Martin Griffin and Jon Mayhew's "Storycraft: How to Teach Narrative Writing" is an inspiring and practical resource to support secondary school teachers in developing their students creative writing.
Not a style manual, "Storycraft" deftly picks apart the craft of narrative writing and equips teachers with activities designed to help their students overcome the difficulties they experience when tasked with creating something from nothing.
"Storycraft" also packs in expert guidance relating to idea generation and the nature of story and provides off-the-peg writing prompts that teachers can immediately adopt and adapt in the classroom. It continues by breaking down the simple components that must be in place for a narrative to work the crafting of character, setting, shape and structure and shares fifty-one stimulating activities that will get students writing narratives regularly, more creatively and with greater confidence.
"Storycraft" also include helpful advice in a chapter dedicated to the process of editing in which they provide activities designed to help students diagnose and improve misfiring narratives, and they close the book with invaluable tips for GCSE exam preparation written directly for students and with an impending creative writing exam in mind.
Critique: An ideal curriculum textbook, "Storycraft: How to Teach Narrative Writing" is especially designed for English teachers of students aged eleven to eighteen. While very highly recommended for school district in-service training programs, "Storycraft" should be a part of every college and university library Teacher Education instructional reference collection. -‹