`Covering such a range is a daunting task and credit is due to the author in tackling it as effectively as he has done ... it will be of considerable assistance to teachers who are seeking to understand more about writing and who wish to take real steps forward in teaching the craft of writing' - Language and Learning

The National Curriculum recommends that children, from the earliest age, learn to write texts for real purposes and real audiences. This real writing approach has been welcomed by teachers, but it raises some difficult questions concerning what we now call 'compositional skills'. How do we decide which are the most important of the forms of writing which we meet in real life? What are their characteristics and how do we teach them? How do we design a simple version for young children and then stretch the ability of the older and more able? What are the skills of the writer's craft?

This book answers those questions with a wealth of practical suggestions for teachers of writing from NC Level 2 through to GCSE and into adult life, and for teachers of English as a foreign language, and for language study courses in higher education. It sets out the major categories of writing, highlighting essential similarities and differences. It identifies the key features of the most significant forms by analyzing examples of published material from a wide range of real-life sources. The author compares published writing with the work of children from across the key stages of schooling.