Most of us learned to take notes with lined notebook paper in school. At the risk of dating myself, we may even remember using the Big Chief Tablets. We were taught to take notes in a linear fashion, using the space of the first line on the paper, then the next line, and so on, down the page. Similarly, we learned to create outlines with the I, A, 1, a method, which was also a linear approach.
This would be ideal if all the information presented to us came in a linear fashion. And what may be linear to the person presenting the information may skip about to a person receiving the information.
For example, a speaker may be giving a lecture on Mark Twain, proceeding through his lifetime, year by year. While this is linear, a person hearing the lecture may be more interested in similarities in his books, which may skip around. So on page 3, where there is a note about Tom Sawyer, a link may need to be made to page 7, where there is a note on Huckleberry Finn. More links, cross-references, and footnotes may be required to link all the books together, since they may not be addressed together.
So what are the alternatives to linear note-taking and traditional outlining methods? In Michael J. Gelb's book, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, he describes the technique of mind mapping. Simply put, mind mapping is portraying your ideas visually, grouping similar ideas together, being able to move them around as needed, and ultimately, organizing them to be able to become the framework upon which the final work is based.
One method, which is used by screenwriters and business planners, is to use 3x5 cards or Post-It notes (either pinning them on a board or using self-adhesive sheets). In the case of screenwriting, each card may represent a scene or a character, and the cards are moved about to visualize the order of the scenes, or which characters may show up in which scenes. In a brainstorming session, for example, as ideas are tossed out, they are written, one to a sheet, and placed up on a board. When all the ideas have been identified, duplicates are identified and removed, similar ideas are grouped together, and an organization of all the ideas emerges. This method can be used by groups or individuals.
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