This paper documents an initiative in Continuing Professional Development, conceived and carried out by London's "Centre for Literacy in Primary Education" (CLPE). The intention was to improve the teaching and learning of writing in Years 5 and 6 of the primary school (9-11-year-olds), through working with challenging literature. This teacher education project drew on CLPE's earlier research project, published as "The Reader in the Writer" (Barrs and Cork, 2001). Classroom approaches developed through the initiative are described, and qualitative and quantitative changes in children's writing are discussed. Patterns of teaching in the classrooms that appear to have made a particular difference to the children's achievement are explored.