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... Adieu
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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... 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~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! CharismaHello again, Twisters! Sorry it's been a bit since we've updated. Though it's nothing new, us disappearing and not updating, it's not something good. We honestly do say, "Oh, you need to update the blog this week...", but it never ends up happening. As bloggers trying to collect an audience, I believe it's important to try and be consistent. Sure, missing a week isn't terrible, but whole months without a word? That's not the best. But anyways! On to more enjoyable conversations! With our last post, we were working on the comic. We had plans on getting it out that month, but that never happened. We are still working on it, but we've decided to get a few pages finished before we start publishing it. Hopefully we can get it out before the year is over! We're using a (lovely) program called Clip Studio Paint. I didn't buy it, but I got a Wacom Intuos and it had the application already attached. (I'm still working it out to see if I have to pay for it in the future, but for right now, it's free.) I've played around with the application to generally understand how the basic functions work. While on the other hand, Bianca does not. She's tasked with doing backgrounds (as I suck at them), but she struggling with how to do them, what's the best way for her, how to use the tablet, etc. It's a slow journey, but we'll get there! Around the time we were trying to push this out, we weren't working. We had been accepted at our jobs, but they hadn't scheduled us in yet. Now, we're scheduled in, working two part-time jobs, so we have to juggle that and making the comic. It's not the easiest, but it's definitely not the hardest thing to do. We made it so that each job has their own separate times to schedule us, so overlapping jobs isn't a big concern. They schedule us at most four to six hour shifts, which is quite nice and the people we work with our amazing. Every time we work is a fun time! It's quite nice getting jobs that are fun with nice co-workers! I've heard lots of stories where people say their fist job was terrible, or another job had a terrible boss and co-workers, or another job was amazing and the people were amazing, but this one high up person just made it horrendous for everyone, etc. And sure, there is always going to be that one person who isn't fun to work with, but I haven't had those experiences. My first job at Chick-fil-A was amazing, loved it and would gladly recommend it to anyone. My two current jobs are also amazing! I love my bosses and co-workers, we're all here to do our best and make sure we're all working as a team. You can't go into a job with the mindset of "I'm here to work, get money, then leave." No. That's not how it works. You can definitely use money as a motivator because we all need money, but you can't put the bear minimum in your work. At all. That's what's going to get you scheduled low hours or get you fired. You have to go in wanting to do your best. Show it off to your co-workers and boss, but not rub it in their faces that your amazing. You want to feel as if you're being rewarded with the money that you're earning. Try to make it as one of the happiest jobs in the world. You are not there just to earn money. You're there to better yourself, grow your capabilities, your understanding, your knowledge. Grow as a team with others also willing to put their best in their work. And, you know, eventually get that well earned money. Anyways, I have a lot to say on jobs and how you should be working a job that makes you happy. Hopefully that becomes a blog post in and of itself, because this one is getting kind of long. But last topic! You all know that Bianca and I are learning Japanese and that we've set our sights on going to Japan. Well, after years and years of wishing and dreaming, it's finally going to become reality! We're super, super pumped to share with you all that we're going to be going to Japan! I'll probably do a complete blog post dedicated to all the information and planning that's going to be happening. In short, since we haven't finished learning Japanese, we've decided to go study abroad to learn it in Japan for three months. We're using a site (that will be in the dedicated Japan post) that shows a list of Japanese schools. We're going to be applying for one hopefully by Wednesday. That's the plan, at least. Also, Twisters! Next Monday is going to be a special update, because it'll be our blog's anniversary! We'll have been making blog posts for a total of six years! Which is honestly mind blowing. We were eleven when we started this and now we're seventeen and still rolling. It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but time seems to be flying anyways. Thanks for sticking with me for this super long post, Twisters! It's actually a really quick life update, but we'll get back into the swing of things. Catch ya later, Twisters! CharismaWhat on EARTH do you call it when you don't have the mojo to write on your blog? Is it blogger's block? Since you're a blogger and it is preventing you from blogging? Or is it writer's block? Since you're technically a writer writing the post? By this point, I'm really confused, but this is my topic for today! I have Blogger's/Writer's Block! *sarcastic yays!* I honestly have no idea what to write/blog because nothing really has been happening?? I've been accepted for a job (yay!), but I haven't started working, so I can't really talk about that. I was going to talk about YouTubers I watch, but I want to research all the ones I want to feature and such. I've been just drawing a lot lately, WHICH I LOVE! I need to be drawing more digitally, but I'll take what I've got! Traditional drawing has been really fun lately. I've been pushing towards adding more colors to my traditional pictures so that I can understand what I'm more attracted to, how I color, etc. So that's been good. I suppose this has just been another life update. Bianca and I have so many amazing things we're working on and planning, but right now, those ideas are just taking shape! Once we get rolling and feeling the flow more, we'll let you know all the exciting things that will be coming! You Twisters are not PREPARED for what we have in store! But that's all for now! Sorry that this wasn't really anything, but thanks for reading! Catch ya later, Twisters! CharismaHello Twisters! Bianca has finally appeared on the battle field and is ready to begin the fight! But, no seriously, it has been way to long. I don't even remember the last time I wrote on this particular side of the blog. I have forgotten the joy that I have felt when writing blog posts, so I'm very grateful that I'm back at it again. As you may already know, we moved to a different state this past summer and it has been absolutely amazing. The only hard part is that I haven't figured out my daily schedule, as I have decided not to do school this semester (but that is an entirely different blog post on it's own -- it's a really big topic). With that being said, I have been trying to keep my wits about me and explore new opportunities and I am incredibly excited to keep going with that. Topic Time! Okay, so here's the thing. Guys, dudes, men, things, I don't know what you call them, but they are out there and they come in all shapes and sizes and brains. Emphasis on the 'brain' part too. As long as I can remember, I have always wanted a guy friend. Just a friend. Not a boyfriend. Not a partner. Just a person that was male that I could hangout with and just enjoy my time with. I thought that was a pretty simple request, but I was dead wrong. I haven't had a guy friend since I was in kindegarten. Since I have been virtually schooled (homeschooled, basically) my entire life, I don't get to see people very often and when I do, it's only for a field trip or an outing. So I could only make friends with the people at my church, since I saw them on a regular basis. In my Sunday School classes, though, there was sometimes hardly any or none at all. And since I was a kid then, they were a friend, but I didn't see them outside of church so I wasn't sure if I classified them as a 'friend-friend'. When I turned ten, that's when the boys started coming and so I would see more of them and start making conversation, but I'm not looking for anything by this point. Conversation is conversation and if I knew past me well enough, I knew that she loved to talk. So it was easy to talk to them. Of course I was thinking that this guy was cuter than the other, but I wasn't going to throw myself in front of them and proclaim my true love that I had only truely understood just moments ago. No. Not at all. Eleven through thirteen is when things get weird. Girls are claiming guys that they like and they're giggling in their little packs on who they want to hang out with like it's going to affect their future and if they don't talk behind these boys backs, they aren't going to get a kiss from them or something. It's really weird. I still just want a friend. I mean, I guess I was doing the same thing that the girls were doing but on a different level because I know that real life guys had NOTHING on the fictional characters that I saw dancing with light sabers and solving mysteries on the big screen. Fictional characters > Real life guys. (100% scientifically proven) But something started happening when I was thirteen. I made a friend. And it was a boy too. I met him during an online school activity and he was the same age as me, so I thought, 'Heck yeah.' I met him in person when we were talking this math test thing and it was cool! He and I talked about games and school, but mostly games. And then some more games. And then some more games. And then some more. What was happening again? Like, didn't I just get a friend? Of course at in our household we like to tease each other, but everyone was hardcore teasing me that I liked-liked this boy, which I didn't. I tried talking about other topics with him but he would always revert back to games and the games that he talked about, I didn't even like very much, but I have this blessing gift (it really is a blessing) that I can stay interested and listen to whatever a person is saying. Whether it be politics, science, mathematics, environmental issues, basically anything. If you're passionate about it, that's all I ask and I don't mind listening. That's when I discovered something. That there are such things as a One Topic Friend (rather an acquaintance, but for the sake of a catchy title, it is a 'friend'). One Topic Friend | What It IsOne Topic Friends are the worst and I apologize if you have one. Unless they are really cool and they don't mind talking about other things. Than you have a real friend and not a OTF. Let me establish some boundaries before I dive deep into what an OTF is. There is a pattern into meeting a new person. You exchange 'hellos' (Greetings), you talk about the weather or how their day has been (Acquaintance), you talk about what happened last week and what they have planned for this week, as well as the occasional Insight-For-Advice section that you add in (Friend), and, lastly, you can talk about boys (or girls), bad eating habits, and strange topics like, I don't know, toilets or feet fungus (Close Friend and/or Best Friend) to said person. Greeter. Acquaintance. Friend. Close/Best Friend. These are the four stages I have created to know the relationship that I am with any given person. A OTF, however, is inbetween the Acquaintance Stage and the Friend Stage. In my opinion, there should never be a stage between the two. Never. Because if there is, there is no going back. Since I was a young girl and I was extremely polite, I didn't fully understand what was happening until I came across the other OTF. This OTF wasn't as bad, I could throw in another topic or two, but it immediately was back again with that specific topic. When you're friends with an OTF, you are obligated by the process to talk with them, since you are more than just an acquaintance. If you see them in the halls, at the grocery store, or at the gym, under this unsaid 'Rules For Life' board, you have to go and talk to them. If you pretend to ignore them, like pretending that you didn't see or hear them or making sure you don't make eye contact, etc. This won't stop them. Instead, they will take the first step and come up to talk to you. By societal reasons, they should always start with a 'hello' and 'how are you' and then ask 'how has your day been so far' etc. A common and light hearted entry to a conversation. Next, after they have asked and you have responded, two things should happen next. Either you ask them the same questions, to establish a connection on both sides, or they will begin immediately with the topic that seems to captivate their only interest. You may try to change the subject, but it normally doesn't work, so (in my case) you just listen polietly to what they have to say and inject comments and opinions, if they see fit to stop speaking. Now, for me, since I was polite, cute, nice, AND I liked the general topic that they were speaking about (not the subtopics, but there is always a chance to lead the conversation to a subtopic that you enjoy, only if it is in the main topic), all of those things qualified me for one thing. Love. (Or like-like) His family knew, my family knew, I knew, he knew, everyone knew. He liked me. Really liked me. And yes, if the OTF doesn't see you as just a friend, they will see you as a potential lover. It is neither pleasant nor fun, especially if you don't see them in that kind of way. I didn't particularly enjoy this time, especially since the teasing from my family intensified (Charisma was nice enough not to tease me though), so I was doing my best to lower the friend stage from an OTF to an Acquaintance, which in the end worked. OTF | The ReverseUnfortunately, there is a reverse effect to this. It doesn't happen intentionally and it can be avoided, but only if the other party is willing. There is a chance where you can become the OTF. It's an awful thing, but let me share an example: "Hey Alex!" I walked over and sat next to him at the counter. I HAVE HAD THESE KIND OF CONVERSATIONS FOR YEARS AND I STILL CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHY. If you want me to talk to you THEN RESPOND WITH ACTUAL ANSWERS MY FRIEND. One long answer will give me enough time to think of a relevant and awe-inspiring response that will give us time to have an actual legit discussion about anything. In this case, since you want to extend the hand of friendship, you begin the conversation with the normal Greeter response as well as Acquaintanceship responses and you latch onto a topic that you know they are interested in. Yet if they give these kinds of responses, who is considered the OTF? Unfortunately you. But any good relationship, no matter which stage, should have an equal balance of communication, understanding, and silence (this depends on the person, but it's sometimes nice to just sit there in silence). To save the eyes of my readers, I am going to continue this in another post. Thank you so much for reading so far and I hope that you will join me for Part 2, coming in a couple of weeks. Until Next Time... Adieu Happy New Years Twisters! Sorry that we haven't been super active. Bianca and I are planning on graduating early (graduating in our Junior year!), which means a heck ton of extra school work. Trying to get those extra credits to graduate are super tough and the load work is crazy, but we'll get through it! I'll just take a lot of planning and prioritizing. Especially to include blogging again. And with that, I'm here to share with you my new year resolutions! New Years Resolutions
Anyways, that's all I have for my resolutions! There are probably more, but I can't remember them right now. Thank you so much for making 2018 a great year! Here's to an even better year! See you in 2019 Twisters! |
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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