The Usborne creative writing book

Little person has struggled with creative writing for sometime. He fell in love with the idea of writing after watching and reading 'captain Underpants' -finished the series! It was more of a struggle with trying to get the idea onto paper. 

We tried a few workbooks, worksheets but they all seemed to quickly work through the important ideas, which is great, but we needed something that focussed on each point at a slower pace. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to find 'The Usborne creative writing book'. 

THE BOOK

The reasons this book is so good, is not only because to works on each idea at what I feel is a lovely slow pace to ensure the idea is embedded, but the fact that it opens up different styles of writing and ideas. 
The book works through character building, and a fab way it starts this is by working on the person completing the tasks. Little person had a lot of fun noting important information about himself, which helped him to see how to build a character and bring them to life! 

Working through the book, your child will work through writing dialogues, but it isn't a simple, this is how to insert speech, but a great explanation on how to portray your character via speech. So a rude, impatient person will continue to interrupt and so on. This is fundamental for the story and plot building. 

The book continues to introduce writing styles. The first example is the styles used for adverts, how are they encapsulating and gripping. Showing the reader how to grasp attention and provide the vital information. It gradually moves on to explain narrator and first person writing styles. How that changes the way a story is read and perceived. other styles the book thoroughly works through are :

• journalism
• screenplay
• imagery
• blogging
• critical writing 
• flashbacks

The book further delves into genres, introduces comic writing and diary styles. Children also learn how to write a headline, explaining how headlines need to be eye catching. 

The reader is also taught, to make a book interesting, it is also a good idea to add some factual information. So if their story is about outer space, a little bit of factual information dotted around in the story makes it all the more interesting to read. 

Having a book that thoroughly works through so many writing styles really helps, little person is able to see how different styles alter the way a piece of writing is read. It has also helped immensely as we find comic writing is a huge hit in this house, and being able to understand how that is different from a general short story has been an excellent help. 

I won't beat around the bush, but being able to work through 'The Usborne Creative writing Book' has helped me immensely in my way of teaching creative writing. It has always been a little bit of a struggle, as I've found it difficult to show how, for example, a piece of journalism differs from a standard non fiction. 

I've enjoyed books that incorporate flashbacks, and so has been great to show little person how this is a great writing technique to go back in time to bring in new information for the readers. 

Other than writing styles directly the book also teaches how x leads y. So for instance, when writing a piece, talking about a crime scene, introducing how the detective finds a tissue with cat hair can lead to the person next door with 5 cats! 

WHAT DO WE THINK?

I honestly believe this book has been one of the best buys for our Creative writing lessons. I cannot justify how good it is with this short review, but I would highly recommend this book. I was almost at the end of my tether when it came to writing and on the hunt for a tutor, so this book has been a huge game changer. 

we love it.....let us know what you think!