[BookCat]

skb: Please find and learn how to use the Outline View in Word. It's great! You can plan your writing on so many levels: chapters, scenes, brief info, then the text itself.
I used to start with the chapters, then insert the scene headings, the level under that would contain brief notes for the scenes (if I had any). This structure inevitable changed as I wrote the main text, which was written in FocusWriter then copied and pasted at Body Text level in Word.

If I found that chapters or scenes needed to be in a different order, I could just grab them by the plus sign and drag the whole lot to a new place. If I wanted to insert new scenes that was simple too.

I wrote most of the first draft of a novel called The Haunted like this (only three-quarters finished) before moving to the more 'foofy' Scrivener. Because I still use an old version of Word (2002) which I have on disc, the little cat office manager was installed when I changed my laptop to Win 7 and he entertained me as I worked. No little cat on Scrivener!!!

As for traditional mind mapping software, I dislike the traditional stuff - prefering pens and paper - but Scapple is totally different. It doesn't demand a hierarchical structure of parent-child nodes, being totally free form. Just look at some google images of Scapples to understand this.

Hitch: Don't let the Demons of Stupidity grind you down!