Draw a large box in the center of a piece of paper. Label it with the main topic of your essay.
Draw a line extending from the large box. At the end of the line, draw a circle and write one word or draw a small picture inside of it that are subtopics of the original idea. For instance, if your large box is labeled "Fiction Genres," a subtopic could be "Science Fiction." Once you have created one subtopic circle, create a new one.
Vary the text size to determine the importance of each subtopic. For instance, more important subtopics can be written in larger letters than less important ones.
Draw lines that come from the circles. Write in ideas that are based around the subtopics.
Add color and symbols differentiating the subtopics. For example, you can label certain subtopics in red to make them stand out.
Use the subtopic circles to write your essay's body paragraphs. Write the introduction and conclusion based on what you discussed in your body paragraphs. In your introduction, state what your paper is about. In your conclusion, sum up all of the ideas that you discussed.