Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
With every article or story I write, I use Freeplane for my research and my outline. My last article on the Simple HTML editor prompted me to explore the possibility of creating the draft copy of a document in Freeplane. The node text becomes the header for each section, and the notes become the text body. I can then export the draft branch of the map to a document for editing. The advantage is having the Outline in front of me while I work. The draft of this article was written using this method, and in it, I'm sharing my experiment with you.
Setting up the map
Everything started with setting up a mind map for my project. I wasn't overly concerned with the formatting of the map but concentrated more on the layout. I titled the root node the same as the planned title for the article, Freeplane Part 15. I know, attention-getting stuff. Fancy titles are saved for the fiction side of writing. I created four branches from the root, Brainstorming, Research, Outline, and Draft. Let me explain to you how I used each of the branches.
Brainstorm
Brainstorming is where the whole process began. I start by creating nodes of my ideas about the article. What did I want to accomplish? How did I think it would work? What didn't I know? Brainstorming is best done without holding yourself back and noting all the ideas even if you think you will never use them. I was mostly interested in how all the different parts would show in the final document. I had a good idea that the node text would show as headers and the notes as each section body. What I didn't know is how the node details would fall into the mix. I didn't plan to use node details, but going beyond can result in something useful and is the main idea behind the brainstorm session.
Research
Research is where I gathered data for the article. I did look on the web for what I wanted to do, but I didn't find anything. So I went with the experimental method. Under the research node, I created three experiments to test my theories. I found the node text and notes worked as I had expected: the node text as a header with the notes text below. I discovered a node with details gets the details sandwiched between the node text and notes. Any sub-nodes are placed in order under their parent's details and notes with their own details and notes. With my questions answered, I was ready to create an outline.
Outline
The Outline (bottom right) is where I fleshed out the details of the information I want to use in the article. From this, I generated the draft nodes. I rarely remove things from a map. Instead, I will mark them out with an X icon or strikethrough font. I don't want to delete it should I decide to go back to it. The Outline grows and changes as I work on the draft. It's always in flux. If there are menus, shortcuts, or step-by-step instructions, they get detailed in the Outline. In some cases, the outline nodes have very little detail because not much is needed. I have a good idea of what needs saying, but I will always add nodes, details, and notes for things I don't want to forget.
Draft Outline
I prepared the draft outline to write the article. Pulling from the Outline node, I selected the essential points and added them to the Draft branch. These become the headers, so I tried to not go too deep with the sublevels. Two or three levels should work in most cases. I rarely go beyond two levels because I feel anything beyond that creates excessive sectioning of the text. I want the article to become more than just an outline with an explanation for each point. It's an article, not a bulleted presentation. Presentations in Freeplane are a subject for another day.
Creating the draft
Now, the writing can begin. I started by selecting the draft outline node and opening the notes editor with the shortcut CTRL + >. I typed the introduction to this article. I moved on to each node under the draft outline, and, in the Simple HTML editor, wrote the text for that section. I liked being able to reference the Outline where I had made notes and comments about the content to include.
Another nice thing about writing in this manner is not having to write sections in order. If I wanted, I could start at the end. It's easy to jump from one node to the other to add, change, or remove text from that section. I found myself having an idea about one of the different parts while I was working, and I'd simply click on the node and make the change. The Simple HTML editor doesn't have many distractions, so I wrote with very few stops because a grammar checker caught something in my sentence structure. I saved that for the editing process. The process also made it easy to move things around. If I moved one section before another, the text for that section moved with the node. I found this quicker than the old standard cut and paste of a traditional text editor.
While working in the editor, you can format your text as well. I usually don't. Most of the formatting is up to the magazine editor anyway. It's pretty easy to over-format a document. I try not to. However, if you are creating a manuscript for work or school, then you can't go wrong by editing as prescribed by your work style sheet or teachers guidelines.
Exporting the draft
Once the writing is complete, I wanted to export the draft outline to a document. I changed the name of the Draft Outline node to the title I wanted for the article. I selected the draft outline node and used the menus File > Export Branches. A Save File dialog popped up. I browsed to the folder where I wanted to save the document. By default, the root node text is used for the document name. You can type a new one in the name text box, but I decided the name was good enough. You will want to select the type of document you're exporting to. I used the plain text format so I could quickly move it from my editing software to Google Docs without too much fuss, but other types are available, including Microsoft Word and the Open Document Format.
Cleaning up the exported document
Depending on the format type you exported to, you might need to format the headers and change the spacing. When I did a text export to ODT, I found the ‘before’ spacing on the headers wasn't to my liking. I also removed the Conclusion node text as I find it a nuisance header, but it made sense for the draft outline. You might have other node text headers you want to remove. If I were writing a story rather than an article, I'd probably remove the node text headers unless they somehow fit the story.
For my plain text format, the export put numeric outline tags on all the header. I removed these. Also, before each note, I had to remove the text “NOTE:.” Otherwise, once I imported the document into my Grammar editor, I was ready to begin my editing process.
Overall, I enjoyed writing my article draft in this manner. Usually, I'm distracted by grammar alerts, word counts, and other bells and whistles related to a full function editor. This method was a nice change. I worried the word count would fall short of my usual work but discovered I actually wrote more. For drafting a document, I found this method surprisingly refreshing. Will I use it again? I'll have to try it a couple more times to see whether it actually grows on me, but the prospects are good.