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Book writing using mindmapping makes chapters easy to read, compelling, and consistent for readers.

If you want to learn how to write a book outline, mindmapping is better than linear outlining because authors can use flexible thinking and relativity in writing their book. One can add and subtract a thought or phrase from a mindmap easily. This is an excellent way to start, organize, and finish your book.

What is Mindmapping?

Mindmapping is a color-coded outline of main ideas, sub topics and details, printed on different colored branches connected to the center. In the center in a circle, you will list your main idea, such as your book or chapter title.

For “The One-Minute Sales Person”, Spencer’s mindmap would have had seven different colored vertical branches coming from that center, so details can be put on connected horizontal branches–much easier to read.

What are the advantages of Mindmapping?

First, this is open-ended and open-minded. No more squeezing new “ahas” or ideas into the strict, tight form of the linear outline. You can make mistakes in your mindmaps. Imperfection leads to creativity. When you get an idea for chapter one, you can just add another branch off the main one. Mindmapping expands flexible thinking, making for better writing.

Second, mindmaps use only three to five concrete or color words on a branch. These key words help jog our memory. Under Chapter One “Attracting Passion,” I added several horizontal lines that represented the format that follows. One line had “opening quote,” the next one “introduction,” the next one “Jerry’s Story,” the next “Food for Thought and Action,” the next, “Passion Hot Line,” the last line, “practice.”

Third, mindmaps speed up your writing because you only write key phrases. When you sit down at the computer, from your color-coded map, the answers will flow naturally. If you need to fatten up your chapter, just go to your chapter file folders where you keep your research.

Fourth, in mindmaps you see the whole related to the parts. Your thesis, chapter titles, and chapter contents all flow because you answered each question your readers had. This fast-forward technique allows me to write at least two or three books each year, and makes each book more organized, more focused and clear, easier to read, and finally brings more sales because people can understand the information quickly and easily.

How Do I Create My Mindmap?

Use a large sheet of paper, at least 8

If you look at the basic structure on how to write a persuasive essay, it may appear simple.

1. Title

2. Thesis

3. Paragraph 1 – supporting facts

4. Paragraph 2 – supporting facts

5. Paragraph 3 – supporting facts

6. Conclusion

However, when you try to write an essay, do you often struggle with confusion, frustration, and writer’s block? Do you feel your paper’s argument lacks conviction? Here are five basic rules to help you write a persuasive essay.

1. Select a topic you are knowledgeable about and that piques one of your passions.

Learning how to write a persuasive essay is an exercise in your ability to sell. You must be able sell your argument in writing and get the reader to buy it. Even the top copywriters who get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to craft effective sales copy have difficulty persuading buyers on a subject they know little about or that doesn’t pique one of their passions. To be persuasive, you will need to emphasize facts and hot buttons with confidence. While your professor may assign you the topic for your essay, addressing a particular viewpoint related to the subject that expresses your area of knowledge and sentiments will help you with writing a compelling essay.

2. Identify your target audience.

It is important that you identify your target audience before you start. Don’t try to write to “everyone”. You can’t create a convincing argument if you are trying to bring in every possible view point on the subject. There are too many beliefs and perceptions to address. Selecting your target audience will help focus your choices for your thesis statement and your supporting facts.

3. Write first. Edit later.

Writing any document is an extremely difficult task if you edit your ideas as you are trying to write them. You will develop a serious case of writer’s block if you proceed with an unrealistic expectation of writing an A-worthy paper on the first draft. You aren’t being graded on your rough drafts, so let your writing flow. Set a time limit of 30 minutes or an hour to just get your ideas down on paper. Your ideas don’t need to be complete sentences. Then, map out how the ideas in your rough draft relate to your thesis. Some ideas will stand out as primary theories, while other content will become supporting points, and you will delete other content that doesn’t strengthen your argument. Once you have the outline or structure of your essay, write another draft before you begin to edit it for grammar, consistency and flow.

4. Make sure the essay flows.

A well-constructed, persuasive argument requires you to take control of the reader’s attention and lead them from your thesis statement to each supporting paragraph and finish with a strong conclusion in a logical process. If your essay doesn’t flow smoothly from paragraph to paragraph, it will diminish the strength of your convictions. When you are writing and editing your paper, make sure that you can transition logically from one idea to the next until you reach your conclusion.

5. Address the supporting and opposing hot buttons.

If you are going to convince the reader that they should subscribe to your way of thinking, you need to pit the hot button or buttons you are supporting against their dominant, opposing philosophies. Don’t be afraid to be controversial as long as you have strong, supporting facts. Luke-warm conjectures or wildly subjective statements that have little grounding in fact will not influence the reader. You will write a persuasive essay by addressing the opposing ideas objectively and comparing them to your perspectives on the hot points you favor and the facts that support them.

When you are including facts, it is important to reference them according to the guidelines of the writing format your professor assigns. To help save time when you write a persuasive essay, consider using formatting software. With just a few simple clicks, you can properly format your paper. This will free up your time so you can focus on the substance of your paper instead of the style.

An academic abstract is a short restatement of all essential points of a research paper. The abstract is one single paragraph and is subject to specific word limits, typically under 300 words. It stands alone bellow the title or at the end of the paper. Note that an abstract is NOT an introduction or a plan to the paper. In the words of Craig W. Allin, “abstracts are an exercise in writing with precision and efficiency.”

In fact, the abstract is written after the investigation and the whole article is completed. It should be written in the same language as the paper and should be translated into one of the world languages. We can say that the primary purpose of an abstract is to permit a quick appraise of the applicability, importance and validity of a research paper. But always recall that the reader KNOW the subject but HAS NOT READ the paper.

The abstract presents the information in four general sections: INTRODUCTION, METHODS, RESULTS and CONCLUSIONS. It is worth noting that an abstract is only text and follows strictly the logical order of the paper. That is, the abstract ought to parallel the structure of the original paper. At the same time, it adds NO new information, i. e. that is not stated in the paper. Now notice that the abstract can be viewed as an independent document. It is because of this that it should be unified, coherent (i.e. providing appropriate transitions or logical linkage between the information included), concise, and able to stand alone. In other words, the abstract should be complete in itself.

Surely, it is sometimes the case that an abstract will be read along with the title and in general it will likely be read without the rest of the document. In fact, we might consider that the abstract is the most important part of a scientific paper. It follows, then, that it is an absolute must to include all the keywords related to the study. Notice that keywords (also called search terms) represent the most important terms or concepts (words or phrases) relevant to your topic.

There are two types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. The descriptive or indicative abstract, identifies the contents of the research or the basic subject of the article, demonstrating the paper’s organization without providing results or conclusions. Thus, it is not very informative. This type of abstract is always very short, usually under 100 words; and it is useful for a long report. On the other hand, the informative abstract, which is also known simply as a summary, gives the principal argument and summarizes the principal data, providing the reader with an overview of the objectives, methods, results and conclusions of the study. So, be specific. You may also have heard of a “structured abstract” — this is a subtype of the informative abstract which has more than one paragraph.

What to include?

The content of the abstract includes:

Motivation and purpose: main subject or research question and review of the relevant literature. Specifics: problem statement, approach, objectives, hypothesis, research methodology (method(s) adopted or search strategies). Results: main findings (proposed solutions to the problem) and discussion. Conclusions and implications/outcomes: what the results mean and further points.

As we can see, the abstract must state:

The problem addressed and some background information. The solution or insight proposed (newly observed facts). An example that shows how it works. An evaluation: a comparison with existing answers/techniques.

Then, an abstract should provide answers for the following questions:

What and why. What you found. How you did it.
But how do we begin?

What would be an effective way to begin an abstract? To help you on your way let us consider some introductory sentences.

First, let us see some opening sentences that DO NOT offer real information:

This paper reports on a method for… The paper explores the notions of… The purpose of our research is to consider how… The objective of this study is to determine…

Thus, it is clear that you should avoid writing a statement of scope.

On the other hand, the sentences bellow represent good examples of introductory statements, for they go directly into the subject. They give something to the reader. Let us see how it works:

The development process of hypermedia and web systems poses very specific problems that do not appear in other software applications, such as… Given a large set of data, a common data mining problem is to extract the frequent patterns occurring in this set. According to many recent studies the effect of learning style on academic performance has been found to be significant and mismatch between teaching and learning styles causes learning failure and frustration.
Do’s and don’ts of abstract writing

Do write a single paragraph. Do meet the specific word length. Do answer the questions: what, why, and how. Do use familiar language to the reader. Do use a few keywords. Do write short sentences. Do improve transitions between the sentences. Do use active voice. Do use third person singular. Do begin with a clear introductory statement written in the present tense. Do use past tense in the main body. Do write a concluding statement in the present tense: just tells what the results mean (e.g. “These results suggest…”). Do fix grammar. Do use headings, subheadings and tables as a guide for writing. Do print and reread the abstract. Don’t cite the sections of the paper. Don’t include references to the literature and to figures and tables. Don’t use abbreviations. Don’t add new information. Don’t add superfluous information. Don’t add opinions. Don’t repeat information. Don’t repeat the article title.