More From Kathy Dawson

Kathy's talking about using details as a way to establish voice. She's looking for passages that use detail masterfully.

She looks for action, rhythm, intrigue and adventure.

Action, for her, really means perfect pacing. Too keep up the pace of your novel, she suggests, go through a draft and delete everything you can. Young readers must be hooked, hooked fast, and stay hooked until the end.

Rhythm, she says, is another way to refer to voice. This is important whether you write from frist or third person point of view. It's just as critical in novels as in picture books.

She's reading from Pretties by Scott Westerfeld as an example of effective use of repetition.
She's also reading from My Last Best Friend by Julie Bowe, and Saint Iggy by K.L. Going, also as examples of good use of rhythm.

The Inside Scoop: Kathy Dawson, Dial

Kathy Dawson, Associate Publisher, Dial Books for Young Readers works on mostly middle grade and YA, and will do a few picture books.

She's got four pieces of advice to share:

First, instead of write what you know, instead write what you don't know. Challenge yourself. Learn something new.

Second, it's all in the details. It's how you show and don't tell. But using detail is a way to get readers inside your characters. She's reading from K.L Going's Fat Kid Rules the World as an example of an author writing from a perspective she hasn't personally experienced--being an obese teenage boy--and using details to help readers relate to the main character.