Product reviews for Storycraft

Martin Griffin and Jon Mayhew's Storycraft is an excellent addition to the texts on teaching creative and narrative writing. Martin and Jon have evidently combined their extensive knowledge and many years of classroom experience with their expertise as hugely successful authors themselves, and the result is a book that is accessible, considered and, most importantly, interesting.

It is obvious they have thought about this text from all perspectives; they understand what needs to be taught. They understand the needs of the person who is doing the teaching - highlighting issues such as marking and resource creation - and they also have a good perception of those that are being taught. I particularly appreciate the -˜Good for tackling' principles and the authors' solutions to pupils' typical comments, such as: -˜I don't have any ideas. They're not original.' As teachers we've all heard such comments, and it is so useful to pick up some ideas as to how to respond and bring out the best in students.

The exercises too are inspirational and engaging. They are not overcomplicated and have a realistic expectation of the outcome, because obviously in most classes there exists a wide range of capabilities. It is also reassuring to have the narrative supported by the writers' own experiences, giving the sense that you are almost in the room with them having a chat about how to teach narrative writing.



An all-round great resource for any educator teaching creative writing.