The underlying concept of this book is very good, and may be summed up in this sentence:

“Writing a newspaper article in 30 minutes on a completely alien topic with no preparation, research or moral imperative is…ridiculous.”

In other words, the typical school writing assignment involves working in a way that no real writer does. This book aims to change that by providing insights into the writing process from several very different genres: fiction, journalism, politics, poetry, academia and theatre.

As well as excellent diagrams, templates and guides, some which may be downloaded from a website, there is a panoply of resources and an implicit insistence on high standards.

The emphasis in these pages is on the experience of writing from various professionals’ point of view. This could have resulted in something far removed from the classroom. However, the classroom activities suggested throughout render the book extremely relevant for teaching.

This review first appeared in Teach Secondary magazine. I was sent a complimentary review copy of this book.

See also: Review of Why They Can’t Write