Grace Ombry

Novelist

Author: Grace (Page 7 of 10)

Progholm Syndrome via Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson and Lake thoroughly enjoying themselves while playing Rondo.

Progholm Syndrome

January 17, 2017 /
Tuesday Evening, 33°F and foggy
Listening to The Nice, Rondo

Progholm Syndrome … It’s no secret that I have a thing about progressive rock. I tend to go through phases with it, where I will get deep down into a single prog band for days or weeks then I’ll come back out of my prog binge and not listen to another note of prog for weeks.

A few years ago my best friend and I started a really limited Facebook group called Progvember, dedicated to listening to prog during the month of November. For some reason (probably a combination of NaNoWriMo and a disgust hangover from the US presidential election) I neglected Progvember entirely in 2016. I thought I could get away with that. Turns out prog had something to say about that. Uh-uh, Grace. Not so fast.Continue Reading Progholm Syndrome

late opener is no way to start your story
Tardiness is a flimsy substitute for stakes

Peeve of the day: the late opener

January 9, 2017 /
Monday morning, 20°F with snow flurries
Listening to Tame Impala, Skeleton Tiger

A Bad Beginning

The  late opener story begins with the main character alone and late for work, school, or a date. She has overslept. Curse you, malfunctioning alarm clock/newfangled smartphone! She hurries to get dressed, and rushing about, she stubs her toe. Curse you, secondhand ottoman! She runs her pantyhose. Curse you, patriarchy! She spills her cereal. Curse you, Count Chocula!

While all this is going on, she’s fretting about how disappointed/angry/annoyed her boss/teacher/date is going to be. Or worse, ruminating about her backstory (because it’s just fascinating that she grew up an awkward and bookish only child in Poughkeepsie, but moved to the Big Apple after graduation to pursue her dream of blah blah blah, and if only her stupid boyfriend hadn’t blah blah blah, and back when she was in 10th grade in Mrs. Fitch’s honors English class she should have blah blah blah).

And then, oh, the humanity, her car refuses to start. Curse you, Detroit! Continue Reading Peeve of the day: the late opener

David Gilmour was not a Mary Sue
David Gilmour: young, beautiful, insanely talented and not a Mary Sue

The big-ass Mary Sue

January 6, 2017 /
Friday evening, 13°F
Listening to Tame Impala, 41 Mosquitos Flying in Formation

Sometimes I lay awake at night worrying about all of the poor, innocent pixels being inconvenienced by online discussions of what does, or does not, make a Mary Sue character. Many of these conversations revolve around the accused Mary Sue’s looks and talents. I contend that those things alone are not what make up a Mary Sue.

Greg Lake was not a Mary Sue

The one and only Greg Lake of ELP.

Despite what you may have heard, the problem with a Mary Sue isn’t that she’s* precocious, ridiculously beautiful, has remarkable hair, is phenomenally talented, sings like an angel, or is lusted after by all. If those factors alone made a Mary Sue, then the biggest-ass Mary Sue who ever lived was 1971 David Gilmour. Or possibly 1971 Greg Lake. And if you call either of them a Mary Sue, we will surely come to blows, my friend.Continue Reading The big-ass Mary Sue

interview your characters

Why You Should Interview Your Characters

January 5, 2017 /

and how to do it.

Thursday evening, 7°F and starry
Listening to ELP, Take a Pebble

Why interview your characters? As a writer, you may find yourself stuck at certain points in your story. Maybe you know that things go from point A to point C, but you can’t figure out what point B looks like. Maybe you know that a certain thing happens but you’re not sure exactly how it happens. Or one of your characters does something that doesn’t add up, and you can’t figure out why.

Here is what not to do. Don’t go to your favorite writers’ group and ask the other members “Why would my character do this?” or “How exactly could this have happened?” or “What’s a plausible reason for my character to say/think X?” While other writers can explain the difference between active and passive voice, or show you how to properly use a semicolon (or mount a silly argument against semicolons)  it’s always better to get your story specifics straight from your characters.Continue Reading Why You Should Interview Your Characters

NaNoWriMo

I was wrong

November 4, 2016 /
Friday morning, 38° and sunny
Listening to Whitney, Red Moon

(about my years doing NaNoWriMo)

All this time I’ve been saying 2016 was my ninth NaNoWriMo. I just realized it’s my tenth.

And my lifetime Nanowrimo word count is over 500k.

How did this even happen?

 

*scurries off to correct previous NaNoWriMo posts*

 

Cover image: author’s Nanowrimo stats.

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