It’s helpful to think of what you want to say before you start writing. Pre-writing is the stage of the writing process where you gather your thoughts and see how you want them to fit together on the page. Every writer approaches this differently. Some build elaborate outlines of what they want to say. Some have a loose idea of key points they want to write about. Some write and organize as they go.

A mind map or story web might be a helpful way to organize your thoughts.

The mind map on this page organizes the elements of a narrative I want to write about a trip I took this summer. Notice how the thoughts aren’t in complete sentence form? Also, notice I didn’t write EVERY detail in the map? The main ideas each have their own “node” or “bubble” and details for each main idea are connected with their own node, too.

To make your own mind map think of the following:

  1. What’s my topic? This is your first node. (Note: My node is BLACK)
  2. What are the BIG Main Ideas I want to share? These are your next nodes. (Note: Mine are ORANGE)
  3. What are the SMALLER Main Ideas that make up those BIG Main Ideas? (Note: Mine are GREEN)
  4. What details should I share with each main idea? Attach detail nodes to main idea nodes. (Note: Mine are RED)
  5. What’s your conclusion? This could be a node that has detail nodes attached.

One benefit to this approach is you can organize your thoughts and then begin writing without wondering what you’re going to say next.

Another benefit is you can take inventory of how you plan to elaborate on the topic. When you elaborate, you add more detail to what has already been said. You might provide the reader:

  1. Reason = a cause; an explanation or justification for an action or event (WHY or HOW)
  2. Detail = an individual feature, fact, or item (WHO or WHAT or WHERE or WHEN)
  3. Fact = an important and accurate piece of information used as evidence (WHAT)
  4. Quote = dialogue from a character or a summary of what was said
  5. Number = statistics or data that are important for the reader to understand (HOW MANY)
  6. Anecdote = short amusing or interesting story about a person or event to make a point (WHAT or WHY)