Mind Mapping Your Way Out of a Block

Writer’s block. Everyone has suffered from it at one time or another. I, for one, am a chronic sufferer of writer’s block. So much so that I have avoided writing a blog for months. Go ahead and look back through our Red Sky blog; you will notice I haven’t graced the blog in over three months. It’s surprising to me that I fail to find words to put down on paper because (if you know me, you already know this) if you hand me a cell phone, I’ll talk for hours. Suffering from writer’s block is more than a mere inconvenience in the PR world where a majority of time is spent writing.

Overcoming my writing challenge has been a goal of mine this year. To help me along that path, I attended Ragan’s Corporate Writers & Editors Conference, where I learned a variety of techniques, my favorite of which is mind mapping, as taught by writing coach, Daphne Gray-Grant. Gray-Grant said something that will stay with me forever – “Outlining kills the creativity in writing.” She suggested to the “lovers of outline” that we try to mind map. This stressed me out because I LOVE to outline. I outline everything. You name it and I will outline it. Gray-Grant advised that it’s a perfect tool to use when suffering from a “brain fart” with a deadline looming. I decided to give it a try, here’s how it works:

Mind Map

Mind mapping is a quick and easy way to get simple thoughts down on paper to help construct the outline of your article, strategic communication plan, monthly report, press release, etc.

Step 1. Take a sheet of paper, flip it horizontal, or as I like to call it “hotdog-style.”

Step 2. Write your central idea in the middle.

Step 3. Let your mind go free. Whatever pops into that little noggin of yours, write it down. Any word or affiliation that comes to mind, jot it down and link it to the central theme.

Step 4. Write about feelings and emotions, write a word down and move on, just keep writing. According to Gray-Grant, you should never judge what you are writing down. We are incredibly harsh critics, write something down on your map and move on.

Step 5. As you mind-map, you will begin to develop the story, pitch, plan in your head and will begin to dictate where your writing should go. Don’t feel like you need to finish your mind-map. Gray-Grant assured us she has multiple unfinished mind-maps strewn across her office.

This is a perfect example of what your mind map should look like – as created by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen, referring to Gray-Grant’s technique. You can see the main idea is centrally located with thoughts, feelings and emotions connecting ideas throughout the map.

Mind mapping has helped me tremendously as a writer. I am now writing with more ease and without wasting precious time. I hope it’ll be just as helpful for you as it has been for me. Good luck and happy writing!

- Gloria Miller