What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I had been writing on my own for a little while previously and wanted to get a better handle of writing technique.

Nat is very passionate and supportive, and gives the sort of detailed moment to moment feedback they'd I'd hoped to receive on my work.

I enjoyed having a group of other writers to share thoughts and ideas with, meet up regularly and give feedback. I enjoyed the giving feedback process more than I'd expected.

I've learned quite a lot and gotten a bunch of helpful feedback to rework my manuscript into something better. I also recently attended a writing conference with students I met through the course and have begun attending a monthly writers group with one of them.

It's a substantial commitment, but the learning and community you'll get from the course is well worthwhile.

The feedback was great. It gives you a different perspective. It lets you see how your ideas are perceived and it's sometimes surprising

This is a really great course. It gives you the discipline to get the draft finished and the feedback to improve it going forward.

Cathie knows her stuff. The literary device she suggested to me, made for waaaay more work, but made the work sooo much better. It was fascinating listening to her suggestions and reading her feedback for everyone.

I got sooo much more out of it than I expected to. The weekly courses were stuffed full of writing craft. Reading other people's work was great - not just their stories, but reviewing their work taught me a lot about my own writing and about writing in general. Getting others' feedback. The deadlines (harsh but necessary).

Over the six months I went from 85k words of a first draft desperately searching for an ending to a relatively polished third draft of my manuscript. I wrote 160-170k words all up, ditched a truckload of them along the way and ended up with a story people really liked. Even better, at the start I struggled to call myself a writer, despite having written most days for 25 years as a content writer/PR and uni writing lecturer (I know, go figure). But by the end of the course, not only had I become a 'writer', I'd actually morphed, in my own head at least, to being an author - of books, plural. I. AM. HOOKED. I've already plotted out book 2 while waiting for feedback. It's too much fun not to continue.

If you've got a book knocking about in your head that won't leave you alone, and you're truly ready to commit to doing the work to finish, the Write Your Novel course, gets it out and onto the page in a way you just won't have imagined.

Cathie was very good. Her feedback was always insightful and to the point. No sugar coating. She was also very good at working with the dynamics of the group and widely differing writing projects we were undertaking.

I enjoyed the interaction with other aspirational writers. The effort everyone put into the feedback - trying hard to make it constructive and supportive.

AWC provides the insights, structure, discipline and supportive environment that will enable you to progress your writing goals.

I had a half-finished novel and really needed a community of writers to support me to finish it.

The feedback from peers was incredible

The tutor was a lovely person. Up for a challenge. No gratuitous praise.

A wonderful opportunity to test your story idea and have a deep look at how you are able to write it.

I began writing my manuscript through Novel Writing Essentials, and in completion, formed a workshop group with the fellow students. From there, as my novel grew, I decided to complete the next course in order to receive professional feedback on my manuscript.

Nat is encouraging and motivating in her feedback, but also knows how to frame her advice in a way that hits the nail on the head in terms of areas needing improvement. She always made time to answer my questions in a neutral and supportive manner, and I felt my skill grow markedly under her tutelage.

I enjoyed writing for others, having my work read and others telling me what they loved about it. The critique sometimes was hard, but in the end I learned to embrace it, and appreciate the opportunity to test it against fresh eyes in order to make my story better.

I completed my manuscript. Workshopping is invaluable. I grew so much as a writer because of it, and I found something just “clicked” at the end of reading through the manuscripts. My understanding of writing characters with deep third person interiority has levelled up ten fold.

As above, my aha moment was realising that I wasn't writing my characters through their eyes, but from a camera position close to, or just above their head. I have learned to thread the story through the characters, thinking about what does this character think, see, feel, in this moment. It's a skill that took some honing, but I feel by the end of the course, I really got the knack of it.

Easy to access, you get to meet an online network of fellow writers, some of whom may become life long friends. The course is thorough and well paced, the worksheets are excellent and communication is clear.

I can't speak highly enough of Nat. Sharing your work is such a vulnerable, exposing, terrifying process and she just has a way of being plain spoken in her feedback, so that her writing lesson is constructive, but also completely non judgemental and encouraging.

I was able to finish a polished first draft of the manuscript during this course. I learnt so much than I thought I would and loved every minute of it.

Our online tutor was amazing. She was enthusiastic, honest and supportive in every way possible. The feedback was such that it enabled me to go forward in my writing process. Without her guidance and constructive feedback, I fear I would still be turning in circles.

I loved every aspect of the course. I loved the camaraderie of everyone in the group and subsequently I got so much from reading classmates' writings, providing feedback to them and receiving feedback from them. Such a valuable aspect of the course.

I want to keep on writing. I love it.

I really enjoyed Nat's approach to giving feedback. Her ability to identify where improvements could be made and the way she challenged my thinking and offered advice that strengthened my writing skills were excellent. I absolutely loved her humorous and witty approach to delivering her feedback. I was left each time feeling good about my writing and yet absolutely clear about what I needed to do to make it better.

I enjoyed giving and receiving feedback - I learnt so much from the other writers in the program.

Great course to improve your writing skills and add some discipline and accountability to your writing.

I'm now feeling inspired to start editing my first draft!!

Cathie was very kind and direct, which I strongly appreciate. She provided feedback without telling me what to do and I got a better sense of what it's like to work with an editor.

My classmates were lovely. The group was engaged and kind, with useful feedback and encouragement throughout (and after) the course.

I've proved to myself that I can improve in the craft of writing and make my manuscript better draft after draft. I've also lost some of the fear of feedback and having my story read by other people.

I noticed how much providing feedback to others' writing helped me noticed gaps in my own writing. We'd been told that at the start, and I was sceptical. No more. It's 100% true.

It's a safe space that will propel you into action and progress on your writing goals.

I would just like to thank the AWC crew and Cathie for the support. I'm not the loudest in the room, but the way we were all treated throughout made this experience one that I'm happy I took the chance on.

I enjoyed workshopping with peers. The structure to learn by providing feedback and receiving feedback. Also, Discord has helped me to maintain my connection to classmates.

Nothing can compare to fresh eyes looking over your work. Noticing structural patterns you have missed yourself and writing that needs to be tweaked due to this.

Do it!

Cathie has the most amazing range of knowledge! The way she could answer questions and advise on all genres or anyone's manuscript and make it make sense to apply to my own writing was an absolute bonus. Cathie was always available for those 'silly' questions and made them not so silly. She's very direct and honest, and I loved that.

It made something click in my brain, and has totally changed the way I'm editing and writing my next draft.

This will change your writing forever, and you'll meet some amazing people on the way.

Cathie was generous with her time and her wisdom. She was clear yet diplomatic with her feedback, and I trusted her implicitly to help me toward a better version of the story I wanted to tell. I really appreciated her pragmatism around writing something with an end goal of traditional publication in mind.

I found the camaraderie with other people in the course to be an unexpected bonus. The additional support and enthusiasm of the group was invaluable.

My writing has improved dramatically, and writing a novel has gone from a fuzzy, far-off goal to a reality I am working toward step by step.

More of a slow realisation, but a major takeaway was that writing a novel is a process. Sounds obvious, but it was very freeing to see my story transform and be able to treat my first draft as a 'first coat of paint'. That there were actionable steps to take, and things Cathie identified to work on was incredibly useful - I didn't have to plan and write something perfect from the get go.

If you commit to a program like Write Your Novel, your progress toward a strong draft of your story will be much faster. Also, everything you need to know about the craft of writing a novel publishers want to read is in this course.

Thank you for such a great experience!

Cathie was generous with her time and her experience. Her feedback was fantastic. She was helpful and pragmatic.

I enjoyed the camaraderie with the other students in our group. Learning how to give feedback and receive feedback was essential.

I know much more about writing than I've ever learnt before. It was a real eyeopener. I've done several Uni courses on writing and they never mentioned half the things I learnt in this course.

I recommend AWC to people all the time if I think they might be interested. I think all the courses here are amazing but the ones I really love are the tutor lead ones. You learn so much more from their feedback.

Cathie's feedback was terrific and very helpful. She really helped guide the group to grow and support each other and be able to give constructive and helpful feedback for each other. Very experienced, wise and helpful. Love Cathie.

The workshopping, even though it was pressure and at times stressful, it's a skill we all had to develop and I'm very grateful we did. We've grown as writers, developed thicker skins and are able to stand back from our writing and critique it more objectively.

I've grown as a writer and it's changed how I see what goes in to writing a novel. I'm much better positioned to be able to plan and write my stories in the future and I also realise how important the support network around me is too.

Very good courses and tutors. I've done a number of courses and they've all helped me grow as a writer.

I loved having Cathie as a tutor. Her feedback was always thorough and well considered and full of experience. She explained things that I had never even considered (continuous tense) and I felt her experience was really valuable in this aspect. Her way of delivering feedback was kind but firm and really resonated with me in that I did not walk away feeling I couldn't do this.

I enjoyed working with the other students - I think we got a really good batch this time around and I look forward to the workshopping that will continue to happen after this course ends.

I've gone from being poetic, abstract and continuous to trying to simplify language and keep it strong. Cathie's advice on continuous tense and -ly words are the things that I think have improved my writing the most and I know my future writing will be stronger because of it.

I have loved all the courses I've done with the AWC.

Cathie was amazing. She provided some tough truths and feedback on submissions that bettered my manuscript. She was extremely giving in her Zooms as well as on Discord. She provided additional reading material that I have already recommended to other author friends.

I enjoyed the community we built!! The memes in the discord.

This course has transformed me as a writer. I now I have more tools in my writing toolkit to write my planned trilogy but also to support other writers. I feel more clear on my story questions, on how to approach the next stage of my writing journey.

The AWC has allowed me to become the author I am. I have received comments from my classmates and my authors that have built my confidence. The tutors have all been amazing, staff have been incredibly supportive and I have learnt all my theory here and I feel even closer to publishing my book.

Cathie was a fantastic source of ideas and wisdom. Very early on she helped me position my novel in the correct genre, and was then able to provide plenty of customised feedback to ensure I was making the most of my genre conventions. She is incredibly enthusiastic, and offered a great balance of constructive criticism and motivation.

I enjoyed the feedback process!! Not only did I gain a lot from the feedback I received from my peers, but I was able to learn so much about my own writing style, skills and weaknesses by reading and reviewing other people's work. It gave me exposure to a broad range of genres and characters, and has made me a more thoughtful reader and writer.

I am far more confident in my own writing ability, and after doing Novel Writing Essentials and Write Your Novel, I am in a better mindset around receiving and applying feedback. I now also have a wonderful group of peers that I will continue to workshop alongside for this book and other manuscripts in the future. Without the AWC, I would not be at the point where I am just about to start editing my third draft ready to pitch to agents in June.

I don't know if there was one 'aha' moment, but rather a steady stream of helpful tips and tricks that accumulated in me becoming a much more self-aware writer.

Whether you've got a tiny spark of an idea or a fully-fleshed out synopsis, the AWC offers a range of courses that will elevate your writing to the next level. Beyond the practical information provided by class mentors and online modules, the most valuable part of any AWC course is the ability to give and receive feedback from other writers. This element is truly invaluable and will help build your skills and confidence as you progress on your writing journey.

Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!!

Nat is skilled at finding the balance between encouragement and improvement, she knows how to nudge or push when needed without discouraging the writers. She has the right attitude for tutoring and she respects writers wherever they are at on their journey.

I needed a fresh take on my book and Nat gave me just that.

The quality of feedback was a real highlight. I enjoyed establishing links with the group and learning from both giving and receiving feedback.

Nat was outstanding. Both the content and the delivery of Nat's feedback were fantastic. She took the time to really think about each submission and her Loom videos were a mix of honesty, humour and helpful suggestions. Nat brought so much knowledge to the course - her experience as editor, writer and actor was evident and I felt I was in the hands of a skilled professional. She gave us the tools to succeed but also encouraged us to reflect on what might work well and then use our own professional judgement to improve our writing.

I feel like a writer now. Never too old for self-actualisation!

I have already recommended AWC to a number of friends! I'm in the retired age group and a lot of my friends love books and writing. I've been very enthusiastic about the course.

A big thank you to Nat. She was great - knows her stuff, is down to earth, authentic and a thorough professional.

From the outset, Pamela's knowledge and expertise were evident. She was able to answer every question the students asked, and was happy to offer personal insights, which put so many of us at ease. Pamela engages with student work to the extent she can readily recall story arcs as well as minor details - she really invests in understanding each evolving novel. Plus, in the Zoom calls, she is just a delight!

I liked that I could work through modules largely at my own pace and that there were multiple submission points, so I was required to keep my manuscript moving along. I really enjoyed applying new skills from each module and really understanding how they produced a higher quality of writing.

I will now share with people that I'm writing a novel! I've developed routines to support my writing and I know I have the skill set to complete my first and future manuscripts. I truly have confidence I'll 'make it'.

If your goal is to complete a manuscript to the best of your ability - and particularly if you want to make a career from writing - you cannot afford to bypass the AWC courses.

The admin and support team were always really responsive, positive and pleasant to deal with.