What’s it like to learn with AWC?

Pamela's presentation was natural and friendly.

The course challenged me to think about details in my story which I had not considered. This gave me a chance to expand my world building.

It covers everything, it is well presented and I enjoyed the interviews with AWC alumni.

I will get on with writing my story. I'm determined to complete it in 2026.

AWC courses are well worth it.

I loved that it looked at a wide range of different writing careers, which I hadn't thought about or even knew about before hand, and made me realise that writing as a career might actually be a possibility.

It was great for a short taste of what the world of writing could offer for someone who is interested in pursuing writing professionally.

I'm more motivated to keep writing, and to probably enrol in some more writing courses.

The AWC has a great range of courses covering a diverse range of writing interests, which don't need to break the bank and can easily fit into your life, even if you work a full-time job.

Pamela speaks with authority and credibility.

I'll be a lot more observant of how other writers open their stories, and how that could translate to my own writing.

Regardless of how confident you are of your own writing ability, you WILL learn new ways to improve writing skills with AWC's courses.

A well-structured course that left me feeling I could start on my book journey.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course and was surprised at the way I became more confident in my writing in such a short time.

Bernadette was positive in her responses, and gave practical advice and suggestions which were extremely useful.

I enjoyed the practical tips and exercises, and that we as participants felt valued with our contributions. The weekly exercises and feedback were great motivators.

I now have belief in myself that I can write, that I want to commit to writing, that I do have stories to tell, and I can be a writer.

I loved that the assignments were very short. That really helped. It never felt like a slog. And I was gobsmacked at Bernadette providing feedback by lunchtime the following day. Amazing! Helpful!

I felt very supported, and very *understood*. It never felt like the ghastly creative writing classes I did at university. It felt relevant and current. The set of videos about diversity was really well-done and provided food for thought.

I enjoyed the encouragement. The warmth.

It reminded me that I'm writer. For a long time I kind of forgot (long difficult story). It was as if my brain was wrapped in cobwebs.

I'm addicted to creative writing and hope to get my first novel published. Also, I'm an avid writer of blog posts and already have a website but wanted to find out how to improve it.

I learnt so much. Thankyou!

I enjoyed Michelle's easy-to-understand explanations and her happy persona.

It's really motivated me to get cracking on my second draft of my novel.

Go for it! You have nothing to lose. I have completed about eight AWC courses. It's always my go-to when I want to learn anything related to writing.

I've always loved writing and being creative, but I'd never really considered children's books as a pathway to explore. The idea had been niggling away at me for a few months. When I was researching courses, this one stood out because it was online and could be completed in my own time throughout the week, which was a huge bonus.

My overall impression of Cathie was very positive. She clearly understands her craft! Her feedback was useful, insightful, and encouraging, helping me continue to strengthen my ideas and manuscript.

I feel like I've unlocked something I've had inside me for a long time. The course has given me the tools and confidence to write my own picture books. I'm still writing, and the ideas keep flowing!

I'd say my major learning was about onomatopoeia, rhythm, and the small details that bring a picture book together. It made me see writing a picture book like composing a song.

Definitely check it out!

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.

I enjoyed the "take action" message coupled with advice on self-doubt, imposter syndrome, etc. in getting started. Dispelling the idea that being a writer is a magic-based activity.

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!

I feel like I got so much more out of this course than I expected. A lot of effort, care, and time was put into curating the plotting and planning course.

I enjoyed how much detail was provided.

I feel like the whole course I kept learning new things, about how to write, the choices I was making, new choices I didn't see before. Learning new terminology really helped me to be able to connect with my stories.

There is so much to learn from The Australian Writers' Centre, and you should just sign up for a course!

It was easy to follow along and made me recognise I had to re-write the beginning of my story.

AWC is a great opportunity to learn more without feeling judged about mistakes you've made.

Margaret was a great tutor. She took the time to fully examine our work and provide detailed commentary via videos. Her feedback was kind and constructive.

This course taught me so much. I didn't realise so much work went into picture books.

I needed to set up an author website for an upcoming book, and have never created a website before.

The process of setting up a website was more complex than I expected, but the presenter, Michelle Barraclough, paced the course so well that I felt confident I could give it a go.

Easy to follow, really clear descriptions of the language associated with websites, lots of great examples

I hope to be able to use my own website to sell books in the future, with current focus on an upcoming publication with a publisher contract (first one). If this works, this will be a profound change in how I manage book sales.

Always high quality courses with depth of knowledge and information.

I wanted to learn more about structuring a novel at a more granular level. I thought that structure was just the beginning/middle/end, and this course taught me that there are more ingredients to baking this cake than I realised, and these ingredients weren't out of my reach.

The course taught me what I set out to learn and more.

The handouts were fantastic and complemented the theory. I found that how these were set out was easy to follow and helped me better understand some of the theory, especially how to break a narrative down and see how tension could build. Seeing the visualisation of the story structures made it easier to see how they built. (I'm thinking about the Hero's Journey — that's a doozy! Following that diagram while the audio went through the example story was really, really useful.)

I really enjoyed the bonus module on how to structure duologies/trilogies and multi-books. The industry knowledge shared was invaluable. What I found most useful was the theory on synopses and the examples given, as well as the pitfalls/techniques for writing multi-book stories. It opened my eyes to how best to think about stories that could span several books and how to communicate that to an agent/publisher without setting myself up for failure.

The theory and handouts complement each other really well. I think the handouts showcasing how to break out subplots, figure out plot events and where they take place in the story, and the dos/don'ts were really, really great.

I'm someone who leans towards pantsing more than plotting, and I feel like this course has given me the tools to go through my messy notes or written scenes and pull out where plot events happen, so I can see the structure/progression of tension in my story. It's helped me untangle analysing structure better.

I didn't think a story could be so flexible, but I found it amazing how the non-linear outline removed only one plot event from the lot to tell the same story as the linear structure.

AWC breaks down creative storytelling concepts in ways that I find easy to follow, especially when you pair the audio theory with the handouts. While the courses have overlap in content, the theory in one course doesn't skip over the theory that's prioritised in another and assume that you'll enrol in that course to gain the knowledge. AWC is all about sharing and keeping things clear/simple without overwhelming you. I like that it's professionals sharing knowledge with clear examples.

I wanted the confidence to start my journey into writing and to hear everyday people's stories on how they started the same way and how it worked for them. I can only hope this journey may also work for me!

I liked how easy all the featured success stories made it seem. I know hard work goes into every success, however you also need talent and not just passion.

It has given me a little more courage to take this step in learning and try to follow my dreams!

It is a great place to start and work at your own pace. Plenty of options for various courses and skill levels.

It has been a dream of mine to be a travel writer.

I resigned from my job as an Editor of an online lifestyle website a year ago to travel more. This course has encouraged me to share my travel experiences.

I would highly recommend this course.

I have a way with words and want to work as a writer. Copywriting is a good fit for me and it allows me to work from home, which I need to do as I am a carer for my disabled sister.

I found Bernadette Schwerdt easy to understand, knowledgeable and enjoyable to listen to.

I enjoyed the clear explanations and easy to follow documents. The ability to download all the relevant course material is wonderful.

I have secured a paid job as an editor for a very small magazine. My copywriting knowledge will also be useful to help promote it.

Louisa was supportive and encouraging and her detailed feedback was invaluable.

I was really inspired by the opening modules, and the structural outline and other templates were super helpful.

It's got me writing! Just get the first draft down. Everything can be fixed on the second draft.

An excellent investment in exploring whether your novel has legs and if writing is for you.