Mind Mapping For Story Writing: Character Development

Your Character Name

Use these branches to add ideas about your character

tip: this item is the diagram title, edit it to change the diagram's name

Using this template

1⃣ start with your character's name in the centre

or if you don't know their name yet, you can use however you identify them in your mind!


"distant relative who always seemed a bit odd", "reckless detective #3", etc!

tip: when you no longer need them, you can remove all of these instructions at once by right-clicking 'Using this template', hold shift, and choose the X icon.

Check out this guide for other ways mind mapping can be used in creative writing!

2⃣ Add branches with your ideas about the character

They could be about

click to edit

click to edit

tip: use the [tab] key to quickly create new items while editing, if further inspiration strikes!

click to edit

you can add as many as you need

and create child items as you develop specific ideas further

What does your character like?

What situations might they find themselves in? And how would they react?

What do they think of other characters?

Where did they come from? How did they get where they are today?

What is their daily life like?

What do they dream of at night?

Ideas can be about anything to do with the character!

3⃣ As you develop your story, keep returning to the mind map when you think about this character

your ideas about the character might change over time!

Add new ideas, and remove old ones which no longer apply

Double-click the background to start a new disconnected mind map if you want to create multiple mind maps for different characters on the same page.