Well here I am to teach you how to use the simple version of X mapping: firstX. I figured since there is a greater demand for simpler essence mapping, rather than more advanced essence mapping, it would be good to start here.
This will not be a tutorial that assumes no prior knowledge of essence mapping. For the most part, you guys already know it, and want something similar. I will get a new, entry-level tutorial up, but this comes first. Basically I will be explaining the transitions necessary to convert from Xbasic to firstX.
The first thing to realize is that in firstX there is only one kind of 'piece' of a map: a metaphor. You can call it an element, an attribute, what you want, but it is still the same thing. We, personally, call them attributes, just to make them consistent with X+, but in this article I will stick with the word 'metaphor.'
You don't have different kinds of levels, you don't have different brackets or anything like that. It is all very simple (though, of course, because of this, it is quite a bit limited in comparison to X+).
The anatomy of a metaphor is simple: an optional title separated from the content by a colon. If you don't have a title, you can just skip the colon.
That's it. A firstX map is simply a list of metaphors.
And that is, at its core, what essence mapping is all about. So it is very simple and easy.
The important thing that separates it from poetry, though, is of course the titling, but also the embedding. Because just like in all other forms of essence mapping, you can use multiple metaphors to describe another metaphor. You portray this hierarchy with indentation (you can also use dots, dashes, whatever is easiest for you).
Like this firstX example I did of a castle for my interactive course on firstX (it will be up for sale soon, actually):
Color:
Light:
Motion: steady, beaming, radiance
Texture: rays breaking through the surface of a pool
Shape:
Motion: geyser rocketing into the air
Texture:
Color: sky blue/ deep water aquamarine
Texture: ancient stained glass in a vaulted ceiling
Shape: high lattices networked together in the form of a statue
Shape: knife slicing the air
Depth:
Shape: anchored to a stone
Size: the peak of a monolithic granite boulder protruding from the sea
See how simple that is? I used titles on all of them, but in some cases they could have been left out with minimal loss of meaning (like the “high lattices networked together in the form of a statue” bit for example).
That is it! Nothing more.
I've a question!