This tip, suggested by the KeithB, applies to MyMind, but it should work also with other mind-mapping apps capable of exporting in OPML. I did some tests with OmniOutliner, and the trick worked perfectly with it, too.
Scrivener is a very open outliner/wordprocessor. Its capability of importing and exporting in several different formats, makes it very extensible. Among the extensions I use the most is a mind-mapping app, that I use for shaping my ideas at the very early stages. The app I use is MyMind, a very well conceived mindmapper/outliner, looking easy and clean, but with a very extended set of features.
sebastian-krauss.de/software/#mymind
When jotting down ideas with MyMind, you can add custom columns to the standard one. Two of the columns I use the most are “Added Notes” for writing down a characters’ card, or additional notes for a place or an object; and “Data and Time”, to make a rough timeline of events.
I could use the Note drawers for this, but columns have the added bonus of being shown in the map. In the following example, all small text under the name of the character (Laura) is the content of the second column:
Incidentally, columns in MyMind can contain multiple lines of text, by entering line breaks with Option-Return. They are, however, converted to a single paragraph in Scrivener, where you can break them again with Option-Return.
Now, rename the “Added Notes” column as “_note” (note the underscore). Export as an .opml file. Go to Scrivener and import a file in your Draft. Here is the “_note” column converted to a synopsis:
Paolo