I regularly run writing/illustration workshops for children, often with an illustrator, and in my experience prioritising the visual aspect works wonderfully well. Hopefully it feels more like participatory play than serious literary application.

Children respond with such enthusiasm to pictures; I find that they all too often describe ‘writing’ as boring and formulaic. Illustrations are enticing, not threatening – a wonderful springboard to encourage a class to actually WANT to use their imagination and create a story.

Very briefly, I work like this:

I ask for a feeling, and we discuss who has the feeling… and why… and we draw the character. Then, I ask, if this is the beginning of the story, how does the character feel at the end? And we draw that. What's the difference? What has changed? WHY has it changed?

This leads to what I call the story map, where we link the beginning and end together – and at every stage I ask the children for their ideas. It’s hugely important to state that no idea is ever a bad idea – if it's not appropriate for the story, put it in a ‘brilliant ideas’ box for use another time, and collect more suggestions before choosing the best. Encouragement and enthusiasm are so essential… story writing should be FUN!