library, Tuesdays
  • Publishing: School website · Every other Friday · 15-minute episodes

What makes it a good map: the centre is two words; every branch answers a different question; no node is longer than four words; the link shows a decision (more sport, because the audience asked for it); and the one fiddly detail, who to book the library with, sits in a note rather than on the map.

1. 1

   Step 1: Write the topic in the centre

   Put the subject or project in the middle of a landscape page, in as few words as you can: “School podcast”, not “Ideas for our school podcast project”.
2. 2

   Step 2: Add the main branches

   Ask the big questions about it (who, what, how, when, where) and give each answer its own branch from the centre. For a project, think audience, content, people, equipment and how it reaches people.
3. 3

   Step 3: Give each branch a colour

   Pick one colour per branch and use it for every node on that branch, so the themes stay separate.
4. 4

   Step 4: Branch out with keywords

   Add sub-nodes under each branch, one idea per node, in one to four words. Keep going a level deeper where you know more.
5. 5

   Step 5: Link related ideas

   Where an idea on one branch affects another, join them with a dashed line and a short label.
6. 6

   Step 6: Add notes, then check the balance

   Put names, dates and reminders in notes on the nodes they belong to. If one branch is bare, ask what you have not thought about yet.

• Revision. Close the book, map a topic from memory, then check it against your notes and add what you missed in a different colour. The gaps are what to revise next.
• Essay plans. Put the question in the centre and one branch per paragraph; sub-nodes are your evidence and examples. The branch order becomes the essay order.
• Project planning. Map the jobs, people, equipment and deadlines before you start, so nothing turns up as a surprise in the last week.
• Coursework. In Creative iMedia, a mind map is one of the pre-production documents; see the R093 mind maps revision page.
• Meetings and group work. One shared map keeps everyone's ideas on one page and shows who is doing what.

• ⚠Writing sentences on the nodes. Cut each one down to the keywords; move the rest into a note.
• ⚠Only one level. A ring of words round the centre is a spider diagram. Branch each theme out into detail.
• ⚠Mixed-up branches. If an idea could sit on two branches, put it on one and link it to the other.
• ⚠Colour for decoration. Random colours make it harder to read. One colour per branch, used for everything on that branch.
• ⚠Starting in the corner. Start in the middle of a landscape page so every branch has room to grow.