Joseph Hunt's Blog, page 22

Piano. Instrumental. Beauty!

This is an extension on an earlier post where I asked YOU if you preferred to listen to music whilst writing or silence. (Silence or Music?) I heard a lot of you talk about listening to instrumental music, I also like to listen to instrumental when I'm writing because at least then I'm not trying to lip sync to the music.



So I took the internet highway where Youtube resides and found some amazing people. People that have brought tears to my eyes and people who have left my skin with goosebumps...some truly amazing people.



Okay, I'm not going to lie, but this post is going to be about Sunny Choi....she is just so talented that her instrumentals have inspired me so much that the only time I am actually on the internet is when I'm listening to her play piano on Youtube! Seriously!




Click the link, if you know what's good for you! 

http://www.youtube.com/SunnyChoiMusic




I don't really watch the Youtube videos, but if you do then you will see just how passionate she actually is about music. I also saw this one comment, and it said something like 'Sunny Choi has a beautiful soul'...and it made me think about music and writing and about how creativity is just the soul leaking out this pure beauty and letting other people soak in it. 




*getting breathless just typing this*




I've also been going through Youtube and finding other people who play the piano, Sabrina, who commented on the last post mentioned a man, Jon Schmidt...I also checked him out and he's really good, but I prefer music that I know, just without the lyrics.




Do you have any Youtubers that you'd like to share?

They can be people who sing, play an instrument or do both!




-Joseph

Piano. Instrumental. Beauty!

This is an extension on an earlier post where I asked YOU if you preferred to listen to music whilst writing or silence. (Silence or Music?) I heard a lot of you talk about listening to instrumental music, I also like to listen to instrumental when I'm writing because at least then I'm not trying to lip sync to the music.



So I took the internet highway where Youtube resides and found some amazing people. People that have brought tears to my eyes and people who have left my skin with goosebumps...some truly amazing people.



Okay, I'm not going to lie, but this post is going to be about Sunny Choi....she is just so talented that her instrumentals have inspired me so much that the only time I am actually on the internet is when I'm listening to her play piano on Youtube! Seriously!




Click the link, if you know what's good for you! 

http://www.youtube.com/SunnyChoiMusic




I don't really watch the Youtube videos, but if you do then you will see just how passionate she actually is about music. I also saw this one comment, and it said something like 'Sunny Choi has a beautiful soul'...and it made me think about music and writing and about how creativity is just the soul leaking out this pure beauty and letting other people soak in it. 




*getting breathless just typing this*




I've also been going through Youtube and finding other people who play the piano, Sabrina, who commented on the last post mentioned a man, Jon Schmidt...I also checked him out and he's really good, but I prefer music that I know, just without the lyrics.




Do you have any Youtubers that you'd like to share?

They can be people who sing, play an instrument or do both!




-Joseph

Deadlines Are An Ominous Thing.

I am not a fan of deadlines, although sometimes I wish I was because I'm always searching for ways to motivate myself...and hey, if a deadline just doesn't do that, then you're a lost cause! It's upsetting really that everything I do is at the last minute, because for once I would like it if I wasn't worrying about 'that essay' I need to write for next week. But lately my writing has fallen hostage to the people of the World Wide Deadlines corp. and I've set some pretty tough finish points...we shall call them finish points, deadlines seem so intimidating.



So these finish points are achievable, I'm not being a total artist and asking to exhaust myself, but Lumen has been waiting for it's time to shine since August and I really need to just slap myself and finish this.




Do you ever set yourself tight editing/writing schedules? Or perhaps feel like slapping yourself?


I didn't start writing this post with the purpose of venting about how I'm tough on myself and imposing deadlines...finish points! I'm actually going to be honest and tell you that I'm writing this out of the bottom of my heart...I think that's where procrastination lies. And I'm procrastinating to get out of doing my coursework which must be handed in Monday at 4pm...so I guess I do have some time to just not do anything and ruin a day's worth of writing! *insert unhappy face*




Will you slap me...for the greater good! And my English degree.




And with that last piece of insanity I will leave you in the capable hands of a quote...


'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' - Douglas Adams


-Joseph

Deadlines Are An Ominous Thing.

I am not a fan of deadlines, although sometimes I wish I was because I'm always searching for ways to motivate myself...and hey, if a deadline just doesn't do that, then you're a lost cause! It's upsetting really that everything I do is at the last minute, because for once I would like it if I wasn't worrying about 'that essay' I need to write for next week. But lately my writing has fallen hostage to the people of the World Wide Deadlines corp. and I've set some pretty tough finish points...we shall call them finish points, deadlines seem so intimidating.



So these finish points are achievable, I'm not being a total artist and asking to exhaust myself, but Lumen has been waiting for it's time to shine since August and I really need to just slap myself and finish this.




Do you ever set yourself tight editing/writing schedules? Or perhaps feel like slapping yourself?


I didn't start writing this post with the purpose of venting about how I'm tough on myself and imposing deadlines...finish points! I'm actually going to be honest and tell you that I'm writing this out of the bottom of my heart...I think that's where procrastination lies. And I'm procrastinating to get out of doing my coursework which must be handed in Monday at 4pm...so I guess I do have some time to just not do anything and ruin a day's worth of writing! *insert unhappy face*




Will you slap me...for the greater good! And my English degree.




And with that last piece of insanity I will leave you in the capable hands of a quote...


'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' - Douglas Adams


-Joseph

Writers: Silence or Music?

[image error]
I answered a question the other day on a Facebook status that asked the same question I'm asking you...do you listen to music while you write?




So do you?




I really want to know. And if so, what kind of music? Scene influencing music? etc.




I immediately wrote on that status that I do listen to music when I type, and then before I pressed 'enter' I pulled my fingers off the keyboard and thought to myself...you might listen to music, but what do you prefer?




I would prefer it if I didn't listen to any music at all. I'd like to think that my passion for the storyline and the characters shows more when I'm not being influenced by music or "masks", I call them masks as you need to feel the emotion and there is only so far that music can take you before you lose your mask and all of sudden your writing has become uninteresting and bland. I'm not saying that you shouldn't ever listen to music for inspiration, but allow some time to reproduce the feeling.


Oh, I found the picture above on Google and it inspired me somewhat.



Silence really does speak, it has a language that we can all understand, but we can never listen to it when we want to. True silence doesn't exist! If it's not a sound from the room you're in, then it's from outside, and if it's neither of them, the one sound that never gives up is the sound from you! You're "inside voice" -- your thoughts etc.



I said above that I prefer to write in silence but I don't because (another point I made above) sometimes silence is hard to get. However, whilst editing, I think it's a must to be in quiet and read your work aloud. I can read a sentence over and over in my head, but then if I read it aloud, I would spot an error or feel like something just isn't working. Well, not all of that time.



From this post I've also decided on keeping a track of all the songs I've listened to whilst writing and editing Lumen, and although Lumen is written, I roughly know what songs I listened to. I don't know why, maybe there's something in the lyrics that has kept my inspiration and motivation alive and that shows within my work...or just so that I can blog about it later on. Haha.



I hope you have an exciting writing/editing session, hopefully it's productive!



-Joseph

Writers: Silence or Music?

[image error]
I answered a question the other day on a Facebook status that asked the same question I'm asking you...do you listen to music while you write?




So do you?




I really want to know. And if so, what kind of music? Scene influencing music? etc.




I immediately wrote on that status that I do listen to music when I type, and then before I pressed 'enter' I pulled my fingers off the keyboard and thought to myself...you might listen to music, but what do you prefer?




I would prefer it if I didn't listen to any music at all. I'd like to think that my passion for the storyline and the characters shows more when I'm not being influenced by music or "masks", I call them masks as you need to feel the emotion and there is only so far that music can take you before you lose your mask and all of sudden your writing has become uninteresting and bland. I'm not saying that you shouldn't ever listen to music for inspiration, but allow some time to reproduce the feeling.


Oh, I found the picture above on Google and it inspired me somewhat.



Silence really does speak, it has a language that we can all understand, but we can never listen to it when we want to. True silence doesn't exist! If it's not a sound from the room you're in, then it's from outside, and if it's neither of them, the one sound that never gives up is the sound from you! You're "inside voice" -- your thoughts etc.



I said above that I prefer to write in silence but I don't because (another point I made above) sometimes silence is hard to get. However, whilst editing, I think it's a must to be in quiet and read your work aloud. I can read a sentence over and over in my head, but then if I read it aloud, I would spot an error or feel like something just isn't working. Well, not all of that time.



From this post I've also decided on keeping a track of all the songs I've listened to whilst writing and editing Lumen, and although Lumen is written, I roughly know what songs I listened to. I don't know why, maybe there's something in the lyrics that has kept my inspiration and motivation alive and that shows within my work...or just so that I can blog about it later on. Haha.



I hope you have an exciting writing/editing session, hopefully it's productive!



-Joseph

I got my Kindle...what's next?

A while ago I was going to do a post about which eReader I should get because I really didn't have a clue about them, and I did loads of research for the post as well...the reason I didn't write it was because my old laptop broke, but I have a new one now and I also bought myself a Kindle 3G (like the one in the picture) so I can't really post that now.



Although it set me back just over £200 because I also bought a case and 2-year insurance as I have a history of breaking things. So far I love it...it's really good and because you don't have to hook it up to any WiFi because it's got a built-in 3G that works anywhere and everywhere!



For all of you who don't have me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/josephswriting or have me as friend there then you might not know that I got 4 payments of back dated student finance, my grant and my loan, so all in all about £4,000...but I had to buy a new laptop, I had to give my mum rent and stuff, but I still have around £1,500 to last me until April. I'm also going to be doing some really really great things for the blog and maybe there will be a website in the equation...in fact I will tell you now that there is going to be an official website....but more on that later on in the month.



If you self-publish to Kindle or even publish via Smashwords then you're probably someone who I'd like to promote! I might not be able to read them all at once because I'm caught up in the midst of promoting myself before February when I release the beauty that is Lumen!



But I will be doing a weekly feature to promote an indie author! I'll tie that in with my author interviews and also a review of their book! So get in touch!



Keep on doing all that stuff that you do already...unless it's bad...don't do the bad stuff!




And if you do want to donate your eBook to my Kindle then feel free to email me a copy to josepheastwood@ymail.com with a mobi file.


-Joseph

I got my Kindle...what's next?

A while ago I was going to do a post about which eReader I should get because I really didn't have a clue about them, and I did loads of research for the post as well...the reason I didn't write it was because my old laptop broke, but I have a new one now and I also bought myself a Kindle 3G (like the one in the picture) so I can't really post that now.



Although it set me back just over £200 because I also bought a case and 2-year insurance as I have a history of breaking things. So far I love it...it's really good and because you don't have to hook it up to any WiFi because it's got a built-in 3G that works anywhere and everywhere!



For all of you who don't have me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/josephswriting or have me as friend there then you might not know that I got 4 payments of back dated student finance, my grant and my loan, so all in all about £4,000...but I had to buy a new laptop, I had to give my mum rent and stuff, but I still have around £1,500 to last me until April. I'm also going to be doing some really really great things for the blog and maybe there will be a website in the equation...in fact I will tell you now that there is going to be an official website....but more on that later on in the month.



If you self-publish to Kindle or even publish via Smashwords then you're probably someone who I'd like to promote! I might not be able to read them all at once because I'm caught up in the midst of promoting myself before February when I release the beauty that is Lumen!



But I will be doing a weekly feature to promote an indie author! I'll tie that in with my author interviews and also a review of their book! So get in touch!



Keep on doing all that stuff that you do already...unless it's bad...don't do the bad stuff!




And if you do want to donate your eBook to my Kindle then feel free to email me a copy to josepheastwood@ymail.com with a mobi file.


-Joseph

What The Sims Taught Me... #BeatTheBlock

Sims is one of the games that I can remember playing from a very young age and I could play it for hours and hours on end. I had a copy of The Sims for Playstation 2 when I was 9 or something and I was devastated when it broke even though by that time copies of it were dirt cheap, now I think they give them away.



The reason why I'm writing this post is because something I said in a previous post (It's Inspired! #BeatTheBlock) sparked the idea, and I thought to myself that there is so much more that could be said about Sims. It has taught me a lot about characters and characterization. It's weird that I haven't realised any of this before, and I'm going to share it with you...so not all gaming is bad for you, playing The Sims for several hours is actually quite therapeutic to your writer brain.



You might have been asking yourself since reading the title...what the hell has he learnt from The Sims. You might even be thinking of things that can be applied to creating characters and three-dimensional worlds via the simulation masterpiece that is The Sims.





The Sims is a game about controlling the lives of people, or Sims and they do everything you tell them...as long as they're feeling up to it, so treat them right! Or not, it's fun to rile them as well.



The Sims is based on reality, using 8 motives: Hunger, Comfort, Hygiene, Bladder, Energy, Fun, Social and Room. So in order for your characters to be at least a little bit realistic you must flesh them out with these needs, and if they're not fulfilled then they'll get into a hissy fit. I also like to know all the aspects and Sims is a great way to get to know people. They have needs, they need to eat, they



need to drink, they need to go to the bathroom A LOT and they need showers or they will start to smell! And it's all of these things that adds to the realism in your writing.



I hated it when I couldn't fulfil all of the needs and my character started to smell, pee themselves, break things, electrocute themselves etc. but of course it's a whole different ball game when you're writing because you get to have total control of your characters. Use these needs and how they interact with people to create your characters.



As well as the above needs you also get a limited number of points to put against the following personality traits: Shy/Outgoing, Grouchy/Nice, Serious/Playful, Sloppy/Neat, Lazy/Active.

Going from 0 - 10; left to the right, so the higher the scale the more they have that trait. It's really helpful if you're trying to create some imperfections for your characters and that's just a few above, if you researched personality traits you'd find hundreds of words to describe your characters.




I mentioned imperfection, and it's a great word! No character can be perfect and you MUST think about giving them some less desired traits as that's what will make your characters real. So if you're not a total social butterfly and you don't people watch then this, my friend, is the next best thing!



I'm not sure if that's everything I have to say about The Sims and character creation, but I'm sure it's enough to get you thinking.




Do you have anything that you'd like to say?


I really hope that you've enjoyed this post. Keep on writing and keep on playing The Sims!





-Joseph

What The Sims Taught Me... #BeatTheBlock

Sims is one of the games that I can remember playing from a very young age and I could play it for hours and hours on end. I had a copy of The Sims for Playstation 2 when I was 9 or something and I was devastated when it broke even though by that time copies of it were dirt cheap, now I think they give them away.



The reason why I'm writing this post is because something I said in a previous post (It's Inspired! #BeatTheBlock) sparked the idea, and I thought to myself that there is so much more that could be said about Sims. It has taught me a lot about characters and characterization. It's weird that I haven't realised any of this before, and I'm going to share it with you...so not all gaming is bad for you, playing The Sims for several hours is actually quite therapeutic to your writer brain.



You might have been asking yourself since reading the title...what the hell has he learnt from The Sims. You might even be thinking of things that can be applied to creating characters and three-dimensional worlds via the simulation masterpiece that is The Sims.





The Sims is a game about controlling the lives of people, or Sims and they do everything you tell them...as long as they're feeling up to it, so treat them right! Or not, it's fun to rile them as well.



The Sims is based on reality, using 8 motives: Hunger, Comfort, Hygiene, Bladder, Energy, Fun, Social and Room. So in order for your characters to be at least a little bit realistic you must flesh them out with these needs, and if they're not fulfilled then they'll get into a hissy fit. I also like to know all the aspects and Sims is a great way to get to know people. They have needs, they need to eat, they



need to drink, they need to go to the bathroom A LOT and they need showers or they will start to smell! And it's all of these things that adds to the realism in your writing.



I hated it when I couldn't fulfil all of the needs and my character started to smell, pee themselves, break things, electrocute themselves etc. but of course it's a whole different ball game when you're writing because you get to have total control of your characters. Use these needs and how they interact with people to create your characters.



As well as the above needs you also get a limited number of points to put against the following personality traits: Shy/Outgoing, Grouchy/Nice, Serious/Playful, Sloppy/Neat, Lazy/Active.

Going from 0 - 10; left to the right, so the higher the scale the more they have that trait. It's really helpful if you're trying to create some imperfections for your characters and that's just a few above, if you researched personality traits you'd find hundreds of words to describe your characters.




I mentioned imperfection, and it's a great word! No character can be perfect and you MUST think about giving them some less desired traits as that's what will make your characters real. So if you're not a total social butterfly and you don't people watch then this, my friend, is the next best thing!



I'm not sure if that's everything I have to say about The Sims and character creation, but I'm sure it's enough to get you thinking.




Do you have anything that you'd like to say?


I really hope that you've enjoyed this post. Keep on writing and keep on playing The Sims!





-Joseph