‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’

Sarah Webb’s story should give heart to any budding writer. The ‘Amy Green’ author told the Year 7 audience how these words her Irish grandfather used to quote from Samuel Beckett helped to make her a better writer. Lots of childhood experiences shaped her future; Sarah giggled as she described an early nightmare, squeaking her way through Cinderella’s opening song in the school play, but then recovering and miraculously doing well; and being cast as the ugly duckling, but not allowed to become the beautiful swan in a ballet performance. She got typecast as the big fat man in everything! Not being able to read and write independently until she was 9 resulted in outbursts of frustration, like the time she jabbed another girl with her ‘strawberry shortcake’ pencil. All formative events. So next time you feel the flush rising from your neck in a public performance and you begin to resemble a lobster, remember Sarah’s advice: you can do this. Take the constructive criticism and come back stronger. There’s a lot to be said for a fresh start.

Sarah brought several treasures to show us from her childhood, including a balding toy panda, a thinly-stuffed monkey, and smocked dresses almost voluminous enough to cover the bulky nappies and plastic casing she had to wear to correct her clicky hips. Endure that and you can get through anything.

Writing came as an answer to the question ‘How can I keep my day job as a children’s bookseller and earn enough cash to carpet my house?’ Sarah’s uncrushability meant that after 7 goes she finally persuaded an editor to publish her book, Kids Can Cook. 19 books later, Sarah is a successful children’s author. Top tips? Read a lot, read widely – fantasy, history, mystery, biography. Keep at it. Never give up. Draw on your own and other people’s experiences. Raid your diaries for inspiration. Write at every opportunity. Start from embarrassing moments with your mum, your best friends, fights with your sisters, grading boys at bus stops….Sarah read a delightful sequence from one of her Amy Green books, acutely observed and very appealing to her audience. You can tell how engaged Sarah is with her stories. ‘Some of my best friends are characters in books,’ she told us. ‘I’m just a big kid!’

Thank you to Sarah for her encouragement and to the Library team who arranged her visit.