Mind mapping: part one

I have a confession to make: I don’t really get mind-mapping. In my quest to be a flexible and involved writer I have explored this technique endlessly. I’ve produced pages of pages of organisational charts and mind-maps that just end up looking like words suspended in a spider web. It comes down to the way I think: I can’t think around an idea and apparently I’m not alone. Instead of trying to figure out mind-mapping for this post I decided it would be more helpful to take online thinking tests to determine my thinking style. Half a dozen tests later I have an opaque idea of my thinking style: I’m a right brain dominant, abstract sequential, intrapersonal, intuitive, short term visual thinker with a balanced male-female brain and a mild case of OCD. This is good to know but it still doesn’t help me with mind-mapping. I feel like this is something I should know how to do well. It’s all the rage at the moment and I’m sure if I could get my head around it there’d be rewards. More research is required.