Mindjet’s MindManager 8 makes it easy for authors to learn from the examples presented by tightly organized nonfiction books like Lorie Marrero’s Clutter Diet book. Mind mapping software programs like Mindjet’s MindManager 8 display the part/whole relationship between chapters, sections, and book, making it easy to appreciate (and emulate) the successful organization of information.

Your ability to interact with the MindManager 8 map of Lorie Marrero’s Clutter Diet, above, plus other map examples, is based on the Mindjet Player. The Mindjet Player, which comes with MindManager 8 for Windows, can be easily embedded in Adobe Acrobat PDF’s or embedded in Adobe Shock Wave Files, i.e. Flash, used above.

Exploring the sample map
Take a moment to study how Lorie organized 19 chapters and 15 room-by-room “recipes,” into a logical flow of information. To study the map by interacting with it, you can:

• Move around the map. The Horizontal and vertical scroll bars permit you to explore different topics and subtopics..
• Reveal subtopics. To reveal the reveal subtopics associated with each topic, click the Plus (+) signs next to a topic.
• Hide subtopics. To collapse topics, click the Minus (-) signs to hide the subtopics.
• View the entire map. Move the left-hand slider to the left to Zoom Out to view the entire map, or select Fit Map to Screen.
• Magnify details. Move the slider to the right to Zoom In and examine topics at high magnification.
• Print the current view. You canprint as many, or as few, opened topics and subtopics as desired.
  

Lessons from Lorie’s example
The 5 sections play a major role in Clutter Diet’s success. If the 64 chapters or topics, (19 chapters, 15 room recipes),  in Clutter Diet were not organized into the 5 sections, the table of contents would be discouragingly long.

Chunking, or organizing the content into sections, however, better serves both author and reader. While writing the book, each time she completed a section, she felt she had passed an important landmark, helping her maintain her enthusiasm.

Readers, too, appreciate the chunking of the book into “mini-books,” each with its own set of closely-related chapters.

As you plan your first, or your next, book, be alert to ways you can organize its contents into a few logical categories.

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Lorie Marrero is the 71st author to be interviewed by Published & Profitable. You can preview the full list of interview guests here. Published & Profitable members are encouraged to listen to my interview with Lorie Marrero, Clutter Diet’s author in the member download area. Lorie’s experience mirror the experiences of other first-time authors who are pleased with the rewards of publishing their first book.

Note: If you haven’t yet discovered MindManager 8, you can download a 30-day free trial!

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