What’s it like to learn with AWC?

Bernadette was very welcoming and knowledgeable, and her feedback was honest in heplping me to become a better writer.

Whilst I'm normally shy, this course bought me out of my shell a little more, being able to discuss writing with my fellow students. At the time, it was daunting to critique other students' work and have them critique mine, but as we went along I found that it made me look at my writing in a different way.

It has enabled me to think of the different areas we studied in a different way. Before the course, I didn't put much thought into the pace and structure of my novel but now I know how important it is.

I would say that it helped my writing, and I enjoyed how the other students interpreted the writing exercises.

Most of all I had fun. By the end of the course, I didn't want it to end! Now to find the next chapter of my writing career.

I really liked the Zoom meetings. Bernadette was a great tutor and host and I much enjoyed the interaction with my fellow students.

Very professional and experienced. It was clear that Bernadette has been working in the literary scene for a long time and her remarks and questions were always insightful and useful.

I most enjoyed the interaction with everyone on Zoom. We laughed a lot and shared a lot. It was a nice group and everyone was very generous and made an effort to deliver honest and useful feedback to other participants.

I feel like I’ve made progress in my writing. I also have a better idea of how to go forward with my stories, especially regarding their structure! I even hope to publish one short story I submitted for this course.

I am a fan of AWC anyway and have recommended the centre to a few people already. I would tell them that the Writing Workout was the perfect thing to do to keep writing.

A big thank you and till next time :)

Bernadette was a fantastic tutor, making everyone feel welcome and valued. She was knowledgeable, encouraging and gave valuable feedback. The workshopping proved to be enjoyable.

It has giving me more confidence to move forwards.

I thought Bernadette an excellent tutor. I enjoyed sharing work with the other members of the group. Learning about different concepts. How powerful the written word is on the consciousness of the writer; how writing engages the intelligence and the emotional aspects of the writer. How important it is to use language appropriate to the character depicted.

I would encourage aspiring writers to enrol in the courses offered by Australian Writers' Centre. I really enjoyed being part of the class.

I loved working with the group and Bernadette! Bernadette was kind, firm, and a great instructor. I loved working with her and hope I get to work with her in the future.

I loved the ability to workshop with the other participants, even if it was on Zoom rather than in a classroom. The course ended up with 5-6 participants who showed up regularly which was the perfect amount.

It got me on the path of creativity again.

I wanted some constructive one-on-one feedback on writing and the fact that it was face-to-face via Zoom basically sealed the deal for me.

I thought Bernadette was great. Her feedback was constructive and honest but at the same time encouraging.

Having the face-to-face interaction with the other participants allowed for a much freer conversational environment than the standard online format.

It has given me a little more self-confidence in my writing and allowed me to entertain the thought that I may actually have the ability to at least write short stories, if not the 'great Australian novel'. Everybody has a different viewpoint. Writing and reading are very subjective and what appeals to one person, doesn't necessarily have to appeal to another.

Give it a go. The feedback you get from fellow writers is invaluable and the tutors are great.

I'd never done workshop / critique type work before. That was daunting. I was nervous about whether my writing was good, because I wanted it to be good. I was worried about critiquing other people's work.

Bernadette is an excellent teacher / facilitator. She is very patient and engaging. She only inspires, even when critiquing. It was a pleasure working with her.

It was a great, intimate group of people to work with. I enjoyed it more than I expected to.

It has given me confidence that I should proceed with writing a publishable novel.

I enjoy the stimulation of your courses, and this one being fortnightly seemed not too onerous while I'm busy writing my novel.

The way Pamela structured this course was excellent - I learned as much from hearing her critique other people's assignments as I did from hearing my own. Pamela's ability to see and clearly communicate the faults in or suggestions for a piece of writing, and do it quickly, was excellent. She allocated her time between all the students equally so that no one felt left out.

Pamela sprinkles her assessments with absolute gems which hopefully I'll remember the next time I'm tempted to make the same mistake. I learned to trust the reader to fill in the blanks.

The Australian Writers' Centre tutors are not only highly successful authors, but they're able to communicate the 'how' of writing. Thank you for such well-organised, well-staffed courses. The Zoom platform is brilliant.

This is the best writing course I have done (and there have been a few); all those skills the previous courses taught actually coalesced into something so practical I actually felt myself improving.

Pamela is a gift. Her ability to identify how something works, why it works, how to make it work better is just amazing. Even better were the incidental gems she dropped along the way that gave the most brilliant insights into writing.

The Zoom format had the group of students developing a real rapport and interest in each other's work as well as the immediate feedback that could be shared between the students and Pamela.

I feel I might actually have a book in me after all. That a book is not written in one draft and that it is okay to not get it absolutely perfect first time.

Do it. Just do it. Even if you never do write The Book simply giving yourself permission to put words out there is a bonus.

I thought the course sounded like the boost I was needing to improve my writing.

The tutor was great and I was given the help I required. I enjoyed the opportunity to interact with other people to gain feedback.

Do not hesitate to enrol in a course. There are plenty of opportunities.

I absolutely loved it. Pamela is a fantastic teacher and mentor. She is patient and gives you constructive feedback that is useful. The exercises, the teacher and classmates. I have some tools to start writing my novel.

In the last section, the exercises enabled me to summarise my story in a way that pulls out the key elements. I will find that very useful in planning future stories. Can't wait for Part B!

The Zoom meetings each fortnight were excellent and really helped me to learn. Having helpful comments made about everyone’s writing in a Zoom format - much more useful than just written feedback.

It got me going so I am going to write that book. That it’s ok to keep learning and I can write no matter how good or not so good I might be.

I looked forward to the course each fortnight.

Pamela is very knowledgeable and went to a lot of trouble to give feedback to each student which was relevant to the individual but also translatable to everyone in the group.

The regular technical exercises, set time for Zoom meeting each fortnight, no need to have a story underway. The discussion of broader points of technique. It's made me come up with a story.

Pamela saying we all have the ability to write a story, but we have to sit down and do it.

Well-organised and knowledgeable teaching leading to tangible improvement.

Pamela is very knowledgeable and gives a lot of valuable feedback which I really appreciated. I love how direct she is. It's what I wanted.

Creative Writing Stage 1 really impacted my writing and this course drove home even more the concepts that I learned in CW1.

I am extremely impressed with how well the whole system is put together, how much thought has gone into the system, I have seen a lot of online trainings and none of them compare to how well you have put this together.

And that is not even giving the content what it is due. The content is excellent, it is well presented, the whole system is solid.