--- title: Why don’t some children enjoy writing, and what can we do about it? description: Discover why some children find writing difficult or unappealing, plus five practical ways to build enjoyment, confidence and motivation. image: https://blog.pobble.com/hubfs/Why%20don%E2%80%99t%20some%20children%20enjoy%20writing-1.png --- [![https://pobble.com/](https://blog.pobble.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Pobble%20logo%20RGB-2.png?width=200&height=129&name=Pobble%20logo%20RGB-2.png "https://pobble.com/")](https://blog.pobble.com/) - Find out more - [Inspire your young writers](https://pobble.com) [![Visit Pobble](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/7873029/38eefce5-7a91-4ffd-8e80-09971b925176.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/7873029/38eefce5-7a91-4ffd-8e80-09971b925176) # The Pobble blog - [Parents](https://blog.pobble.com/tag/parents) - [Teaching and Learning](https://blog.pobble.com/tag/teaching-and-learning) ## [Why don’t some children enjoy writing, and what can we do about it?](https://blog.pobble.com/why-children-dont-enjoy-writing) - by: Anna from Pobble - On: 2, Nov 2026 - [Free resources (19)](https://blog.pobble.com/tag/free-resources) - [Guest blogs (28)](https://blog.pobble.com/tag/guest-blogs) - [Moderation (18)](https://blog.pobble.com/tag/moderation) - [Parents (9)](https://blog.pobble.com/tag/parents) - [Pobble Power (35)](https://blog.pobble.com/tag/pobble-power) - [Teaching and Learning (128)](https://blog.pobble.com/tag/teaching-and-learning) All - Share - - - - [Subscribe for latest updates](http://#) Every teacher knows a child who would rather do almost anything than write. They might have plenty to say during a class discussion, then draw a complete blank when the writing books appear. They may spend ten minutes choosing a pencil, sharpening it and finding the perfect place for the date. Or perhaps they write three hurried words and announce that they are finished. Some children once loved making up stories but gradually lost that enthusiasm. Others have never enjoyed writing in the first place. It can be frustrating for teachers and parents, especially when we know how much imagination, humour and insight that child has to offer. So why does writing feel exciting to some children and exhausting to others? Recent research offers a few useful clues. ## What do children really think about writing? Children’s enjoyment of writing in their free time has fallen sharply over the past 15 years. The latest figures from the [National Literacy Trust](https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/children-and-young-peoples-writing-in-2025/) show a small but welcome improvement. However, fewer than three in ten children and young people aged 8 to 18 say they enjoy writing outside school. Only around one in nine writes something daily in their free time. To understand what sits behind those figures, the National Literacy Trust analysed written responses from more than 55,000 children and young people. It found three broad relationships with writing: - Keen writers find writing meaningful, enjoyable and connected to who they are. - Ambivalent writers enjoy writing in some situations, but can be put off when ideas, confidence or the physical effort of writing get in the way. - Averse writers associate writing with pressure, frustration, failure or work they feel obliged to complete. These are not fixed labels. A child who happily writes stories at home may struggle with a tightly structured classroom task. Another who usually avoids writing might become completely absorbed when the subject connects with one of their interests. The same child can feel differently about writing from one day or task to the next. That is good news because it means reluctance is not always permanent. Change the conditions, and we may change the child’s experience of writing too. ## Why doesn’t every child enjoy writing? There is rarely one simple answer. Writing asks a lot of the brain. A child must find an idea, work out what they want to say, organise their thoughts, create sentences, choose words, spell them, form letters and remember punctuation. That is quite a workload for one pencil. Some children have wonderful ideas but cannot record them quickly enough. Others become so worried about spelling, handwriting or getting the answer wrong that writing no longer feels creative. A blank page can feel overwhelmingly blank when you have no idea how to begin. Previous experiences matter too. If writing has often ended in frustration, correction or comparison, a child may begin each new task expecting it to go badly. Then there is purpose. If writing is only ever completed for a teacher, marked and returned, it can be difficult for children to see what their words are actually for. None of this means teachers are getting it wrong. Teaching writing within a busy curriculum, while supporting a huge range of strengths and needs, is no small task. But understanding where the resistance comes from can help us choose the support most likely to make a difference. ## A finding that might surprise you Children receiving free school meals were more likely than their peers to be keen writers. In the 2025 research, 31.1% of children receiving free school meals were keen writers, compared with 25% of those not receiving them. The latest figures also show greater free-time writing enjoyment and frequency among children receiving free school meals. It is an important reminder not to confuse disadvantage with a lack of imagination, voice or desire to write. There is an interesting gap, though. While these children report greater enjoyment, they are less likely to feel confident in their writing ability. The enthusiasm may already be there, even when confidence and opportunity have not kept pace with it. Sometimes our role is not to create motivation from scratch. It is to notice the spark that already exists and help it grow. ## So, what can we do? There is no magic activity that will make every child fall in love with writing by Friday afternoon. If only there were. The research points instead to several conditions that help writing feel more meaningful, manageable and rewarding. Here are five practical places to start. ## 1. Give writing somewhere to go Writing feels different when someone is genuinely waiting to read it. Could pupils write a story for a younger class? Create instructions for another group to follow? Send a persuasive letter to someone who can respond? Share recommendations with families or publish pieces on a class display? The audience does not need to be enormous. One interested reader can be enough. Even naming the audience before children begin gives the task a clearer purpose. They are no longer writing simply to finish a page. They are writing to make someone laugh, explain something, change a mind or tell a story. That is what real writers do. ## 2. Fill their heads before asking them to fill the page Sometimes a child says they have no ideas because they have not yet been given enough to think about. Start with something that makes them curious. It could be an intriguing image, an unusual object, a short film, a memorable experience or one irresistible question. Give children time to look, notice and wonder. Let them share possibilities, borrow vocabulary and rehearse ideas aloud. You might ask: - What do you notice first? - What might have happened just before this moment? - What could happen next? - Which detail raises the biggest question? - How might two characters see this situation differently? Talk is not time taken away from writing. For many children, it is the bridge into it. ## 3. Build in a little choice Choice does not mean planning a completely different lesson for every child in the room. Small choices count. Could pupils choose the character, viewpoint or setting? Could they decide how the story ends? Might they present the same information as a letter, diary entry or news report? The learning objective can stay the same while children have some ownership over what they create. A little freedom can turn a task they have been given into a piece of writing that feels like theirs. ## 4. Find out where the hard work is happening A child who avoids writing is not necessarily short of ideas or effort. They may be concentrating so hard on forming letters or spelling each word that there is little thinking space left for creativity. They might be able to tell you an entire story but lose the thread when they try to write it down. Watch what happens between the idea and the page. Would it help to rehearse the sentence aloud first? Could they type part of the task? Do they need a word bank, a shorter starting point or help breaking the writing into smaller steps? The aim is not to remove the thinking. It is to stop other demands from crowding it out. ## 5. Respond to the writer, not only the writing Spelling, punctuation and grammar matter. Of course they do. But they are not the only things worth noticing. Before pointing out what needs correcting, respond to what the child was trying to communicate. Tell them which detail created a picture in your mind. Notice the phrase that made you laugh. Ask what happens next. Show them that their words have reached another person. When children see that writing can create a response, improving it begins to have a purpose. They are not simply correcting mistakes. They are helping a reader understand, imagine or feel something more clearly. ## A little help with the blank page Sometimes the first barrier is simply finding an idea that everyone can enter. [Pobble’s daily writing prompt](https://www.pobble.com/) gives teachers an inspiring image, story starter and questions to explore with their class. Children can notice, wonder, talk and gather ideas before anyone is expected to start writing. It is one simple way to make that blank page feel a lot less blank. ## Look beyond “I don’t like writing” When a child says they do not like writing, it is tempting to focus on changing their attitude. It may be more useful to get curious. Does writing feel too difficult? Too restrictive? Too exposed? Have they got something they want to say? Do they know how to begin? Will anybody other than the teacher read it? Not every child will skip towards their writing book with joy. That is probably an ambitious goal for any of us. But every child deserves the chance to discover that their ideas matter and that writing can help them do something with those ideas. Think of a child who usually avoids writing. What was different on the occasion they chose to write willingly? The answer might give you a clue about what they need next. ## Have you discovered Pobble yet? Inspire your young writers with a **free**, ready-made writing prompt every day! [![Visit Pobble](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/7873029/38eefce5-7a91-4ffd-8e80-09971b925176.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/7873029/38eefce5-7a91-4ffd-8e80-09971b925176) [![https://pobble.com/](https://blog.pobble.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Pobble%20logo%20RGB-2.png?width=200&height=129&name=Pobble%20logo%20RGB-2.png "https://pobble.com/")](https://www.pobble.com/) #### Think writing, think Pobble! ### For you [Helpdesk](https://help.pobble.com/knowledge) [Pobble 365](https://www.pobble.com/365) [School access](https://www.pobble.com/schools) [Parents](https://www.pobble.com/for-parents) [Moderation](https://www.pobble.com/moderation) [Webinars](https://www.pobble.com/webinars) [Live lessons](https://www.pobble.com/live-lessons) [Literacy through Sport](https://www.pobble.com/literacythroughsport) ### About us [What is Pobble?](https://www.pobble.com/about) [Blog](https://blog.pobble.com/) [Legal Introduction](https://www.pobble.com/legalintroduction) [Terms of Service](https://www.pobble.com/terms-of-service) [Privacy policy](https://www.pobble.com/privacy-policy) ### Contact us Pobble Education Ltd,  Rosehay,  Tremorvah Wood Lane,  Truro, TR1 1PZ,  Cornwall, UK [Get in touch](https://www.pobble.com/contact) [hello@pobble.com](mailto:hello@pobble.com) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anna from Pobble", "url" : "https://blog.pobble.com/author/anna-from-pobble" }, "dateModified" : "2026-11-02T10:45:36.334Z", "datePublished" : "2026-11-02T10:45:36.000Z", "headline" : "Why don’t some children enjoy writing, and what can we do about it?", "image" : [ "https://blog.pobble.com/hubfs/Why%20don%E2%80%99t%20some%20children%20enjoy%20writing-1.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.pobble.com/why-children-dont-enjoy-writing", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.pobble.com/hubfs/Pobble%20logo%20RGB-2.png" } } } ```