Kate DiCamillo on Reading Together and the Creative Process
Reading drafts of her work aloud is also essential to DiCamillo’s creative process:
You catch all kinds of stuff that way. On the page it looks okay, but then words will bump up against each other when you read them out loud. I’m always amazed that everybody doesn’t do that, whether it’s an adult or a kid book. It just changes how you write.
Though DiCamillo has written for all ages, children’s fiction appeals to her the most because of its optimism and possibility.
NEA: My last question is fill-in-the-blank. Children’s literature matters because…?
DICAMILLO: It gives us hope. And it helps us to see the world and each other. Period. The end.
(NEA, Art Works Blog)
