John Hattaway

As I look at that title I am reminded of something along the lines of a poorly written science fiction whatnot that has a group of scientists mapping the human mind with terrible, and deadly, consequences. Unfortunately, part of the poorly written is the poorly imagined and the deadly consequences. Fortunately, this is not what the post is about.

If you don’t know this, yet, you should. We purchased me an iPhone. I’ve had it for, what feels like, a month or so and I use it all of the time. Yesterday, Erin asked why I didn’t just grab my computer and why I was using my phone. The answer, I wanted to spend time with her and since she was on her computer I was using my phone until we could cuddle. Since she doesn’t have an iPhone, understanding the relationship between the phone and its user is pretty weird and complicated, though earlier she told me she wanted a pink one. Hopefully, when Apple releases their next updated iPhone, colors will be a consideration.

Because of the whole iPhone thing, I occasionally get it into my head to download and try out different apps. One I downloaded the other day is a piece of mind mapping software. Since I limit myself to free or “light” versions of things, this one was free, but before I even downloaded it I decided to compare it against the full version. The full version allows me to email mind maps to other people.

Even with that limited amount of knowledge, I still decided to try my hand at a piece of iPhone app mind mapping goodness – SimpleMindX,  because, quite frankly, I had no idea what it was. I mean, this is something that could be anything. Essentially, it is a piece of software (with a rather nice user interface) that allows the user to brainstorm an idea using the idea tree (???) method. (Okay, I know idea tree is wrong, I just can’t remember what it is called. Essentially, start with a word or phrase in the center and work out from there with branching ideas and words and connections.) Ah, I think clustering/mapping/webbing is the more appropriate brainstorming description.

Anyway, I started using it for an ongoing and ever changing project that I don’t intend to start writing yet – though I do want to know where this is going and at some point in the (maybe near) future have an outline for the project from beginning to end with the ability to change sections in the middle.

The outcome: I was impressed.

Not that I am closer to having an outline, though I think I am, but because I have been able to visualize my ideas better with this software than I have in any other medium. Using pen and paper (or pencil and paper) or even digital ink in a word processor is actually rather limiting. On top of which, I have some story creation software that is amazing to use, but when it comes to conception and design of an idea also very limited. My mind works on a variety of levels and in a variety of directions and not all of them clearly delineable between the idea and the connections to other ideas or projects and none of those really workable on a piece of paper that I have been (at times) frustrated with myself for not seeing connections where they should belong or, more accurately, being able to illustrate them how they belong. Granted, having multiple white boards helps with this, but the real kick in the pants isn’t in the tools I have, but that the inherent nature of computers and the internet isn’t the 2D world we’ve created but an expandable 3D and 4D world (though, an exact definition of how 4D plays into this is not currently available).

Of course, one of the other issues with all of this isn’t a lack of ideas or an inability to write (apparently I’m the poo), but rather a conflicting need to illustrate different ideas in different ways and to have something that allows me that latitude. I want to be working on one idea, stop for (say) twenty-seven minutes, add visual elements to a map for another project, and then go back to what I was working on. At present, this is actually a multi-day to multi-week process that (believe it or not) could be reduced and eliminated.

So, I download the software and start using it. Immediately, I begin to see the plot branches and character development in entirely different ways. Suddenly, I am more enthused in the whole process. Not that I wasn’t excited and enthused before. I wonder, knowing that a lot of authors spend years writing a simple book, if this isn’t other peoples problem as well? The dimensions within which one has to work are constricting and don’t allow for the proper exploration of topic or material and do require a more antiquated write, delete, rewrite sequence to take place. I don’t believe there is an answer to this query.

Anyway, I leapt from that to apple.com and clicked over into the /download section of the site to see if there was other software out there that would work for me (I use a Macbook… another object I am in love with – though do note that they fall well below my wife and child on the love hierarchy) and allow me to do something more, more robust, and allow cross-connection, notes, and etc. within the map and I discovered: novamind.com. I plan to download the trial version to see how it works, how dynamic it is, what features it does and doesn’t have, how well the visualization works for something simple like a short story AND something a bit more complex like a much longer project, and then decide if the price point the company sells it at is worth the features (or lack thereof) and its usability. Truth told, there are three versions of the product from really simple (and about $50.00) to rather complex and designed for screenplays (and about $250.00). I would hit the middling point.

I will also be looking at other mind mapping pieces of software for the Mac. Downloading trials. Trying them out. And then getting rid of what doesn’t work and keeping what does. Off the bat, though, NovaMind is impressive in that it exports (at the purchase level I am interested in) to Keynote, which is Apple iWork‘s presentation program, and that is impressive (to me) as I intend to teach writing at some point in the future (either before I finish my Master’s Degree or after… though, regardless, give me a year and I will start looking for those kinds of jobs to include adjunct faculty positions). And as this is one method of working through an idea and outlining, it makes sense to have visuals that allow others to see the process.

Since I suck at artwork (uploading any pictures or whatnots) I won’t promise any, but I will try to review what I am doing and let y’all know how it goes.

Real Heroes Fly