Writing Fitness by David Didau

Writing Fitness by David Didau

Writing is one of the most cognitively demanding tasks students face yet too often they’re expected to produce extended essays before they’ve got the hang of writing sentences. Inspired by the Couch to 5k running app, Writing Fitness rethinks the way we develop students’ writing, offering a structured, cumulative model to build fluency, precision, and confidence over time.

Dismantling the flawed assumption that writing is a generic skill that students can simply "pick up" through exposure or repetition, this book proposes a model of explicit instruction, deliberate practice, and curriculum alignment, offering a tightly structured approach to writing instruction that breaks down complex skills into teachable steps. Grounded in cognitive science, grammar instruction, and classroom-tested routines, chapters include:

• Exploring the principles of gapless instruction, cognitive load, and schema building
• Explaining how to break essays down into teachable, repeatable sentence types
• Practical guidance on everything from teaching thesis statements to embedding evidence and analysing structure
• Sentence-level drills and the Deconstructed Essay
• Creative writing, addressed through constraint-based Slow Writing exercises that develop style through structure
• A reframing of assessment as an opportunity for feedback, planning, and consolidation, rather than merely performance

Ideal for English teachers at Key Stage 3 and beyond, this book offers a practical roadmap for improving writing outcomes – especially for disadvantaged students. With its blend of theory and detailed exemplification, Writing Fitness equips teachers to deliver writing instruction that is rigorous, inclusive, and sustainable across the curriculum.

David Didau is an education consultant and writer, with over 20 year's experience of teaching English. His blog The Learning Spy has been one of the most influential education blogs in the UK since 2012. He is the author of Making Kids Cleverer, Intelligent Accountability, and Making Meaning in English.

Rikki Cole is a Senior Leader within the secondary education sector and Assistant Principal for Key Stage 3, Literacy, and HPA. He has worked within the education sector for 18 years, in roles including: Pastoral Head of Year, Director of Achievement, Curriculum Leader for English and, for the last five years, senior leadership management.