Antony West (Author)

The single greatest enemy of a writer is not a demanding editor, a dodgy printer, or a villainous plot twist. It’s the dreaded blank page. And as teachers, our job is to hand our students a loaded pen and a full tank of confidence. Drawing on the work of Tom Sherrington, we can look at ‘instructional planning.’ It’s about front-loading the information and providing clear, concrete steps. We need to be explicit. Don’t just say, “write a story.” Instead, try: “Today, we are going to brainstorm three character types, then we will develop a setting using five senses, and finally, we will outline a simple three-part plot.” Suddenly, the mountain looks like a series of gentle hills. And everyone loves a gentle hill.