To create a sense of reality, start small.
by Andy Scheer
My Saturday car shopping trip alerted me to a detail I’d forgotten in my novel.
My story won’t include car-shopping — at least not for anything like a 2004 Jetta wagon. But when my son-in-law inspected the spare tire compartment, I remembered a telling, tiny detail.
The Jetta’s previous owner lived where all the … Continue reading
Take care in naming your novel’s cast.
by Andy Scheer
Do you put as much effort into naming your characters as you do titling your novel?
My experience at one writers conference, plus a novel I read en route, prompts me to ponder what’s in a character’s name.
Boys Named … Continue reading
Are your novel’s characters distinctive? 
by Andy Scheer
The first writer to “Hints from Heloise” asked if you can use high efficiency detergent in older top-loaders. You can. Standard stuff for Heloise.
But the next item wasn’t. “A.M. in Ohio” wrote:
Dear Heloise: I read a lot. … Continue reading