Idea map steps

1. Write down your topic in bold letters.
2. Start blurting out any related concepts, phrases, and terms you can think of.
3. Use who, what, when, where, and why to help you generate ideas.
4. Don’t judge.
5. Don’t censor.
6. Jot it all down.
7. After you have finished jotting down all your ideas, identify the strongest themes.
8. Look for clusters of ideas.
9. Draw circles or lines to link related words and concepts.
10. On a new sheet of paper, reorganize your key themes into a “map” or “web”.
11. Now, jot down visual ideas that explain or illustrate the different aspects of the key concepts.

Idea mapping samples for downloading here