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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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! 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! You read right. We're going to audition to be a part of High School Musical 4. And, boy, am I excited. And nervous. And really happy. Okay, I'm have a lot of feelings towards this, but hey, I'm gonna give it my best go and I'm going to love EVERY MINUTE. And if you didn't know that they're doing auditions, you should go do it (btw, you need to be around 14 - 17, have the Disney Applause app, find a song that fits your vocal chords--only do a verse and the chorus--, and practice the script. More info about auditioning here). I've always wanted to be a part of Disney, it would amazing if Charisma and I were part of the cast. :3 School's going really good. I've got a A's in everything but science (I've got a low B which I need to start getting a high B.... because bad things are going to happen if I don't). I'm trying to get done with school around May 18th, which, if I do, would be GREAT. The only thing I'm having trouble with is my Geography assignment. I have to plan a dream vacation. Sounds easy, right? Well, I still think it's kind-of easy, but I've been hitting some bumps. I've got to plan this vacation down to the slightest detail and that's going to be really hard (mean finding pictures of certain places, I have to record the weather, the average precipitation, etc.). And my maximum budget is 10,000 dollars and the minimum I have to spend is 8,000 (keep in mind I can't go over budget, 5% can be spent for gifts/souvenirs and 10% can be used for food, while the rest must be used for hotel, airline tickets, car rental, etc.). You get the idea. I'm still having my major writings block (wanting to write something, but avoids writing at all times, you can read my small post at My Writing Journey). Although, early this week I was able to write a small bit for a new story. That made me really happy. I'm actually really surprised that I wanted to write this blog post, because I've been wanting to do it for a long time now. Learning Japanese Yup! I'm still at it. I've master hiragana, I'm working on katakana (although I need some more index cards... -_-) and I'm working on kanji (slowly, but I'm getting there).
The site's that I'm using (apart from the first Learning Japanese):
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 Hello World! Sorry for not posting on our scheduled time. :3 Life's been busy. Anyways, I've been in this crazy love for music. Lots of awesome music. At first it was instrumental (and still is), but then Bianca showed me some new songs. And I fell in love with them. My heart has been broken and completed so many times!!! So Many!!! Here are some of the amazing songs that Bianca and I listen to for writing or just needing something to listen too. Snowman - Vocaloids Kaito and Len Cantarella - Vocaloid Kaito
I totally love both of these songs! *Starts to fangirl and twirl around showering confetti everywhere* *Clears throat* Hehe... :3 The Vocaloids are the best! :D Here are some more awesome songs that I've fallen in love with in the past... week? Yeah, I think it's been a week.. :P
That's just some of the music that we've found/listened to in the past week. :D Aren't they all awesome? And, while we're still talking about music.... Alexa from Summer Snowflakes did a blog post about this awesome song by the Script! Here is the link: Melodic Mondays: Flares by the Script That song is just so amazing! :) Love the Script! :D
Well, what songs have you listened to in the past week? Tell me in the comments! :D Charisma
Yup! Since the school year is about to begin and we're going to have an even crazier schedule, Charisma and I have discussed what we were changing the schedule to.
Monday: Twisted Two - Bianca Tuesday: Inspiring Art (Charisma) Wednesday: Twisted Two - Charisma & Bianca Thursday: Writing Journey (Bianca) Friday: Twisted Two - Charisma That's going to be our school schedule. :3 And we're going to put the schedule into action starting next week. Okay, now for my favorite part.... Charisma and I get to learn Japanese in High School! We've always wanted to learn Japanese and now our dream is actually coming true! I got some Japanese cookbooks from the library and I'm over the moon about it. The funny thing is that I haven't done any of the recipes inside the cookbook... yet. But we're going to get to it (one day). School is starting soon and I absolutely can't wait! This summer has been so busy and I can't wait to get into an actual planned schedule. ;3 Have a fantastic summer!
WE GET TO PARTY LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW!
Hehehe.... just kidding. You've got way more responsibilities when you're thirteen. And trust me, I may sound SUPER crazy, but it's really fun. Anywhooo, since we are 13, we can watch PG-13 movies! YAY! But, the first PG-13 movie that we wanted to watch wasn't available... It was Enders Game, which we really, really want to watch! :3 Our mother says it's a really good movie, and that makes us even more excited. And after that movie, we want to watch the Avenger movies, like Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Avengers, etc. We can finally watch the 3rd Harry Potter movie (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). We can also start are slow and heavy ascent to reading Teen/Young Adult books (I want to read the Princess books by Jessica Day George first...). :3 I also can't wait to get a library card! I really want one, but I have no idea when I'm going to get that or if I'm going to get it when I'm 16. It's a huge possibility that we get one when we are 16... But hey! We can try and get it when we're 13 or 14! Also, with the summer weather coming, we can safely say that we are ready for a new layout! But the one we wanted wasn't our favorite, so we are trying to pick another one. We'll tell you when we are going to change! :3 Tell us in the comments what you are ready to do this summer! Hello World!
We sincerely apologize for not blogging in so long! First, we have been sick with some unknown sickness (we don't know what caused it but we're are all better now) and when we're sick we can't look at the computer screen AT ALL. Next, we went to our nana's house (which takes 18 hours from where we live) and that takes two days, so, we stayed in the car for two days.... Then we had only one day to spend with our Nana before we had to go running on Saturday. We did a race and two years ago we did 9 minutes and 33 seconds for a mile. Then on Saturday we did 7 minutes and 28 seconds. IT WAS AMAZING! I felt so proud that we did 2 minutes less, Charisma was trying to slow down, but (hehehe) I wasn't going to let her. Also we are SO sorry that I haven't been posting in 'My Writing Journey'. I've been just recovering from that sickness and I really didn't want to get on the computer. So yeah..... WE ARE BACK NOW! Thanks! (BTW, I'm not doing the gif any more at the end.) Hey! So as you can see by the title, I've been playing video games for the past week and it has been AWESOME! So far, Charisma and I have been chilling out with some Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, then we played some Mario Karts: Double Dash on the GameCube and then I've been obsessing over the new Legend of Zelda game that's about to come out. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Awesome sounding, right? It's coming out Spring of this year (2015) and I'm just freaking out. (Here is the reason why I'm freaking out: Click Here) And since it's coming out to the 3DS, I'm even more happy! So, once I can get the game, I'll be happy and satisfied till I'm done with both games (like 100% done). So, I've been drawing Majora's Mask and it's turning out pretty good so far actually. It's much better than I thought it was going to turn out. But, I'm kind of scared to continue, because I might mess it up (which would be terrible). But here are pictures of what the Majora's Mask looks like. I also like to listen to Lovers Mask - Theophany. It is so beautiful. I'm actually trying to draw the Mask in the video, because I thought that one looked like I could actually put the mask on and all.
So what's your favorite video game? Tell me in the comments! ~Bianca :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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