What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I had reached a point in my writing where I wanted to interact with other writers and progress my manuscript in a structured way. I was particularly keen to do the course with Pamela as the tutor as I had found her 'Focus on' series interesting and useful.

I love Pamela's style. She's encouraging while still providing a helpful perspective on what is needed to improve and progress each story. She seems to have an amazing ability to keep track of multiple stories.

Having the opportunity to engage with other writers at about the same level and to read their work was very enjoyable and beneficial.

I've had lots of ups and downs in my writing journey; this course has cemented my determination and belief to keep going.

Each audio lesson and each piece of feedback has added to my understanding of craft and of how readers react. If I have to choose one moment, for me it was when I reviewed the coursework again after submitting my manuscript and reheard the advice to think back to what inspired you to write the story in the first place. For me, this was very much about themes and I know this will guide my next draft as much as the technical feedback I have received.

If you're looking for a great place to develop and improve your writing craft and connect with other writers, AWC provides that opportunity. Bring an open mind and a sense of humour to really thrive.

Thanks Pamela and AWC - I'll be back for more.

Pamela is an excellent teacher. She is so sharp. If there's an improvement to be made - she'll find it!

I loved the feedback from the group. Reading each other's work was very valuable.
I learned as much from their work as I gained from feedback of my own.

I feel as if I am on the right path to begin pitching in 2026! After one more quick draft :)

I have been recommending the Australian Writers' Centre for years! I love the courses - the teachers are outstanding.

The content of this course is great - very thorough. Pamela's brain is incredible. Her advice has been rock solid. My story is so much stronger because of her helpful words. Can I keep her? Haha!

Pamela gave excellent feedback and general advice. She has a very practical and pragmatic approach to the writing business. Her years of experience ensured she managed our expectations while still providing great encouragement.

Learning to provide helpful feedback to others is an essential skill and I learned a lot about doing this. I also learned a lot about the commercial aspects of publishing which was helpful and gave me realistic expectations. It reinforced things I had learnt in other courses about writing craft too.

Reading the raw manuscripts from my fellow authors was such a privilege. It was a glimpse into the writing journey of people I had come to know well and now regard as friends and taught me a lot about what an extraordinary and complicated, yet joyful thing it is to write a novel.

If you want deadlines, feedback and to learn the nitty gritty of writing, sign up for one of the AWC courses. Your writing will improve so much, it will even surprise you, and you will make some great friends along the way who will cheer you on.

The online tutor was excellent and inspiring. Her feedback was honest and helped me to understand where I was going wrong.

I enjoyed working with other writers who were all moving forward to achieve the same goal. Also, the feedback from other students and the opportunity to read three completed manuscripts was most enjoyable.

It's really motivated me to finish my manuscript and have it ready for publication by this time next year.

Go for it! The Australian Writers' Centre offers inspiring, hands-on training that really lifts your writing to the next level. The tutors are knowledgeable, approachable, and generous with feedback

Thank you for such an inspiring course. I finished feeling motivated, more confident, and ready to move onto my next draft.

Our group as a whole was hard working and conscientious.

Cathie T gave detailed and thoughtful feedback. On rare occasions when I privately emailed her, she was very helpful.

Our Discord group is continuing and helping each other; I admire a number of talented writers in my group who inspire me.

Keep writing draft one; you can refine after finishing this. But just get whole first ms done - which I have!

Wide variety of courses; meet terrific people in your course; facilitators experienced and helpful; relevant resources provided.

This is the second time I've had Cathie as my tutor and I was very happy to have her guiding me again. She is excellent.

It has improved my writing significantly and connected my with a community of likeminded writers. It has also given me a realistic path forward to achieving my goal of getting published.

Cathie's feedback has been tremendously helpful. I've picked up great editing skills from her markups of my document. Sometimes her feedback was hard to understand but Cathie was open to questions and clarifications, which was great.

I enjoyed working on my novel and improving it after each round of feedback. The course being completely online contributed to this greatly.

I've become aware of my favourite filler words. My editing skills have improved. And, as a byproduct, it has influenced my poetry writing skills.

Interpretation belongs to the reader. This is a much more accurate statement than "show, don't tell" and it helped me change the way I approach difficult topics in writing.

It's all stuff and no fluff. The selling point of this course is that there's no faffing about. It's packed with helpful info and accessible.

Margaret was amazing and gave great feedback. I always walked away feeling encouraged and inspired.

Being held accountable for my progress was the thing I got the most from out of the course.

I feel much more confident in what I am writing and more relaxed and willing to share with others. I wouldn't have been able to do this if it wasn't for the course.

AWC is so friendly and encouraging. They give you the insight into the industry and writing and the belief that you have a chance (without sugar coating that it will be hard).

A wonderful course. I found the modules extremely helpful, and Pamela's guidance and feedback was phenomenal. It's given me the confidence to keep going, and realise I have a serious chance of becoming a published author.

Pamela is phenomenal. Her knowledge and expertise blew me away - she is obviously so busy and has so many different genres and students to cover, but really makes you feel "seen", and like she is totally invested in your story. Very responsive also. I have so much admiration and respect for Pamela, have just loved being a student of hers once more!

I really loved the audio modules, they hit the mark - particularly when I was losing confidence, they always gave me a pick-me-up and new targets to reach, so I can get on with writing. A great mix of practical and inspirational. And I loved getting feedback on my scenes - always felt "night-before-Christmassy" when feedback was due!

The course has helped me to just get on with it - getting over the self-doubt and putting pen to paper. And the comments from Pamela and the other students have really lifted me, and made me feel that this actually might be a success if I can just keep going! The finish line seems a lot closer!

If you have even the smallest little spark of passion for writing, take one of these courses - you'll turn that spark into a blazing inferno!

Thank you for a fantastic year; I've thoroughly enjoyed this course and can't wait to make it into one of your e-newsletters as a success story... ;)

Margaret was wonderful. She was so very knowledgeable, and her feedback not just for me, but seemingly for everyone always pointed to the most important points we needed to work on - the things that needed addressing first and foremost. She also asked the best questions that never failed to get me thinking and back on track.

I enjoyed workshopping others' work. This was always a real opportunity to put into practice the knowledge learnt through the modules.

I am such a better writer as a result of everything I've learnt. I've also discovered a real passion for editing that I never would have anticipated.

Purple Prose does not make you a better writer! This was a huge aha moment. Beautiful writing is not all that entertaining for most readers.

This course in particular was great. It really covered everything you'd want to know about writing a novel. The information was all presented in a very accessible way.

You'll see me in another course in the future, I'm sure.

What I've learned over the period of the course cannot be bottled! From the tutor's expertise, the course content and the interaction of all participants is what enabled me to not only achieve my goal, but supplied me with a true educational experience. It's the sum of these elements that holds this course's value. It was also interesting to be exposed to and reading across genres I'd never have considered.

This course was not my first with Pamela at the AWC. I was keen to do this particular course with her as the tutor. Pamela has a keen eye and a sharp mind and willingly shares from her broad experience and knowledge base within the industry. Her feedback is forthright, incisive, supportive and encouraging. Fortunately, she holds a good sense of humour too for what must be some hair-pulling moments from her end!

The structure. The accountability. The interaction with others experiencing the highs and lows of the journey alongside you. That you're not alone experiencing what more often than not seems overwhelming and soul crushing as well as head-spinningly exciting. Being buoyed along - and hopefully reciprocating - with positive reinforcement, "you've got this!" Because due to the course content and structure, you actually do! You write "The End" right on target! A most satisfying feeling.

I was surprised at the positive feedback on my writing. This in itself has been so completely rewarding, encouraging and satisfying. I feel a whole new avenue of opportunities has opened, and a door to a lovely new community has opened.

There are too many technical 'aha' moments in this course to choose just one. But ... a takeaway: that there is no set or one way to write your story. Write as it suits you, but you must write! Get the first draft down on the page and don't be afraid to ask for feedback.

I have recommended AWC to friends now without hesitation. The professional level of offering across the board is superb.

Loved Pamela - she is firm but fair in her feedback.

The assignments each week kept me on task.

Do it if you want to accountability to get it done.

The engagement and encouragement among the course participants was always fantastic.

Margaret was always friendly, clear, honest and encouraging. She took the time to try and completely understand and answer everyone's questions. She also provided additional feedback on numerous occasions for people throughout the course.

I enjoyed achieving my writing goals and reading everyone else's writing!

It has given me the confidence and inspiration to keep writing, and a community of like-minded people.

The AWC has a fantastic range of courses to suit wherever you are on your writing journey. Combined with flexible schedules, constant support and encouragement, they can get you where you want to go.

I'd written 20,00 words of a middle grade novel and knew that I didn't know what I was getting wrong. Having completed several very helpful AWC courses, I needed a spotlight on my actual writing and for someone to tell me what needed changing.

Not only did Margaret give me essential feedback, my writing class also provided some excellent suggestions. As a result, the manuscript has undergone fundamental changes. For the better.

Margaret was a positive provider of feedback. Her quiet, gentle manner was very supportive. However she didn't hold back on picking up my rookie mistakes and provided suggestions and guidance for the story's development. My bad habits slip in now and then, but at least now I can spot them on re-reading.

Apart from the videos and handouts which were gold, I was most excited to receive feedback from Margaret and my course mates.

It has seen me now feel that I'm a writer and will encourage me to improve my skills through writing. The goal is to be published but I'm now not naive to the industry and the immense competition from other like-minded writers. Through Nat's Words at Dawn I have found a lovely small group of people to write together through our Discord channel and are having a get together on our own writer's retreat at the end of July after the CYA Brisbane conference.

Although a generally proficient writer, I had so much to learn about my writing for a novel, a children's novel. I found that a lot of the information in the course applied broadly and could be applied in my chosen genre.

AWC? Fantastic course leaders, fantastic personnel in general. Courses will give you tools that you never knew you needed in your writing.

Thank you for this opportunity to advance my skills to the point of confidence now to offer suggestions to others. Being thrown in the deep end with this course was brilliant.

I honestly had no expectations; I just needed a community and direction. I got that and a hundred things more.

Margret was great. She gave me many pep talks in my falling of self-doubt. She was encouraging and went above in helping me think clearly of my editing ahead of me.

I most enjoyed the community. The chance to work as a group.

AWC is like the water and sun to your seed in the dirt.

I really enjoyed your Creative Writing 1 course and this seemed best suited to where I was at with my own writing. I wanted to get feedback, learn more about the craft of writing and motivate myself to keep going.

I loved this course and Margaret's feedback was exceptional. She was really insightful and really helped me develop the story I was trying to tell. She was considered in her feedback.

I learnt a lot about the craft of writing and can tell that my writing has come a long way from when I started.

Great way to motivate yourself and to start to workshop your novel with other writers.

I had previously done the Write Your Novel program with the AWC and I enjoyed the structure and accountability. I had been working on my MS for quite some time, had done several drafts and wanted to get to a draft that I was happy with.

Having done the course before I knew what to expect from a content perspective.
I believe I have connected with my fellow writers in this course more-so than previous courses I have attended.

Margaret was very knowledgeable, engaging and constructive with her feedback. This has helped me be a better writer and I appreciate her skills and experience. I feel her support got me to a place where I was happy with my MS and the story that I had created. Her feedback gave me things to think about to enhance my characters, story and MS.

I always enjoy workshopping with the other students. There will always be those you connect with more than others, and connect with their stories, but it is good to get so many different pieces of feedback on your work that you can consider.

The structure and deadlines of having the draft ready, and the spreadsheet to help calculate the words you need to complete to have your completed draft were very helpful.

I believed that my characters, story and MS were worthy of being finished. That it was something that people wanted to read. Based on the feedback I received on my complete MS, I had the confidence to enrol in the Pitch Perfect Course with the Australian Society of Authors. I pitched to both Simon & Schuster and Pan Macmillan who said I had a great story and a fantastic pitch. While it is no guarantee of being published, I now have the confidence that I have a compelling story that people want to read.

What a wild ride for the year - from the lows to the highs, from thinking I'm no good as a writer to the positive feedback and encouragement from Margaret and all my fellow students. Thanks. I found this course so helpful, especially the critiquing from Margaret and everyone.

I cannot thank Margaret enough for her kind words and encouraging critiquing. She assisted me with her feedback and gave me great insight into the areas I needed to improve.

I enjoyed checking in via Zoom meetings. Although most of the group was not into children's or fantasy books, their feedback was beneficial. Coming from a different perspective, they picked up things I hadn't noticed. The suggestions were great and helped improve the manuscript. The friendships will continue on the Facebook page we have created to stay in touch and continue to assist us in achieving our wildest dream of a published book.

I would never have finished the first draft of my novel without this course. The Discord program was great for connecting with the other students. Hearing there were times when it felt too much. We supported each other.

There was no real 'aha' moment for me. The whole of the WYN course was a major learning curve. I have now enrolled in 'Fantasy Fiction' with Pamela Freeman to create the world-building I needed.

The AWC is a great start to take the journey towards bringing your finished book to the shelves of bookstores. From the 'Essentials' course to 'Write Your Novel' and onwards. There is something within each course to assist you in your writer's journey. The feedback from your tutor to your fellow writers during each course is amazing.

I really would like to thank Margaret. Her tutorship has helped bring my book to life.

Margaret was dedicated and provided excellent feedback. She was very encouraging and engaged deeply with my work, which was greatly appreciated. I really loved that Margaret was an editor rather than a writer herself - she knew what she was doing!

The weekly modules were excellent - I'm going to go back and listen to some of them again as I finalise my last draft for submission.

I've finished four drafts and am feeling like a real writer!

Just do it, you won't regret it!

Margaret was great. She's so knowledgeable about writing and the publishing industry, and was happy to answer questions at our Zoom meetings and on Discord. But she was also keen to get us talking and exchanging ideas, rather than just talking at us. Her feedback was amazing! She always noticed things I could improve that nobody else had pointed out, and her suggestions always made *so much sense*. She also inspired me with her comments, entering into the spirit of my story and suggesting ideas that really fit. I feel very fortunate to have had her as a tutor.

I loved the audio modules - they were fun at the same time as being educational, with lots of really helpful examples. And I liked being treated like a writer - AWC is so good at boosting its students' self-belief, and encouraging them to see themselves as writers, rather than wannabes or imposters.

I feel like I have the tools I need to edit my manuscript and get it ready to submit to publishers. I've overcome my terror of showing my work to others! And I've gained more confidence about my story, that it is worthy of persevering with.

Your first draft doesn't have to be perfect! Have fun with it - play around, experiment, overwrite and follow unexpected plot pathways. Don't beat yourself up. Just get it all on the page and then refine.

The AWC makes writing accessible to everyone, and more than that, they make it fun!