Use these development-writing-toolsEver hear of Tony Buzan? I discovered Tony Buzan back in the mid 70s. Tony introduced me (and countless others) to the concept of mind mapping. It flipped the way I started to look at things – one of those “Aha” moments if you will when you discover something that’s not only new, but it works. (Similar terms to mind mapping are clustering and branching). More on mind mapping in a moment. I stress the use of three development-writing-tools. They may be taught in schools but then comes collective amnesia. We forget about them. As I see it, my job is to encourage you to use them. They are: A. Brainstorming
A. Brainstorming
For those of you unsure about this one, brainstorming is simply a session, usually with a group, though you can do it on your own, where you search for ideas/thoughts about a particular topic/question/issue and get these ideas/thoughts written down one after the other on paper, or on the computer.The rules are: Once you’re done, look at what you’ve got and decide which information to keep, set aside, or discard. You'll find further information on brainstorming in our book How to Write Proposals, Sales Letters & Reports. B. Mind mappingMind mapping is rather like organized brainstorming. It’s built on establishing relationships or branches between ideas and I love this process. I’ve found it so valuable.When developing a proposal, you have to come up with an outline or sequence to follow. The proposal-writing guide sets up that sequence. But where does the sequence itself come from? For me, mind mapping is a superb way to achieve this. Here’s an example. Let’s say the client has asked for a proposal on providing a new training program for front desk staff at a ski resort in order to improve customer service and boost occupancy rates. If you’re brainstorming you could come up with several ideas about this…then you’d have to arrange things in order once you’d completed the session. (And nothing wrong with that – brainstorming can kick in some great ideas.) With a mind map, there’s an opportunity to see the whole picture at once. Traditional mind map
The traditional way of doing a mind map is to set the topic – in this case your staff training proposal – in the middle of the page.
Each of these branches breaks down further as you go into detail. For example, the current situation under ski resort implies that the present situation is one where occupancy is too low and customer service needs improving. Timeline is critical since the training program must take place before ski season starts. New ideas/thoughts that pertain to a particular branch, get added to that branch. For example, under challenges then technology, you might want to add the technical skills staff will require and how they are to be provided. If you come up with an idea that’s not reflected in any existing branch, create an entirely new branch. What the mind map tells you
Mind maps give an immediate picture of a situation. I find it can tell me what’s missing, what connections there might be between branches, and most importantly, what the priorities are.
My next step is to make connecting lines, circle major points, and prioritize. So here’s a sequence to follow when developing a mind map: These actions can give you a ready-made sequence to follow in developing your written business proposal. Self-stick notes mind map
Now – it gets better – or at least some people think this is better – and that is another way to do a mind map, but this time using self-stick notes – for example those Post It Notes® from 3M.
In this mind map version, the proposal topic is written on a self-stick note and placed at the top of a page. The branches head up columns under the topic heading.
You can do some amazing things with this layout: a. You can construct your mind map not just on paper but on a wide variety of surfaces like a wall, window or mirror. This allows others to participate easily. Once you’ve got all these branches and columns in place, you can assign priority by column and give yourself an outline to work with.
Where can you take advantage of mind maps? This process can be used to look deeply at specific areas; for example: What I find so useful in mind mapping is that it allows you to think creatively – our minds work in non-linear fashion – then organize in a linear fashion, ideal for sequencing the elements of an effective proposal. C. Freewriting or RapidwritingWhat is freewriting? Just what it says it is - you simply write non stop on the proposal topic for 5, 10, 20 minutes – as long as you think you can. The important thing is not to censor what you write or go back and correct something, or think “I shouldn’t have written that!”At this stage, it’s all about flow, letting yourself write whatever comes to mind. When you’ve finished, check what you’ve written and identify those thoughts/ideas that may be of value. You may be surprised at what you’ve come up with. Want a twist on this one? Natalie Goldberg wrote a great book called “Writing Down The Bones.” One of her suggestions for writers was that they should write every day, but consider writing in different environments, even wearing different clothes. I find that if I write on a particular proposal topic – or any topic for that matter – in a bar or train station, on a plane, in a sales office, a plant floor, wherever - different ideas, different approaches show up that might never have happened just sitting at my desk. Try it!
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