Hello Twisters!Bianca here. Today I wanted to talk about my book. This should probably go in 'The Smol Scribble' (my writing section of the blog) but I think what I have to say will interest and benefit everyone. First, this process has been extremely challenging. The first draft of my book was a short story for school. It was meant for a fun, light read for kids. It was short, simple, and educational. But I recognized that I wanted to traditionally publish it (as that was my dream) and that started a battle. So many battles. Battle 1 - Lengthening The BookMy book at the beginning was around 3K words, I think. But I hadn't touched it since 9th grade (it might have been 10th grade, I need to double check), so it needed some major editing, fine-tuning, and developmental edits. It was difficult conveying to my family that I needed to do this step and why I couldn't do a regular edit (proofread = regular edit). It needed much more. The story was off, I discussed with some of the kids that I worked with what they wanted to see in book 2 and 3 and so I needed to add some foreshadowing and plot to help span into the next two books. And a simple edit just wasn't going to do that. But how was I going to edit it? I strongly disliked the editing phase because 1) I didn't know what I was doing, 2) so many people were sharing with me their opinions that I couldn't hear my own, 3) I had an expectation to fulfill and that already creates an unhealthy mindset when you begin a project for fun, and 4) everyone's advice on children books (as my story is for elementary and middle schoolers) are so conflicting. Battle 1 - SolutionSo what could I do to fix this mess I put on myself? I had already messed up but completed somehow a couple of drafts that I was semi-proud of but all of them felt lacking. I was trying to work on a version of the story that would be around 30K words, so a traditional publisher would even take a look at it (30K words is the industry standard for middle grade books). I learned that, as an author, I can't have two audiences, its either elementary schoolers (ages seven to ten) with the word count being either 10K to 12K or middle schoolers (ages twelve and up), with the word count being over 30K to 50K. There was no home for my 3K little book that both elementary and middle schoolers loved. Then my mother said something that made sense, "Why not work on a version of the book for young kids and then later on make one for the older kids?" That struck a chord with me. It was a great idea. But I took it a step further. Why not just combine the appeal to both? I know it sounds like the same idea before, but what if I make a story that is short that resonates with the younger kids, but is long enough and cool enough for the older kids. I still kept the premise of the appeal the same, I just changed my mindset. And after I created the mindset to run, I closed everyone out and I wrote. Because I could not afford to look or think about other things that would get me distracted. I needed to work. In short, I changed my mindset and I stayed focused. How To Apply The SolutionBut everything is easier said than done. So what if you find yourself in the situation, what should you do? Changing your mindset is hard. I tried to work on it for a month and a half (that's how long I was stuck on the 30K draft before scraping it altogether) and it was agonizing. I didn't like working on it, it was actual work, and it wasn't fun anymore. So I walked away from it. Not forever, no, that's no what you do. I walked away with it in mind. Since I couldn't see clearly where I needed to go, I decided to change the view. Ask people you trust about the situation. But don't blatantly ask them, "I'm stuck at this one part of my story and I don't know where to move, what do I do?" Depending on who you ask, you will get the help/answer you need or you won't. And sometimes, you don't want someone's opinion on your story (especially if you are still editing it, you want people's opinions after you edit), rather you want to know what they would do in your situation. (Or, at least, that's what I wanted to know.) So what I did was create a scenario for them with something they can understand and relate to. That way they could give me a response on what they would do and how they would do it. For me, the hard part came with their response and my response to theirs. What was I hiding from? What are you hiding from? Are you hiding behind favoritism and fear? (I was.) Are you telling people no to their ideas because it didn't fit in your own? (I did.) Are you stopping people in the middle of their sentences stating why that wouldn't work? (I did that too.) But that isn't going to help you at all. I hid behind fear and favoritism for my book because I loved how my book was already, even though I knew it wasn't perfect and ready for publication. However, since I loved it too much, I wasn't willing to hear anyone's critiques on how it could be improved. Other people's ideas are exactly what you want to hear when you're in a rut. You can't tell people 'no that's not going to work' because you don't like the idea. Half of all my good ideas comes from when me and another person expand of those ideas that presumably 'weren't going to work'. And since I felt I knew the industry and my book inside out, I refused to listen to anyone who even shared their opinion about it. Because I believed, that since I spent several hours every day for the past year looking at information, that I knew more than them and that I knew everything that I could know about the industry. In reality, I don't know enough about the industry and I was so scared of people telling me that I was doing it wrong that I became so focused on telling people they were wrong instead of listening to them. What I'm trying to say is, know who you are, where you want to go with your book, and recognize and listen to people. But only for a moment. You need to know and figure out when someone is helping and when someone is hurting you. I'm afraid I'm still working on that part. To Be Continued... Battle 2 - The IndustrySince this post is already so very, very long. I'm going to be splitting this series into sections. Battle 2 is going to be about the industry (and why I dislike it so much), Battle 3 is all about self-publishing (which I may or may not split into two parts), and Battle 4 is about Kickstarter. Looking back on all of this, I recognize how far I am in the process, because right now, I'm on battle 4. There will always be an easy way to do things, but trust me, not all easy ways are the right way. Listen to your heart and if you don't like your options, make a new one. Stay Safe, Stay Home and Until Next Time My Friends... Adieu
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Hello Twisters!Today is all about movies and shows! As I haven't been working these past couple months, I've been cleaning, writing, working on my video game (the outlining parts), and watching YouTube and movies/shows on Netflix and Tubi. Charisma found Tube first, I just joined the bandwagon, but I've got to say, it's pretty awesome. There's a lot of old shows and movies that are on it for free and there are hardly any ads. I like to watch crazy and not widely known romance movies and they are absolutely crazy. Like. I wish I was kidding. Tubi has those movies that no one wanted to watch but needed a platform and I love them. Some are absolute gems that have horrible covers (I watched a pretty good Christmas Prince one that I have to say is 10/10) and some movies are absolutely awful that they bring me such amusement. :') The good stuff. Have you watched any good movies or shows recently? Let me know down in the comments! I've heard that 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' is finally back on Netflix, so if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Stay Safe, Stay Home and Until Next Time My Friends... Adieu
Happy New Years, Twisters! It's a new year and that means new goals and a whole lot of new opportunities~ This past year, I regret doing so little regarding everything I did. School, I could have put a whole lot more effort into that, my Japanese class, I could have had a higher grade than my 96%, and I could have used my Bujo a lot more. Also, I regret not posting on the blog when I had the chance. I spent so much of my free time on YouTube or on Instagram that I didn't even have the decency to say, "Just A Quick Update!". That is why, this year, I'm going to change a WHOLE lot in my life. My Goals:
And those are my resolutions! I'm so ready for this year. I feel as though it's going to be a great year and I really think that my goals are actually achievable. What are your goals for 2018? Tell us in the comments below! School, for me anyway, starts August 17th. Unbelievable right? We've had 3-ish months of summer and, to be honest, I am so glad to be going back to school. I've missed it really badly. Why did I miss it? Because I wanted to be busy, I wanted to keep myself occupied and when someone gives you no chose but to occupy yourself, I find it very encouraging (especially if I want to do it!). The best part about school is that I'm taking mostly 10th-grade classes. Biology, Geometry, Honors English, Art in World Cultures (ELECTIVE), HOPE (this is P.E.), Civics (Charisma and I could've taken this in 8th grade but my parents didn't want us too), and Digital Literacy (it's required. Trust me, I tried to get out of it....). :D I'm going to be so busy! :D
My Japanese is going well, although I would like better sources for vocabulary and grammar (those are the two things I'm currently working on). Or maybe, I don't know, a teacher? As some of you might know, it's my goal to take a college course for Japanese at my local community college while in 10th grade. That is why I must get all A's on my report card. I'm an over-achiever when it comes to school. If I don't get an A or a B, I will be absolutely shattered, but I would still tell my parents that I got a low score, because they'll either help me, remind me of my goal, tell me to get help from a teacher if I'm really struggling with a certain concept, and a whole lot more. I'm digitally editing a character that I drew! And let me tell you, *laughs*, I don't have anything fancy. No SAI, no Wacom Cintiq or Intuos, no Photoshop. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. All I've got is my handy-dandy, scanner, Paint (which is already installed on every computer), and my imagination. And truthfully, I am terrified. This is the scariest experience of my artist life. (I have several lives: Writer's Life, Artist's Life, Blogger's Life, Over-Achiever's Life, Crocheter's Life, Reader's Life, OTAKU's Life, Family Person's Life, and Outstanding-Amazing Friend's Life. I have nine lives unless someone can see more of my lives that I can't see... One might say I have nine lives. :D) Since I've never done this before (and since I have ZERO LAYERS. I didn't know what layers did before, but now I know that layers ARE A BLESSING!!! Do not take those beauties for granted!) I'm watching my sister (who is digital editing too) while she gives me tips, and I'm re-doing everything for the Umpteenth time. Though, I will survive. I read a variety of good books this summer (don't worry, I'm gonna do some Book Reviews before school starts) and now I have found my favorite Female author: Katy Towell. I love her so much, that reading the two books she published were satisfaction for a week. Her books are all the scary, friendship, terrifying-suspenseful moments I could ever want in a book! :D Her website is called Skary and, I believe, she's working on another book (oh am I excited!). I've had one for a while know but, I'm finally on Miiverse! I've put several posts from my gaming experiences on Demo's and full games, although they're all from Nintendo. I've posted some Style Savvy: Trendsetters and Fashion Forward, some Pokemon X and some other games as well. I'm trying to earn the money to buy some games (Animal Crossing: New Leaf is NEXT on my list. Unless someone convinces me otherwise), yet that's taking a whole lot longer than anticipated. So yup! This is life. I hope all of you have a great rest of summer break! I guess by now everyone is wondering why we don't post everyday. The reason why is because we're either doing school, reading, listening to music, or checking out cool blogs. And now, I am ready to present some of the blogs we just love to look at!
I'm sure I've missed plenty of blogs, but that's all I can remember at this current moment in time. I hope all of you enjoyed looking/reading about all the blogs that me and my sister love and we hope that you enjoy them too! What blogs do you like? Come on and tell us in the comments! Also, I asked my mother my mother if she would mind if Charisma and I did giveaway's in the future and she said that she wouldn't mind if we did that. So keep your eyes peeled for a giveaway. A few days ago I realized that I haven't been posting much on the blog (Don't worry, I'm alive. If I wasn't, how would I be doing this post? Just things to think about.), which made me really sad because I had/have a lot to talk about! That's why I decided to do a post today.
As you all know, it's officially December. Winter doesn't begin until the 21st (Okay, how does that make sense? When it gets to December--in the United States--it gets COLD. Like really cold! So should winter officially begin on the 1st? I said it before, I'll say it again: Just things to think about.) but PFFT, who cares (duh, I do...)? I have a high B in Math (for those people who don't have letter grades for school, I have a 88.7%). Although I have a high B (88.7%), I am very disappointed that I don't have, at least, a 90%. I guess I'll have to make do with the grade. I'm finished with LAC for the whole semester (*sings* I got it done really early, early, early.... Oh yeah, it's my birthday--NOT--my birthday! YEAH!) and History (kind-of, sort-of. I have to do a poster or brochure thing-y for it, BUT OTHER THAN THAT....). And math is getting really hard and I'm starting to dislike it... Like dislike-dislike-dislike it. >:( Hmm... What else should I talk about? OH YES. (If you're wondering, yes, I am still obsessing over Japan. :D) I found this lady (whose YouTube Channel called: How To COOK That) and she is really fun. She makes these outrageous (if you've seen Jem and the Holograms show, you would understand that joke) sweets. She's made a Giant Snickers Bar, a Giant Kit-Kat, a Instagram Cake and TONS more! Oooh! I find another web-comic! I usually read Battle-Dog and The Awkward Zombie (love 'em!) BUT Battle-Dog hasn't updated in such a long time (yet the creators are like "Oh! The Battle-Dog Charms are on sale NOW! Come get 'em!". IF YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR COMIC UPDATE!!!), which has made me sad and angry. You know, the usual emotions you feel when something you've been waiting for hasn't continued. The new web-comic is called Shadowbinders (main characters names are Crimson Rhen and Mia.... I OTP--One True Pair--or shipping them. :3 sshhhuuuussshhhh don't tell) and Awkward Yeti. Best. Web-Comics. Ever. As you all know (if you don't know, that's fine. :3), a long time ago (like 3 or 4 years ago) me and my sister watched an anime called "Princess Tutu". It was literally the best show ever (tied with ALL those other anime shows) and my older sister (the one who we watched it with) said that we get to re-watch it during Christmas Break (but my mother said that we could start watching "Once Upon A Time" with her during Christmas Break... CHOICES). I used to like this game called MapleStory, I still like it (and I still want to play it), and I re-found the MapleStory blog that I used to follow! The blog is called the Orange Mushroom (such a cute name!) and, currently, the six Heroes of Maple have come together to protect humanity once more! GAAAHHHH! Just writing it makes me happy! :D Of course I'm still listening to music, I just thought that I probably shouldn't post any because Charisma would be doing that (*wink*). OH YEAH! I just watched the new Star Wars trailer (I know, I know, what's wrong with me) and I absolutely ADORE it! Well, I guess that's it everyone! Tell me in the comments if you want more 'Let's Just Talk' posts, cause if you do then give me a few weeks and I'll have 'em! Thanks everybody! (And hey, if I made any grammar issues, tell me in the comments and I'll fix them...) Bianca Okay, this post was meant for YESTERDAY, but I didn't get around to posting it. So use your imagination and pretend it's yesterday.... Until reality hits you saying 'You can't travel back in time...'.
It's the last day of September, everyone! Can you believe that? This month was so exhilarating (I got to find out who the 2016 keynote speakers are going to be for Teen Author Boot Camp... Ya wanna know?). In school, I have good grades (I have an A in everything. And if you think about it, we only have 8 more months of school...) and blogging has been going fantastically (we've had 993 views in ONE day!). I don't know about you, but September was a great month. I've been finding new animes to watch (like Pripara! Oh my goodness, I can't wait to watch it...), trying to find a reliable source to find out Japanese culture (if you want to learn a language... Learn the culture!), and I'm stocking up on my Spanish (my mother said if I wanted to learn Japanese during the next school year, then we had to keep up with our Spanish. I still love Spanish. :3). Oh! And I'm trying to get ready for NaNoWriMo! It's NaNo Prep season, so I gotta be prepping myself. ;D *SIGH* Life is full of blessings if you take the time to look for them. Well, I must be off to go and get school finished! Thanks everyone for reading our blog! If you want to share this blog post (and if you have a Facebook or Twitter account) there is a share button at the bottom of each of the posts. If you don't have a a Facebook or Twitter account, then just keep on being the lovely people you are. :3 Bianca The Cloak Society is a trilogy by Jeremy Kraatz.
The Cloak Society has wonderful lessons that I couldn't begin to describe the amazingness of. The Cloak Society has ruined and my life... It's one of my favorite books that I have to own. Okay, so the Cloak Society trilogy didn't really ruin my life, but it's over. I finished all 3 books. I want more though! It was a very happy ending, but... You know those books that have great endings and you totally love it, it's just that you're craving more awesomeness? Yeah, I'm there. -_- Not the greatest way to feel. I am very happy for Mr. Kraatz for writing this book. It's absolutely wonderful! :D I totally give it 5 stars! :3 I recommend this book to everyone 13 and older. What books are you totally in love with? Tell me in the comments! :D Charisma
I absolutely LOVED TABC!!!!! I had the best time meeting all those authors and taking notes on those amazing classes! --> Head over to My Writing Journey by Bianca so you can see what classes she took!
I hope that we can go next year!!! I can't wait to find out which Keynote speakers are going to be there next year!! This year it was Brandon Sanderson and Jessica Day George! :D They both are so awesome!!! I also plan to do Camp NaNoWriMo! <-- Click on Camp NaNoWriMo to get you to the site... If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, there are all these white words. If you look, the first word on the top line is "About". Click on that to find out more on Camp NaNoWriMo. I hope I can do Camp NaNoWriMo, and if not this month, then I want to do it in June (it says that at the "About" page)! Are you excited for anything? Tell us in the comments!
There are millions and millions of amazing books out there, making your already long list of "Oh My Goodness, I Need To Read This Book" even longer. Then when summer rolls around, and your local library is doing the "Summer Reading Challenge", you have the chance to get some books off of your list. But, when you've completed the Summer Reading Challenge, you look down at your list and find out that you only took off a fourth of the list. Flabbergasted, you quickly rush to the library with your library card in your pocket (or you go with your mom or dad who have a library card) and check-out all the books that you can manage to find that are at the library. You rush home and start reading. You read all the books that you got, and you're about to go to the library to get some more books when your parents remind you that school starts tomorrow. You rush over to the calendar to make sure, and it's right there in bright blue marker ink: School Starts.
Then, you're in the middle of school one day, and your friends introduce you to a new book series. You go look at it on Amazon (or where ever you go and search for books) and find out that this series has more than 5 books. You grab out your long list of books names and your write down ALL of the book names that are in the series. A few days later, the same process happens, but this time, there are more than 12 books in that series (is there a books series that has more than 12 books? I don't know of any...) and you quickly go write all the names down. After a few more process of that, you find out that your list has more books than what it used to have before you started the "Summer Reading Challenge" that summer. This has/hasn't happened to me. Has: Lot of friends suggest these awesome looking/sounding books to me, and my imaginary list of books that I need to read keeps getting longer. Hasn't: I haven't read books off of my list for the "Summer Reading Challenge" and I find out how many books there are in the series as I read the books. I have an imaginary book list (though I should write them down), and the books I want to read are sometimes how-to guides (I like those books). I haven't rushed to the library and get all the books that I have wanted to read that the library has available. If they don't have the book(s) I'm looking for, I just look and find another book that sounds interesting. And there a few more things on the "Hasn't" list, but I don't really want to do those... the "Hasn't" list is already long.. There are a lot of books that I really want to read, but I either don't have the time too or there is some stuff that I need to do. Here are some of the books that I want to read... (I'm just going to do book names...) The Cloak Society trilogy by Jeramey Kraatz I've already read the first book for this trilogy, and I've been wanting to read the other 2 books! I absolutely love the first book and can't wait for what the other 2 have in store! :3 Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger I haven't read any of these books, but I really want to. These books look and sound really good and my oldest sister absolutely love this series! The 4th book (according to Amazon) is coming out on November 3rd, 2015 (if that's what it means by "This title will be released on November 3rd, 2015"). Oracles of Delphi Keep series by Victoria Laurie I was sitting in a library and I found this book, and started reading it while I was waiting. What I read of this book was super amazing!!! But I was reading the reviews on the 3rd book and the book series got cancelled! I'm still going to read the books, though. The Magic Thief series by Sarah Prineas I absolutely LOVE this series!!! I found out a quite a while ago (I think I found out in December) that there was a 4th book to this series and that totally made me freak out. I was happy with the ending of the 3rd book, but she came out with a 4th one! People, if the books you love says series, than there is going to be more than 3 or 4 books. So expect more... I didn't... what so ever. For quite a lot of book series. I can't wait to read the 4th book! Winterling series or trilogy by Sarah Prineas I loved the first book! I can't wait to read the other two books!!! :3 I don't know whether it is a trilogy or a series though. One Amazon source said it was a series, but on her author page (which is on Amazon) she said that it was a trilogy. So I don't know which one it is... sorry. (While looking at those books, I found some more books that looked pretty interesting and found out what their summaries were. I really want to read the books that you are going to read below.) The Accidental Hero (A Jack Blank Adventure) by Matt Myklusch (SERIES) This is the first book in the series and it sounds AMAZING!!! I really want to read this book! Hope the library here has it... Okay, I just went to the library site and I found the book series, but the first book (at the library) isn't called "The Accidental Hero". It's called "Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation". So, which ever one it is, I want to read it! :3 Children of the Red King #1: Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo (SERIES) First thing, I love her last name! :3 The way I say her last name is Nemo, so I think her last name is cute. I'm SUPER sorry if I'm saying your last name wrong! I really want to read this book. I SUPER-DUPER want to read this book... here is the summary that Amazon has provided. Amazon Summary for Children of the Red King #1: Midnight for Charlie Bone: A mysterious case, the search for a missing girl, and a legacy of magic... When Charlie Bone discovers that he can hear the conversations of people in photographs, he is shipped off to Bloor's Academy, an elite school for the rich, gifted, and magically endowed. Once there, he realizes that some of his classmates have equally mysterious powers, and Charlie becomes absorbed in uncovering their dangerous secrets. When Bianca and I read that he had the ability to hear the conversations of people, we were all like, "Oh, he's got telepathy." But when we read the photographs part, our minds were completely blown away. Figuratively. Not literally. It sounds like a super awesome book! For the Accidental Hero/Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation and the Children of the Red King #1: Midnight for Charlie Bone, I have NOT read these books. I just found them, read the summaries and thought they sounded cool. What are some of the books that you have on your "I Must Read These" book list? Tell me in the comments! :3 |
Who We Are We are twin sisters who like to do almost anything! Inspiring people to get out their creativity is our forte and we strive to travel on magnificent journey through words on a page. Exploration is the doorway to opportunity and the endless possibilities of helping and reaching out to others is something that we endeavor to create. This crazy blog of ours is one of the many ways we hope to achieve that goal.
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