An Interview with Emma D. Dryden | Writing for Children 147

AN INTERVIEW WITH EMMA D. DRYDEN

Emma D. Dryden founded drydenbks LLC (www.drydenbks.com), a premiere children’s editorial & publishing consultancy firm, after 25 years experience as editor and publisher of Margaret K. McElderry Books and Atheneum Books for Young Readers, imprints of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. We are thrilled to bring you her expertise on setting and world building in this month's interview.

We talk about:

• The best way to help your reader feel like they’re in your world without “telling” and creating prolonged descriptions.
• Great metaphors for emotions (and a way to show not tell).
• How to avoid cliched characters.
• What to do when readers tell you they’re not believing your character.
• The biggest mistakes Emma often sees when people are trying to set the stage.

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