I have been struggling with the shape and form for my PhD blogging - how will it inform my research? What value will it have - to my writing, to others? And on and on and on.....
As I started to read through the blogs of others attending BlogTalk 2.0, I was delighted to discover Lilia Efimova's blog and explore her PhD musings - thank-you Lilia, I think you have enlightened me and provided inspiration as to how I will develop my own blog.
Lilia's metaphor of the jigsaw puzzle is a picture most PhD students will relate to. For me, I've always viewed my PhD journey as a labyrinth or maze - lots of pathways, a few deadends but a clear end result...
Lilia outlines 4 steps to completing her jigsaw:
First I look at border pieces and try to make a frame out of them. Next I find pieces that stick together and make small "clouds" of them, trying to connect them to the frame if it is possible. Then big picture starts to emerge, "clouds" get connected with each other and with the frame. After that there are just a few empty spots and I fill them in with pieces that left.
I think I'm hanging around in the 2nd and 3rd stage - but I must say I consider Lilia's clouds more as "puddles" - every drop enlarges the puddle - eventually it could even turn into a pond, or perhaps a lake!!
Thanks for the inspiration Lilia!
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