ABSTRACT
Confidence is everything to me as a writer. I love helping to give children confidence in encouraging them to write, and to make them all feel that they’ve got something to say, and that writing is not that difficult or something to worry about, that it’s natural. I tell children that they shouldn’t overwork a piece of writing. One thing I say to them which is not always popular with teachers, is that when they’re getting their ideas onto paper they should tell it down onto the page, and should not worry about spelling, punctuation and grammar – just tell it down as if they’re speaking it. Then later you go back to it and get the spelling and everything right – and that stage is important too, or otherwise the story can’t be properly communicated to other people.
