Why the Final Step Might Be the Most Powerful
- Emma Hughes
- Jul 25
- 3 min read
There’s a moment every English teacher knows: the hush that falls as one student reads their story aloud to the class or the beam of pride when a pupil sees their work pinned up on the wall. Those moments matter because they remind students that writing isn’t just an exercise. It’s communication. It’s expression. It’s theirs.
And while crafting great writing is a huge part of the journey - and something I care deeply about - it’s what happens after the writing that often brings the biggest spark.
When Writing Has a Destination
As teachers, we spend a lot of time helping students improve their writing: structured modelling, feedback, editing strategies and targeted vocabulary work. (Soon they will also be able to have my book, WordStackers. The resource I’m currently finalising, is all about helping students find that layer of nuance, tone and precision in their word choices — the kind that makes their storytelling sharper more alive.)
But even the strongest teaching doesn’t always guarantee motivation.
What does often tip the balance is this when students know their writing is going somewhere.
That “somewhere” doesn’t need to be dramatic. It could be a class performance, a display wall, a writing competition or a post on the school website. But one of the most exciting, accessible and rewarding options I’ve used is digital publishing.
Using Book Creator to Publish Student Work
One tool I’ve found incredibly effective is Book Creator. It allows students to create their own digital books, combining words, images, voice recordings and more — and then share them easily via a simple web link.
What makes it powerful:
Students can see their work in a real book format, complete with turning pages.
It’s incredibly easy to use — even for younger students.
Parents and carers can read the books instantly, just by clicking a link.
Students begin to think like authors and illustrators — not just pupils completing a task.
I wrote a short testimonial about this for Book Creator a while back, and I still recommend it now. It’s not just a digital gimmick - it’s a motivational tool that makes writing feel meaningful and finished.
A Surprising Discovery: Visual Feedback Through AI
This year, I discovered something rather wonderful.
One of my students won a writing competition and one of the prizes was that an illustrator was commissioned to turn his story into a picture book. Watching his words come to life through images was so inspiring that I decided: all my students should experience that.
So I started using AI to generate images that matched their stories.
We quickly found that some images came out exactly as students had imagined — almost as if the AI had climbed into their minds. But at other times, the results were wildly different… and this is where the magic happened.
These images became visual feedback.
When the image didn’t match the student’s intent, we paused and asked:
What’s missing from your description?
Did you explain the setting clearly enough?
Can we add more detail about your character?
The result? Stronger writing. More thoughtful revision. And students excited to go back and improve their work - not because they were told to, but because the image gave them a reason to.
You’ll start to see some of these AI-generated images in my later books (links below) — they’ve become part of the process. And if you’d like to try this yourself, it can be as simple as typing in your student’s full story and asking AI to:
“Generate an image to go with this story.”
It’s a whole new way to inspire, reflect and revise — and it works.
Writing, Then Polishing, Then Publishing
Of course, publishing only works when students feel proud of their work. That’s where teaching strategies and scaffolds come in — and it’s why I’ve spent the past year building WordStackers.
Together, these tools (focused teaching and real publication) form a powerful cycle:
Write well → edit carefully → publish proudly.
That final step shouldn’t be an afterthought. It can be the moment a student realises they’re a real writer.
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