What’s it like to learn with AWC?

Victoria was great and I really appreciated her honest feedback.

I had not thought to create such deep profiles of my characters, but it really helped me to work out the characters I was writing about.

I now know I can write a story, and I can enjoy the journey.

Just do it; its quality time spent on yourself.

Victoria was great! Her feedback was very helpful, constructive yet encouraging.

I am far more motivated to keep learning and improving!

I would say it's a great course that imposes structure, teaches you the fundamentals in an approachable way, and actually gets you writing (which is the most important thing!)

Loved it, thank you!

I have completed some non-fiction courses (mainly for my work-related writing) but always felt drawn to exploring fiction. I knew Creative Writing Stage 1 was the course to do first, to learn the foundations then go on from there.

I feel the course has really been very thoughtfully crafted so that the foundational skills of creative writing are covered well. I really feel like I have developed the foundations now and can confidently go on to do other courses in the order suggested by AWC.

Victoria has a very warm and engaging style and I almost feel in a way like we were chatting live. Her video feedback was valuable, both her encouragement and also her tips for improvement, very sensitively and thoughtfully delivered.

I was excited on Monday mornings! The moment I woke up I was so keen to look at what the week had in store - the audio lessons from Val, the worksheets, exercises and assignment. Carving out time to plough on with the work and feeling really energised. I'm going to miss it and my classmates who have also been actively engaged in reading each other's writing and providing feedback

It has made me want to pursue creative writing and keep on writing, developing skills and improving. I know there might be times it will feel like a hard slog but knowing that I'm part of a supportive community of writers is a great comfort and benefit of AWC.

If you're creative, love words and have ever wondered if you'd enjoy writing, you should do one of the AWC courses. You will definitely learn and appreciate how stories and books are created and understand writing as a craft. The courses are so thoughtfully put together and the AWC community so supportive, you won't regret enrolling.

Thank you so much AWC for another great course experience.

I wanted to focus on my fiction writing skills and get feedback from a tutor, and other students. I was drawn to the course specifically because Victoria Purman was the tutor. I wanted to learn from her experience and now I have!

I have studied fiction writing for a long time now and worked with a number of different teachers, so I wasn't sure if it would add much to what I've already learned, but I'm pleased to say I learned many new things, and I solidified my fiction writing even more because I enrolled in this course.

Gosh, there's so much to love in this course. Victoria Purman is a gem, and I loved the way she gave feedback. She is kind and honest. She is inspiring and insightful on what works and what isn't quite working. Victoria delivers her feedback with compassion and that's so important to us vulnerable writers. I appreciated all of Victoria's efforts in tutoring us in this course. I hope to do more study with her in the future.

Enrolling in Creative Writing Stage 1 was one of the best decisions I made. It helped solidify all the previous things I'd learned about the foundation of writing fiction, narrative structure, characters with stakes and more. I'd say, 'Don't be afraid to try creative writing. If this is in your heart to do, then learn with Australian Writers' Centre because it's a safe place to learn and grow as a fiction writer.'

It's an excellent course with lots to offer the beginner and the writer with experience. We're always learning, no matter how much we've studied and every teacher has something to offer creative writers. I'm so glad I finally (after about five years of being indecisive about doing this course) did Creative Writing Stage 1.

I've been writing but felt like I needed a bit of guidance and someone to hold me accountable. It was flexible because it was online and there were a lot of courses on offer.

Nat was fantastic, always open for questions and great with her explanations. Firm and fair approach and she has a real passion for it that shines through - so so great!

The information was really great and Nat was a fantastic tutor. I enjoyed (and was nervous) about getting feedback, but really enjoyed submitting something to a group of strangers and putting myself out there.

It's been great to be around enthusiastic people! Also, it was great to see others work and to see their feedback/growth in real time.

For me, it was really great to focus on having everything you write to help progress the story - often it's a big world and it's hard to know what to write, which details matter etc, but that was a good moment, to see that everything you write can serve the scene/story.

Do it! Great course, great tutors, passionate people!

Nat was excellent. She was positive and encouraging without shying away from issues in the writing. I found her enthusiasm infectious and looked forward to assignment feedback every Tuesday. I wanted to submit something she couldn't find anything to highlight, except the good stuff; didn't quite get there, but it is great fun trying. I love her attention to detail and clear "reader's eye". She certainly picked me up on some lazy habits I have and a big take out is to be vigilant and focus on every word. I also loved that she loved the dingo in my last assignment, because that "character" is a favourite of mine. :)

Loved the assignments and feedback. I also loved Valerie Khoo's audio lessons. She reads so well, with tone and texture and variation. I am a visual learner so thought audio would challenge me, but Valerie kept it colourful and engaging. Thank you!! Similarly, Nat's video assignment feedback sessions were at times a riot, as well as amazingly helpful and instructive.

It was value for money and relevant and I have learned a lot.

I have to take myself seriously as a writer and do another edit until it's right. I've done several edits of the two stories I've written, and now can see a mountain of work to look at them with my newly trained eyes. This is daunting, but I now appreciate how I have to commit to this.

The learning tools are excellent. The load is just right. The feedback is respectful, relevant, and fun. You can interact with other learners and writers. The team (Valerie and Nat) are clever, accomplished, and easy to follow.

Nat was fantastic. She had a great way of delivering constructive criticism and quite active in the group. The cost is worth it alone for the tutor feedback.

The tutor was friendly, professional and the constructive criticism was always helpful.

I enjoyed the exercises and the assignment (and feedback) and reading others' work. I also liked reading some of the recommended material.

I learnt a lot about how to take certain words out to make writing more effective. It is also structured in a way that makes you feel more confident because you can get some positive tutor feedback and hear other people's feedback and how to improve writing in general.

I did not have one major 'aha' moment, just lots of glorious mini revelations !

AWC courses are professional and well-paced with great feedback and opportunities to extend yourself with reading materials, information and the extra exercises. The recorded sessions are amazing and build on each other each week.

I'm very new to writing so needed a course to give me the knowledge to get started.

Nat provided very thorough feedback. I didn't realise how much there was to think about in a single scene!

I enjoyed practising my writing. It's encouraged me to actually write and make writing a part of my life. Have decided to practise with short stories first, though. A novel might be a bit ambitious for me at this time!

AWC provide advice you can trust and are a great inspiration to start writing.

Often these types of courses are a bit wishy-washy, but this one had very solid content. So despite my time constraints I wanted to engage each week to learn more.

Pamela's feedback was very honest and useful, particularly in the last assignment. While I missed the Write Direction session, I watched the video and found it very useful also. I look forward to more courses with AWC.

It is a great way to learn some skills in a short space of time and the feedback you receive on your work is valuable and useful.

The feedback was great and allowed me to examine my writing closely. It made me realise that you need a writing mentor so that your writing is presented to others to look at it from a different aspect.

The course has made me take my writing seriously and make a writing schedule and now I write every day. It has taught me to take my time, not rush my writing and to finish what I have started.

I have to write every day now; I have a schedule and read, read, read.

Creative Writing Stage 1 is a go-to course for any beginner writer, a must to get you in the path of writing. It is excellent without being overpowering. Great course.

It has made me realise that I needed time for myself and I feel good, and much happier because I have become serious about writing.

As someone starting out in fiction writing, I was attracted to the scaffolded approach of AWC's course pathway. Creative Writing Stage 1 seemed to be the perfect launch point.

The course achieved a great balance between providing need-to-know-now learnings and information that will be useful closer to getting published.

Petronella's feedback was always insightful and helpful, and she supported her tips with examples of her lived experience as an author.

I have a much better sense of how to achieve my goal of writing a novel and (hopefully) getting it published. I'm confident the course has helped me to circumvent some of the mistakes I would have otherwise made just because I didn't know any better.

Why flail about trying to reinvent the wheel when you can get closer to your writing goals with the guidance of AWC's experts?

Petronella's feedback was really encouraging and helpful and the structure of the course was super easy to follow. Thank you for putting together this content - it's been incredibly helpful!

I really loved how honest, warm and helpful Petronella was. The video feedback on everyone's assignment really helped me to learn and to reinforce learnings. The audio lessons were so easy to follow and a convenient way to learn.

The course has validated me that I can actually write this book. That I need to take the pressure off myself given it takes most first time writers two years to write their first book!

The course is affordable, convenient and really relevant content for anyone looking to write fiction.

A friend, who is an author, recommended I do a course as I had been mumbling about trying to write a novel for... years.

I have really enjoyed the course! I am impressed with the tight format and the clever assignments. It is a lot of information in a relatively short time, so I look forward to going over it all again and listening to some of the sessions again.

Nat was wonderful. I really appreciated her style. It was horrifying to me initially that she would read our work out... eekkk... but listening to her I quickly overcame my shyness and really found it a great way to share what was being written. I found her feedback really helpful. The way she showed us how to edit our work was really well done.

I loved that you got us writing straight out of the blocks. It was confronting but set us up well to continue. I think this course is extremely worthwhile.

I started totally unsure if I had the skills to write. I am much clearer now on the areas I need to work on... and it feels possible...

If you have had a little voice in your head quietly wondering if your passion for books could transform into a passion for writing... do this course. It teaches you really important skills to help you determine what you want to do and how to do it. I suspect it could be the difference between a hobby and a career.

I wanted to explore my creative writing ability and was heartened that this course caters to anyone wishing to do this. You don't have to have an idea for a novel - you can just explore your creativity.

I was delighted to discover that the people on my course were so friendly. They were all interested in so many genres of writing - a real revelation to me. I have never read any sci-fi before but it's wonderful to see how creative some of my fellow course-mates are. It was great that everyone was so supportive and constructive in their feedback. I really enjoyed the 'chat' group.

Jennifer was very encouraging and constructive in her generous feedback. She is brilliant at interpreting everyone's writing (I was a bit lost in some of the sci-fi stuff)! I really enjoyed listening to her videos critiquing everyone's work and learnt so much from her advice.

I loved that I could listen to the audio lessons while I was out for a walk. I could absorb them and then go home and do the bonus exercises.

I really enjoyed the chat group on my course - everyone was so kind and encouraging. I'm very sad the course has finished but I do hope some of us will keep in touch so we can see how we all progress. It's been an incredible journey!

I never thought I would be contemplating writing novels. I just didn't think I had enough ability or talent. I now have characters spending time in my thoughts while I'm in the shower or out cycling and I've started imagining what situations I will put them in next. I also notice far more of my surroundings and imagine how I'd describe them in a scene! Novels will never be the same again - I find I am analysing them now. I even ditched one last week and realised it just didn't have enough pace!

Go for it. There are courses for every type of writing - all well-structured and designed by professionals. You will be amazed at how much you'll learn and also how much you'll enjoy it. As a bonus, you get to 'meet' lots of interesting people along the way. It could change your life!

I have never been so absorbed by a course before - my family feel abandoned! I feel like I have finally found 'my people' by embarking on this creative writing journey. I have loved it and am really sad the course has finished. I will definitely be enlisting in future courses in 2024!

Honestly, this course has opened up a whole new world for me, as a beginning writer and a reader and just in terms of the way I look at life!

Very helpful feedback, targeted the writing very precisely, gave me confidence but also showed me clearly and in a positive way that I have a lot of skills to develop and hone to master this craft.

Major learning for me was that writing is a complex and difficult craft to master but at the same time hugely fulfilling when you see yourself developing some of the skills required. I feel that I can develop myself as a more open person and try to see the POV of others in order to explain what's going on in a variety of life situations.

Thank you for your wonderful offerings. I am a fan. I feel that I can trust AWC to deliver valuable courses motivated by the goal of developing and supporting writers. The course I did was brilliant. There is a course for every developing writer - go for it!

I liked the tutor's approach. I liked the way she was just straight with the feedback and if something wasn't working. I enjoyed having the writing prompt/assignment every week and having a deadline. I've really looked forward to doing the course each week and I'll miss it now.

I loved the reminder that novels don't just get written in the first draft and that it takes grit and subsequent drafts to get there.

This is my 3rd course with the AWC. My first (the copywriting one) led to me changing careers. I've loved reading and words since I can remember, so I'm thrilled I now get to write for a living. For that, the Australian Writers' Centre will always have a special place in my heart and I'll always recommend it to others.

I was drawn to this course by the opportunity to get feedback on my writing and learn about the fundamentals of writing from professionals. The weekly assignments also drew me in as I know I need external accountability to work towards my goals.

Surprisingly, I found receiving feedback the most enjoyable since I wanted to know if my intentions came across in my writing. I also liked reading my classmates' writing as it inspired me.

I feel more confident sharing my writing with other people for feedback.

If you want to learn the fundamentals of writing and get some practice in without it being too overwhelming, this is a great course! It's also great for people who need external accountability to write consistently.

The exercises and handouts have great content, and I like that we can go back to them at any time.

It reminded me how I love writing, after not doing it for so long. It makes me want to get back into and ideally start/finish my idea for a novel.

The course is super flexible. It allows you to listen to the audio classes any time during the week. The exercises and content are really insightful and reusable for you to use in the future. The assignments were super achievable and not too overwhelming.

I came to the course wanting something that would keep me accountable to writing practice and I also wanted to gain some feedback on my writing/story. I learned a lot more than I thought I would.

I found Pamela's feedback really helpful - every suggestion or query she had improved not only the piece of writing I had but how I approached the next piece of writing. She was very engaging, thoughtful and kind.

I enjoyed the assignments because they were so relevant to the coursework. I really looked forward to Pamela's feedback each week because I was excited to hear her thoughts not only on my work but everyone's - I felt her advice really improved my writing skill and confidence.

I feel confident about my writing ability and story and feel driven to finally write my novel - which has been put aside for a few years now.

If you have a novel/story idea and you don't know where to start - start here!