Mind mapping for writers
Stories are not linear while you plan them. A map lets you move scenes between acts and connect characters across the plot.
- Drag a scene from Act 1 to Act 2 and the structure updates — no copy and paste.
- Relationships show how characters connect without tangling the plot tree.
- Export to Markdown and your outline becomes the skeleton of your draft.
A workflow that works
- 1
Structure
Start with the Story plot template (three acts) or Essay outline.
- 2
Develop
Add a Character arcs map and link characters with labeled relationships.
- 3
Draft
Export Markdown, open it in your writing app and write under each heading.
Templates for this
Tips
- Use notes for scene summaries; keep topic titles short.
- The Midnight theme is easy on the eyes for late sessions.
- Use presentation mode to read your plot as a sequence.
Example map as text
- The lighthouse keeper
- Act 1
- Storm cuts the island off
- A stranger washes ashore
- Act 2
- The stranger knows the keeper’s past
- The lamp fails
- Act 3
- Keeper relights the lamp by hand
- Ship is saved; stranger is gone
- Theme
- Duty versus guilt
- Setting
- Remote island, 1920s
- Act 1