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Why I Use Mind Node for Planning Writing Projects

Roger Colby
2 min readFeb 9, 2021

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This is my current WIP planning session using Mind Node. It is highly effective for brainstorming ideas.

I’ve written a few novels in my short career, but all of them go through the meticulous planning process before I ever sit down to write.

I am, in no sense of the word, a “pantser”.

When Stephen King and Peter Straub wrote The Talisman they wrote a chapter each and then sent each chapter (once written) via courier to each other. Straub would write a chapter and send it to King who would then write the next chapter and back and forth it would go until completed. Straub, being a strict planner, constructed a meticulous outline for the entire novel as he saw it and based on his conversations with King. King, however, a “pantser”, would write the next chapter off the outline, causing Straub to rewrite his outline each time. I’m sure this was pretty frustrating for Straub, but it made for a great novel nonetheless.

I am like Peter Straub in this regard.

Mind Node is a program I discovered a few years ago and it has made my life as a planner a million times easier. I am able to start a kernel of an idea and then branch off of that idea seamlessly, creating branch after branch of connections. I can then draw arrows between different sections or kernels of ideas and see how they play out.

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Roger Colby
Roger Colby

Written by Roger Colby

#Writer, #teacher, #novelist. I post articles about writing/self-publishing and write sci-fi - Check out my web site! - http://writingishardwork.wordpress.com

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