Refuse to Plan

From the 12th of May, I and other students are going to Refuse to Plan in English. This means that whenever an English teacher tells us to write a plan before writing a story/poem/letter etc., we just won’t do it. But more than that, we will make it clear that we are not doing it by writing ‘Refuse to Plan’ in the space where we’re supposed to plan.

I am doing this because I think planning stories etc. is pointless and time-consuming and spoils the whole fun and beauty of writing. How many authors plan their writing – or better, how many oppose planning? I am not saying that planning is totally bad and should never be done, because in some cases it is actually quite useful. But it should be an act of choice, not a compulsory task, and we shouldn’t have to do stupid things like writing lists of words and drawing bubbles with ‘beginning middle and end’ written in them.

I know many students hate having to plan their writing in English. I do, and that’s why I’m doing something about it. I want to try and get as many students as possible Refusing to Plan from the 12th of May – you don’t have to do anything except write ‘Refuse to Plan’ in your English book whenever you’re asked to plan, and you can write or draw anything else you like; this is a campaign about free choice and imagination, and there are no restrictions except try not to make it as time-consuming as planning!

I am trying to spread the word about Refuse to Plan so if you are a school student, or if you know people who are school students, please tell other people about it so we can get as many as possible participating. You don't even have to contact me to take part; all you have to do is write 'Refuse to Plan' - it doesn't even have to be limited to exercise books, be creative - and together we can make people notice.