At WRITERS AT WORK, our mission is to cultivate confident, proficient, and creative writers through our signature teaching method—STORYBANKING®.
Naturally, when new students and parents first encounter the method, we often hear this question:
“Isn’t my child just copying?”
Or:
“You want my child to adapt a model composition? Wouldn’t that suppress their creativity?”
These are valid concerns, especially for those unfamiliar with the STORYBANKING® process. In fact, these questions open the door for us to explain what STORYBANKING® really is, and how it empowers students to write with both structure and originality.
What is STORYBANKING®?
STORYBANKING® is a proprietary method developed and refined by WRITERS AT WORK over the past 13 years. It began with a powerful realisation: just like math and science, writing can be taught systematically. Great writing isn’t just about waiting for inspiration to strike. It’s about having the tools, techniques, and structure to create something meaningful, even under exam pressure.
Each W@W lesson introduces students to a new story, complete with key phrases, strong vocabulary, plot techniques, and character insights. Students first internalise these elements by going through a fully structured 2-hour lesson that involves questioning, brainstorming and writing. Teachers provide feedback both in class—guiding students in real-time—and through the detailed markings on their written work, refining their understanding and helping them improve. Then comes practice: weekly vocabulary quizzes, second drafts, and in-house tests with detailed feedback from our trained educators.
Over time, students build a personal “STORYBANK”—a mental library of stories, vocabulary, and strategies they can draw upon confidently in any writing situation. On exam day, they don’t panic or wait for inspiration. They write with intention, because they’ve trained for it.
Teachers’ Take: Busting the Myths
Even our own W@W teachers had questions when they first encountered the STORYBANKING® method. Like many new parents and students, they wondered: Isn’t this just copying? Will it stifle creativity?
But as they began teaching the method, seeing the results, and watching their students grow, they became some of STORYBANKING®’s strongest advocates. Their insights form the heart of what we’re about to share—because they, too, started where many parents are now.
Let’s take a look at two of the most common myths they’ve helped us bust.
Myth 1: My Child Is Just Memorising Stories
Let’s be clear: STORYBANKING® is not about rote memorisation. It’s about mimicry with purpose.
There’s a big difference between mindless copying and thoughtful modelling. At W@W, we use model compositions to highlight what great writing looks like—how transitions flow, how paragraphs build, how literary devices can be used effectively. Students learn by doing and by seeing strong examples in action.
As author Stephen King once said, “You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot.” STORYBANKING® embraces this wisdom. Through practice and exposure to excellent writing, students start to write at that level themselves. They learn the craft, and then make it their own.
Myth 2: But doesn’t That Kill My Child’S Creativity?
Actually, STORYBANKING® does the opposite. It builds a strong foundation for creativity to flourish. To understand this, let’s look at the Shu-Ha-Ri framework—a Japanese concept that describes the journey to mastery.
Shu (守) – “Obey”
At this first stage, learners follow a master’s guidance. They copy techniques, absorb structure, and practice the fundamentals. In the W@W classroom, this is when students learn from model compositions and focus on mechanics—vocabulary, sentence variety, paragraph structure, and more.
Ha (破) – “Break”
Here, students begin to adapt what they’ve learned. After writing first drafts, reviewing feedback, and taking vocab quizzes, they start modifying story elements to suit different composition questions. They understand the rules, and now, they start to bend them.
Ri (離) – “Leave”
At this final stage, students break free from the structure and create original work with confidence. They have internalized story structure and language patterns so deeply that they can now innovate and write with their own voice. For long-time W@W students, this extends beyond writing into oral presentations, reading responses, and more.
STORYBANKING® doesn’t trap creativity—it unlocks it, by first providing the scaffolding students need to feel confident and capable.
In Conclusion
At WRITERS AT WORK, we don’t just teach children how to write—we teach them how to think like writers. STORYBANKING® isn’t about copying. It’s about building fluency, developing structure, and eventually crafting writing that’s original, powerful, and uniquely theirs.
Through careful modelling, intentional mimicry, and consistent practice, our students move from imitation to innovation. That’s the power of STORYBANKING®.
Ready to Help Your Child Become a Confident, Creative Writer?
Join us at WRITERS AT WORK and discover how STORYBANKING® can transform your child’s writing journey. Visit our website to learn more about our classes or contact us today for more information. Together, we’ll unlock their full potential as a writer!
Commonly Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. How Does My Child Benefit From Writing Classes?
Writing classes build systematic thinking and logic in children. Crafting a story plot is the same as thinking, step by step, what events chronologically happen in the context of a given scenario. Students will be able to express their ideas and thought processes in a coherent and concise manner, which will help them in their other subjects as they will be able to formulate sentences to better understand the material. English proficiency is a highly transferable skill.
2. How Can I Improve My Child’s Creative Writing Skills?
One way to enhance a child’s creative writing skills is by reading model compositions. After all, children cannot write about what they do not know. By reading how good essays are written and attempting to imitate them, children will pick up sentence mechanics and vocabulary they can use in their own exams. Reading more will also give students ideas about the various contexts they can write an essay about as they will be able to broaden their horizon of experiences.
3. Why Is It Important to Take Writing Classes?
Writing is the most challenging literacy skill to teach because it is a combination of many different skills and abilities. Students must be logical and creative when writing to create a coherent plot while remembering how to use the correct sentence mechanics. Furthermore, a wide range of vocabulary suited to the context must be used to create the correct imagery and tone.
4. What Age Do Kids Start Creative Writing?
Children typically begin creative writing in primary school. In Singapore, children are required to do Situational Writing and Composition for their PSLE exams in Primary 6. They may begin with simple prompts and first learn how to craft basic sentences, then progress to telling a story with a coherent plot which has a source of tension and then a resolution.
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