147: Interview with Editor 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 worldbuilding, including:

– 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.

Related episodes

• Episode 148: Effective Description
• Episode 149: Sophisticated Show and Tell Part 1
• Episode 150: Sophisticated Show and Tell Part 2