Hello Twisters! It is I, Charisma, that is the one doing a week late blog post! But never fear, my fellows, for I bring news of great joy! Bianca and I have decided to reopen Movie and Show Reviews! I had actually come up with the idea last Friday? Who remembers dates anymore, but that's not the point. Bianca and I SPAM movies when we're not doing anything - Bianca can inhale three in a hour, I don't know how she does it - and we actually have a note on my phone with movies and the star rating we would give it. Currently there are thirty two movies that we need to give a full, fleshed out review to. And trust me, we have a lot to talk about for these movies. We've started being more critical to what we watch, because after watching kid shows and movies, you kind of figure out what kind of execution is necessary and best for a kid. Anyways, it's going to be a fun time and I hope you join us for the ride! Movie and show reviews are going to update every Friday! See you there! Hope you're all safe out there! Talk to ya later, Twisters! Charisma
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Hello Twisters!It's Bianca here. Today's topic that I want to talk about is losing motivation. I love projects. Big. Small. All of them. However, I tend to create an invisible wall of fear or uncertainty whenever there is a task or step in the project that I believe will be difficult to accomplish. This is a mindset that I subconsciously created when I was back in school and it takes a lot of effort to move past it. It's especially awful though whenever there are multiple projects that I have to do. Then it's almost like art or writers block. It is literally a mental wall that I built steadily myself. However, I just recently figured out how to overcome it. Proving someone wrong. Okay, this may not make a lot of sense, but here me out. When someone challenges me and says to me that I cannot complete something (for this example, let's say doing laundry) and it is not on my to do list of things I need to do, then I get this fire inside me where I am going to prove them wrong. But not just with laundry, oh no, I need to prove to them that I am far superior than they thought. I am going to exercise, clean my room, clean the kitchen, do the laundry, write my stories, and make dinner. See, if I'm going to watch my mental wall crumble, I better be watching the crumbs drown in lava. And it works! For me that is. So that's how I've gotten out of my slump these past few days. What about you though? How do you gain the motivation to work? Stay Safe, Stay Home and Until Next Time My Friends... AdieuHello 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... AdieuHello 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
Hello Twisters! Sorry for not posting last week. I work on Mondays (Thursdays and Saturdays) and I get really tired when I get back home. As a result, I almost immediately take a nap, then take it chill for the rest of the day. Also! Last week was a complete mesh of days. I had to constantly ask what day it was because time?? And dates?? What's that? Anyways! I'm writing this at midnight to ensure that it gets out on time. :) You're welcome. But during this pandemic, a lot of people are at home and some struggle to think of things to do other than binge Netflix (or any other video service), sleep or just vibe. Now, to be fair, this is what I do for the majority of the time, BUT!! I do a few other things as well! First off! As I like to draw, I've been trying to play around with my art skills. If you're interested in drawing, give it a shot! You've got a lot of time in the day right now. There are a lot of online workshops and videos that you can use to start your art journey! Next, you could start a YouTube channel! Lots of people are on there and it's a great way to show your hobby or work off to the world! You could play games, sit down and talk, do a craft, make a skit, etc.! There's so much that you can do for a YouTube video, it's honestly wild. Another thing you can do is to clean and switch up your room. Sure, that doesn't always sound like the best option right off the top, but hear me out. Cleaning and switching up your room is such a refreshing and satisfying task that it makes you feel super accomplished with your life when it's done. I don't know how, it just days. Not complaining though! Cook! Bake! Experiment in the kitchen! Follow some recipes! Learn how to not burn the house down when boiling water! It's really fun, but only fully works if you make something small and simple, then work your way up. Trust me, from personal experience, it gets really discouraging when you try for the really complicated one first go without previous experience. I tried to make a different version of hash browns. It did not work. But that's besides the point! You've got an imagination! You have some kind of tool/medium: a notebook, computer, your phone. Write! You don't have to go full out, "Let's write a novel!", but there's definitely time in the day to at least pump out 100 - 1000 words a day. If you're like me, you're lucky enough to get 500 words a day, but eh. Again, not the point. (If you need a support group to help you write, then I suggest popping over to NaNoWriMo! They've got a ton to offer when it comes to writing!) And the last one, but is SO SUPER IMPORTANT! Take this time to do as much self care as needed. I know this time is hard, so take this time to take a bath. Do some face masks. Body scrub. Paint your nails. Cut your hair. Refresh your closet. Do the things that make you happy. Do the things that allow you to breathe in a deep breath like you've just inhaled some nice filtered air. Yes, I do like that. And yes, it smells nice. Okay! That's all I've got for you all today. Or tonight. Whichever it is, I suppose. I'm off to bed now, to sleep. Because, as I said earlier, I work on Mondays, so I work in a few hours. Catch ya later, Twisters! P.S. The shop is coming along nicely! It isn't without a few bumps, but that's to be expected. I'll probably give a more in-depth update in my next blog post! CharismaHello Twisters~Bianca here. Remember how two weeks ago my focus hasn't been top notch? Yeah, it definitely has seemed to be in a standstill. When I'm watching a show? 10 out of 10, it seems that I've got 20/20 vision with that stuff. My brain is on POINT. But with regular and important stuff? My brain skipped a heartbeat and a town because it apparently isn't working. So as I was looking at previous (and unpublished) blog posts that have never seen the light of day, I laughed with tears. I had a Miraculous Ladybug blog post where I was going to scream about Hawk Moth (probably still will). Charisma even did a full-blown post about 90's anime that she hasn't posted (but it's been in the works since 2018 ... I'm going to ask her to publish that one). Another one is about Japanese Sign Language, which I absolutely love and I will definitely talk about that in the future. But that's been about it. Life has been a roller coaster (of enjoyment, I have been thoroughly enjoying my time) and I have been able to do a lot more than I thought I could (like crochet), so I'm really grateful for that. And that's all about me :) Anything new happening with you? Stay Safe, Stay Home and Until Next Time My Friends... AdieuNo FocusHello Twisters! Today has been so interesting. I have not been able to focus on anything for long periods of time. I drew, wrote, drew some more, took a nap (twice), watched a tv (twice again), and then I hung out with family. I've even searched Google three times just while writing this post. :') Life. Well, that's pretty much what's up with me. Editing my story, drawing stuff (it's all been random), working on my business (I'll do a separate blog post about that), and watching shows. Stay Safe, Stay Home and Until Next Time My Friends... Adieu Hello Twisters! We're back at it again with our weekly schedule. Bianca now has a computer, so we each have a device to blog on! (We've both independently tried the Weebly app and we both gave up on trying to figure out how on EARTH it works.) So, now that we have this extra time on our hands because of the virus, Bianca and I have been trying our best to get as much as we want accomplished as we possibly can. For me personally, I'm going to open up my art shop soon! Trying to find suppliers and where I should get things sourced is definitely an interesting time, but it's going fairly well. I've also been trying to get further in all of the other, previously planned, items that we were working on. We're still chipping away at that comic (a lot has been happening on that end) and hopefully we can "open up" the rest of our blog in the next coming months. At least, that's my hope. I don't really have much to offer in terms of an update than that! Bianca and I are both trying to start up a YouTube channel, hers is on studying and mine will be on all things art related! Mostly an artist trying to get a shop up and running. Anyways, thanks so much for being with us on this journey! I hope everyone is well and safe! Catch ya later, Twisters! CharismaWelcome back, Twisters! It’s been a while since I last did a blog post (a while is an understatement) but I’m back and I’m back with a bang! This is all about The Obligatory Family Friend. This is the friend, more like an acquaintance for me, that I actually despise. Like. I hate this. This is where some random kid walks in and then your entire family loves them except you. Let me explain. When you have a guy that’s friends with everyone but you, you are under an unspoken family obligation to befriend this individual. And since I was a fun, happy, naive young child, I was all for it. Because why not? If everyone is friends with him, then why can’t I be friends with him? And it’s perfectly fine for you to be friends with this individual. However, you never should befriend a guy under family obligation if he is shy, clingy, and sheltered. I befriended this guy and he was fine at first. He was shy so we didn’t really talk a lot. I would say ‘hello’, he would say ‘hello’, and that would basically be the extent of our interactions. But, my family liked him so much he would come over here and there throughout the week. Yet, the only person who would entertain him was either me and/or Charisma. And I cannot express how much that aggravated me. My family was friends with him first, yet they couldn’t spend time with him and I had to take their place in being his friend, that just made me feel a little weird. Because they were always busy, I had to talk to this guy in place of them. Since he didn't really have any conversations with me, he basically became a One Topic Friend, which I didn't need a repeat of. Every other day this Obligatory Family Friend would come over and Every. Single. Time. I had to host. I didn’t want that. I didn’t like that. I didn’t appreciate it. Whenever we went to an activity, he would come and stay around us. Whenever we went to a church event, he would stay with us. Whenever we were at work, he would spend his free time with us. The only time I was free was at school, but since school was at home, all he had to do was ask my mother to come over and, since she thought he was a good kid, she always. Said. Yes. I can’t even express how much this aggravates me. It’s not even the person that aggravates me. It’s what he did. The clinginess is what got to me. I couldn’t stand him always coming to me and just existing around me and not putting any effort into making conversation with me. It made me feel anxious and extremely uncomfortable. I remember telling this to him and, because I expressed my feelings, I was scolded. So, not only could I not share my feelings on how I felt with him, I needed to keep it to myself and proceed to be his friend. It was, overall, very frustrating. But let’s talk about facts. The Obligatory Family Friend | Statistics The Obligatory Family Friend can either go two ways—they can be really good or, just, ‘nope’. But it’s their personality and their relationship with each of your family that really ices the cake. The thing that I should have done with this individual would have opened myself partway, find some common ground (enough to create a better conversation), then shared more of myself and, overall, we would have a better friendship. The Obligatory Family Friend | The Tricky Part The further we go into any of these relationships, know that the more involved you are with the individual, the more your efforts reflect the result of the relationship. I didn't know that when I was younger and I wish I had. But that's what life is! A learning experience. So my advice for you is to always take an Obligatory Family Friend slowly, much more slowly than normal friends. Just to be safe. Obviously, this isn't the end of my amazing adventures with males, so I'll keep you all updated in part 3! Until Next Time, My Friends.... AdieuIt's the New Year Twisters! Year of the Rat! A new decade! 2020 = Great Gatsby Parties All. Day. You know. If you can afford it, then definitely! But if you're poor, then we can cheer with our water and apple juice. Twisters, there are so many cool, awesome things that are going to be happening this year! And it'll actually happen! We're already in the works for a lot of things and it will take some time, but we're not going to push it aside any longer. We are going to blog every week. We're going to update the Twisted Two Official Instagram, but we'll actually be switching up the Instagram a little. Instead of doing updates, we'll be having a twin Instagram! I've wanted one for a super long time, so hopefully this is the change that will be good for both the blog and our update schedule! Well, I'll leave it here for now. Keep your eyes open to the new things that'll be happening! We'll let you know here all the big new stuff! Catch ya later, Twisters! Charisma
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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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