One of the peculiarities of academia is that you have to be able to explain your project before you’ve actually done it. And all projects have to start somewhere–at some level you are conjuring a new project out of the force of your imagination. So… how to do that? In this episode Kel and Karen talk about Ideation, Conceptualization, and Production and how important it is to keep the parts of the academic process separate. Ideation is the blue-sky thinking and things like mind maps and research journals are helpful; conceptualization is where the project starts to take form, and here outlining is a fantastic tool – and outlining allows for a generative oscillation between ideation and conceptualization. With these steps done, production–the actual clicky clacky typing of new words on the keyboard – becomes so much easier. In other words, if you’re driving from LA to New York, you don’t just start driving randomly–you need a map! Come for the advice, stay for the metaphors. And PLEASE, on this one, let us know if this was helpful and if so, why. Karen wants to know.
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