about this blogger tag

there is news in the book bloggin’ world: the notebook sisters has moved to paper fury! in celebration of this, cait (the blogger/mastermind behind it all), has decided to do create a “party tag” and host a giveaway. i’d thought it would be fun to join since she said there’d be cake and I LOVE CAKE. i’ll be answering the ten questions of the tag.

‘BOUT THIS BLOGGER

1. Why did you start blogging?

i actually started a bookstagram (book-based-instgram-account) first and there i realized book blogging was actually a thing. i’d been watching book-tubers for about a year or two before that, and i’d tried book-tubing myself but i felt so uncomfortable talking in front of a camera. (also, it would take me ages to edit.) once i discovered book blogs, i was like, “ohmygoodness it’s like all the things i liked about book-tubing but better. i can remain anon and i don’t have to actually talk!”

2. What’s the story behind your blog’s name?

i started overusing the word “twirling” once i realized it was a pun with my name. (my last name is “ling,” so twirLING. also i’m a ballet dancer and ironically, my favorite part of dance is turning/twirling.) i’m a huge sucker for puns so once i realized this, i used it for like, everything (aka tumblr urls & other usernames). i even started a company with my sister called “the twirlings.” uhh.. yeah.

i originally wanted a name that would show both aspects of my two passions – ballet and books. i didn’t want to just be a book blogger because ballet is a huge part of my life as well. i was hoping for a name like “turning pages” because readers turn pages and dancers.. turn. that didn’t really work out because it was too generic and others had already taken the name. so, twirling pages it is!

3. How many designs have you been through since you started blogging? (Pictures! We demand pictures!)

i only recently started blogging, but i’m constantly changing my mind on the blog design. (i’m actually working with a friend to help me change my design right now!) i didn’t think to actually take pictures of my previous themes because i knew i was going to change it, so i’ll just show you pictures of the theme itself without any of my customizations.

my first theme was called writr, and it looked something like this:

 

after sticking with it for like two weeks, i moved to the one i have currently (confit) and paid extra so i could change the colors and whatnot.

after that i moved to tonal, which was huge and.. huge. i liked it at first, but after a while it got too big and now i’m back to the second theme.

 

i was kind of disappointed in wordpress themes because you can’t do much to change it. it’s just set this way and if you want your blog to look nicer, you’d have to buy themes for like $80 AND pay for premium every month/year. which leads to….

4. Have you ever switched blog platforms? What made you move? If you haven’t ever changed…why?

like i said earlier, i only started blogging recently so i haven’t changed blogging platforms.. yet. i’m currently on wordpress.com, but i really want to move to wordpress.org. i didn’t start with .org right away because i knew nothing about blogging whatsoever. but after a few weeks with .com, i realized it’s actually pretty easy and this platform is holding me back on some stuff. i paid for the premium, and it still wasn’t what i wanted. i knew i had to change to .org eventually, so i’m hoping to work on that soon.

5. How long does it take you to write a post? What’s your postly process like?

reviews/discussions take some time (1 to 3hrs? usually spread out). mostly because i have a lot to say, and partially because i don’t know how to comprehend my thoughts. i tab my books and jot down notes, but everything is out of order and i don’t know how i want to approach the review because every time is different; there are individual points i want to focus on.

also, if the post has a bunch of gifs/pictures it takes forever.

6. Have you ever been super nervous about a post? Why?! What was it?

any review for a book that i didn’t necessarily like. most of the first few were like, “ohmygod! this is the best book ever!! everyone needs to read it!!!!” even if i didn’t like it that much. i’m usually super nervous typing it up, trying to make it as mildly insulting as possible, then post it and close the tab. since i’m new to this (i’ve said this like TEN TIMES), i’m still nervous about “negative” posts. i need to remind myself this is my blog and i can write whatever i’d like.

7. Do you have a blogging schedule?

i generally write up my post in the wee hours of the morning (aka like 12am to 2 am) then schedule it the following day/week at 10am. but other than that… not really.

8. Do you tell people In-Real-Life about your blog? Their reactions?

i try not to tell people irl simply because it’s all still new to me. only my family and closest friends know about it, and they don’t seem to think much about it. they’re mostly like, “oh. alright.” i’m an internet-person, so it’s not all that surprising to be a super internet person and create a blog.

9. Top ten blogs you read/comment on the most! Go! Go!

hmm… okay let’s go (in no particular order):

• rookie magazine (does that count? it’s my favorite)
• hazel from stay bookish
• cee from the novel hermit
• cait from paper fury (now)
• nikki from the paper sea
• ashley from nose graze
• kath from read? read.
• stephanie/jessica from these paper hearts
• everyone from the broke and the bookish
• hawwa from it was lovely reading you

10. If you could change/improve things about your blog, what would they be?

first of all, this theme/setup. i’d like to move to wordpress.org, but not entirely yet. i’d also like to schedule my posts weeks in advance so i don’t ever need to worry about going into a slump. it would also be nice to find my “voice.” it still takes a while for me to get into a post and i think for some time and over-analyze my sentences, thus making me take forever to compile the whole thing.

are you going to join in on the celebration as well? leave a link to your post below and i’ll make sure to check it out! (because i really want to see your answers just saying)

xoxo,

alexandra

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