Joseph Devon's Blog, page 5

Writing Dynamic Characters: Know What They Don’t

Whether you’re writing a great zombie book, an action-packed thriller, or a thoughtful piece of literature, the bulk of your work will be carried along by your characters.

There are dozens of articles all over the internet that discuss how to write strong characters. Many of these articles suggest outlining a character’s personality by getting to know certain qualities they have. What makes them laugh? What makes them cry? What makes them angry? What will they stand up for?

Things like that.

The...

Bedbugs and Broomsticks

I’ve been out of touch for the past few weeks. I mentioned last month that I had slipped a disc in my neck. I was making some progress with that by doing at home exercises but eventually I had to give in and sign up for physical therapy. Then I found out that I had bed bugs.

Which has been a complete shit show.

I can’t even begin to explain the ridiculousness that comes along with being told you have bed bugs. I’m not sure I’ve ever come across something that causes such over-sized reactions in...

Writing Urban Fantasy: Making Weird Seem Normal

I don’t always write Urban Fantasy books. I’ve written in a few different genres, most of them trending far more towards real life as we know it. But this current series I’m working on is most definitely Urban Fantasy, and one of the things I’ve come to realize about writing in this genre is that none of this stuff makes any damn sense.

The very definition of Urban Fantasy means that you will have otherworldly elements running around in the present day. Maybe some vampires are involved, or zom...

Your Relationship with Your Book

Last week I slipped a disc in my neck.

This is a recurring injury that happens whenever I get sloppy with my stretches and let my posture at my desk go. Though, actually, the slipped disk isn’t the problem. See, if you were to give 10 random people on the street an MRI, about 8 of them would have a slipped disc, but only 2 of them would be feeling anything.

Which is to say that discs, the gelatinous sacs that live between your vertebrae, slip out of place all the time.

My problem is that when th...

Dead Tired of Traditional Horror Books

Who among us can really say whether we could face the same fears that we read about in a book? Well-written horror books can take a small piece of reality, and distort it in such an extremely believable way that we find ourselves shaking as we turn each page. A good writer will offer an entertaining story; a great one will develop and flesh out the characters involved, allowing us to be taken along for the ride of their development. Horror stories are especially frightening, as we all too oft...

A Jersey Boy in the Hamptons

I spent last weekend in the Hamptons. This is not a phrase I have ever said before in my life. I’ve been a Jersey Shore person since I was born. To take someone like me, a guy in his thirties who has experienced basically one type of beach his entire life, and drop them into a place as microcosm rich as the Hamptons…well there was some culture shock.

I should point out that my hosts were amazing and I had a great time over the weekend. When I talk about the people here I’m talking about the ov...

Pondering Air Conditioners and Writing

It’s been hot recently. I’ve mentioned this a few times on here.

But, seriously, it’s been hot.

It’s been hot to the point that even with the air conditioner on, it’s still hot.

This is a weird concept to me. It is also an awful concept to me. I work at home, if my home air conditioner can’t keep up, then I’m working in a hot room.

But even friends in offices told tales last week of how the mega-crazy air conditioners in mid-down Manhattan were unable to effectively keep the air inside the buildi...

On Outlines and Books

I can remember, sort of, writing my first book back in college and how in awe I was when the structure finally revealed itself to me. I became very enamored with structure at that point.

I can remember, pretty well, writing my second book, and how the structure was one hundred percent laid out ahead of time. That book, which is not currently available, was almost a tribute to structure. The sections were named and framed before the first word was written. There were a lot of surprises along th...

Deconstructing Urban Fantasy

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Writing a Snowball in Hell

At the moment it is, roughly, forty-kajillion degrees outside. With the air conditioner on in my apartment I manage to cool things off to the point where water only reaches a slow boil while sitting on my desk. Around one o’clock I can actually feel the heat beating in through the rather imposing blinds which cover my windows. Shirts are worn primarily as devices to move sweat around so you don’t feel too sticky. Upon stepping outside, one’s first reaction is to squint from the sun, one’s sec...