Monday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts

MIND MAPPING YOUR BOOK

By: Heather Hart

One of my favorite tools for authors is mind mapping.

Why?

Mind maps are a great way to organize your thoughts, but they can also be condensed so they aren’t overwhelming. No other outlining system offers the visual representation you can get from a mind map, and they have become an essential part of outlining my books.

Check out this video where I show you 3 of my favorite mind maps for outlining:

Read the full article HERE!

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Here's my mindmap (so far) of THE EMERALD BROOCH. This is a great way to throw out ideas and see where they go, and you don't have to worry about running out of paper. This is a work-in-progress:

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If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:

1. Jumpstart Your Writer Imagination - Where Writers Win http://ow.ly/H8a5H
2. 21 Proofreading and Editing Tips for Writers | Writing Forward http://ow.ly/H8jRa
3. Three Things that Surprised Me About Publishing - Books & Such Literary Management http://ow.ly/H8jYN
4. Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 30: Describing Character Movements - Helping Writers Become Authors http://ow.ly/H8kb9
5. ISBNs: CreateSpace freebie or own ISBN? Pros and cons | Nail Your Novel http://ow.ly/H8kg6
6. A Novel Idea: Week One {5 Key Plot Points} - Going Reno http://ow.ly/H8kla
7. Verb Mistakes #2: Irregular Verbs Bind, Grind, Find http://ow.ly/H8kxT
8. Why spunky heroines need to fight back. - Venture Galleries http://ow.ly/H8kCh
9. Overcome Your Book Doubts By Asking WHY - WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™ http://ow.ly/H8kGk
10. You Just Launched a Book. Now What? | Your Writer Platform http://ow.ly/H8kKX
11. The Writers Alley: How to Nail Your Character's Personality http://ow.ly/H8kQ2
12. Pub Hub: 10 Thoughts: Writing About Sex in YA Fiction & Otherwise, Part I http://ow.ly/H8kSD
13. Online Presence: Pros, Perils and Possibilities - The Writing Platform http://ow.ly/H8kVn
14. Writing: Creating the visual world of your story. http://ow.ly/H8kYJ
15. Giacomo GiammatteoHow To Tighten Up Your Writing - Giacomo Giammatteo http://ow.ly/H8mwx
16. Writability: Why Representation is Important (to Me) http://ow.ly/H8mD8
17. Amazing Stories | Not All Royalties Are Treated Equally - Amazing Stories http://ow.ly/H8mOE
18. Mind Mapping Your Book - Training Authors for Success http://ow.ly/H8n2B
19. How to turn a short story into a novel | Nail Your Novel http://ow.ly/H8nEI
20. The Forest for the Trees: How to Cure Overwriting via @LiveWriteThrive http://t.co/S3efuo1LT2  

Happy writing and running, Kathy 

P.S. Looking at this map of states I've visited, my next book will have to take place in the north or southwest. I'd love to be able to check off all the states one day! 

I marked off the swath of states (Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and the bottom tip of Washington) many years ago researching the Oregon Trail for THE RUBY BROOCH. I'd already been to Kansas and Missouri. I lived in Lawrence for two years. Loved it! 

Visits to California were made researching the wine country for THE LAST MACKLENNA. The northeastern states were checked off during my daughter's high school dance competition years. And the southern states, well, I've lived in Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina. The rest I visited during vacations. 

I hope wherever you are, in whatever part of the world, that you have clear skies today. Bitter temps are easier to tolerate when the sun's out. 

Create Your Own Visited States Map