Theory and causal mechanism figures appear relatively often in theory chapters. The goal is almost always to provide an overview of a, perhaps somewhat complicated, causal mechanism that the author is proposing. Yet there is virtually nothing methodological literature about how one is supposed to do these mechanism figures: people just do it. The talk then surveys a variety of issues and provide suggestions about how to construct mechanism figures and what they should contain. This must then be at the same time guidelines on theorizing causal mechanisms. Finally, causal mechanism figures are essential for process tracing because they provide a guide to what should appear in the case studies, the factors, causal relationships and the like which must be examined in an individual case.