What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I loved Bernadette as a teacher. She is super knowledgeable and you can tell she knows what she's talking about, but she also broke the topics down in a way that was easy to follow and understand. I felt like her extra pro tips were very valuable. She was very encouraging, which I loved.

I can now see myself actually pursuing copywriting as my career or as at least one aspect of my career. It has given me a foundation to build on and has given me more hope for my professional future.

The course is manageable (time-wise), but great value for money. The instructor knows what they are talking about. The assignments are practical and immensely helpful. The content is presented in an approachable and easily digestible way.

Thank you for such a great course :)

I am working on what will hopefully be the final edits of my novel before I start the submissions process, so I wanted to learn as much as I can about my next steps.

Easy pacing and very well explained content. Valerie also has a lovely clear speaking voice which is useful as I am hearing impaired. Valerie's excitement is infectious, so I am keen to start the submissions process and see how I go.

I was feeling really nervous about starting the next steps with my novel and submissions. The idea of it sent shivers down my spine. I now feel a lot more confident and don't feel that everyone is out to scam me. I know all about Vanity Publishers and the mass of scams that are prevalent so it was difficult not to be scared of sharing my baby.

The Australian Writers' Centre is a treasure trove of invaluable experience. Easy to follow courses, presenters that are lovely, approachable and happy to share experience. It truly is a lovely community and a pleasure to be a part of.

I have learned an incredible amount of helpful information about creative writing. Especially, writing a story that engages the reader and drives them forward in your story.

The on-line tutor and feedback was not only excellent but practical enough to learn from. I observed that they delivered their training, utilising the content they were talking about. ie What was said, was demonstrated, believable and achievable.

The online teaching was the most enjoyable aspect for me. But that said, I did enjoy the feedback on the tasks. I had always thought I was quite a good writer but during this course, I have realised just how much I have yet to learn. Perhaps I needed to be humbled (taken down a peg or two) and this learning experience has opened my eyes to just how much I don't know (or didn't know) about writing.

The course completely met my needs and stirred up the desire in me to write and continue to "learn" to write, in such a way, that engages the readers by the creative use of words, sentences and design.

I realise, just how much I want to share the experiences of my life with others. Especially, to encourage them to be open and honest. And to help others reach for the stars and challenge the readers that there is always a way to overcome the difficulties that life throws at us. No one is exempt from the highs or the lows. Perhaps the greatest impact has been to challenge me, to improve my learning and consequently my writing. To apply what has been taught in this course, to my everyday living and writing.

Excellent training, with content that is appropriate, challenging and engaging. All for an appropriate cost.

Thank you for your feedback and the time you have taken to develop the high level of skills that have been exercised in this course.

Kate was great.

The course has encouraged me to get back in to writing!

AWC courses and instructors are informative, motivating and enjoyable.

I now have an action plan and the motivation to start writing.

You don't need to have a lot of time each day to write. Being committed and disciplined enough to write for short blocks of time regularly will all add up. Just write, it doesn't have to be perfect in the first draft.

Incredibly convenient courses which are filled with practical information that will help you understand the best way to begin doing the writing you are interested in.

Petronella was encouraging and supportive

The course encouraged me to actually start and not be deterred by expectations of perfection.

It was great having the exercises at the end of each module. I really liked the resources list too - read some short stories I'd never heard of!

It helped me with the pieces of writing I was already submitting to my writing group and to competitions.

My tutor and the feedback was great. As soon as I heard what she had to say, I realised that she was 100% correct.

I loved the submission weeks where I got feedback on what I had done.

I have more understanding of the planning and developing process that comes with writing a book. In the future, my characters and plotline will be much more in depth!

Whenever I got feedback, it was a moment where I clicked and realised how much I needed to improve before my story progressed.

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.

I have been a technical and feature article writer for years and wanted to try creative writing. The course seemed to offer foundation lessons. Also, I was keen to get feedback from Pamela.

Pamela was excellent. She was supportive and made constructive suggestions that I was able to incorporate into my assignments.

I enjoyed working at my own pace, yet having immovable deadlines for assignments.

It's given me confidence to continue with my plans for a series of novels. Valerie did not sugar-coat the amount of work involved in writing and that was a valuable lesson to learn.

The course was well-structured and obviously taught by experienced writers with excellent communication skills (as you would expect!). Thank you!

The audio format was great for learning, bonus exercises great, workload not too daunting and the course taught me a lot.

I've been doing the bonus exercises to maintain a daily writing practice.

Made me think about writing in a much more technical and structural way, being able to go beyond just instinct and assuming "great ideas" would be enough.

It is short and sharp but will make you think about technique and structure.

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!

The course built upon what I had already learnt in Creative Writing Stage 1. These courses complemented each other well.

I enjoyed getting extra insights on how to make effective scenes and found the bonus module on settings especially interesting.

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!

Nat's feedback was great. She was very honest and supportive.

I enjoyed the feedback and the sense that I was building skills. Definitely feel my writing is stronger.

Practical approach, critical skill areas addressed & timely and constructive feedback.

I listened to Valerie talk about the course and thought it's just what I needed. I've been wanting to write for years, but life gets in the way, and I have a tendency to put my own needs/desires behind everything else. So this was a great first step for me.

I look back over my life and realise that I've done a lot of different types of writing before.
I've written articles for a newsletter, which I also produced, for a group I was involved with. I've written a blog, and created my own website for it. I've written other content for websites, crowdfunding campaign and social media. I've written some poetry and I'm really enjoying the Furious Fiction each month. So I'm quite amazed to think I've done so much. It gives me confidence to follow this path.

The course gave me the knowledge that I'm already a writer. The possibilities for different types of writing that I could do, most of which I've done on a less formal basis.

The Australian Writers' Centre is full of so much information and opportunity. This course, Reinvent Yourself, has opened my eyes to all the different writing options available to me. It has given me confidence to take that leap of faith in myself, and follow on this writing pathway that I've wanted to do for many years.

I desperately needed help with what to do to get my novel started and then how to put it all into motion. I'd taken notice of Kate Forsyth in many ways throughout the AWC and loved the way she looked at things and explained things whenever I saw her on social media or a free Zoom session. I decided this course was the perfect thing to set my ideas in motion!

Kate Forsyth was wonderful and thorough. She thought of everything, provided many valuable resources that I plan to keep, and entranced me with her wise, lyrical words and phrases that were practical and, mercifully, easy to understand.

Learning everything I feel that I lacked beforehand has given me confidence to get plotting. I'm ready to get started on my novel for real, now that I know what I'm doing. A roadmap has been given and received gratefully.

If you're thinking about signing up to something, do it! The courses are amazing and you won't regret a thing.

Logical, clear, comprehensive, engaging style. Inspired me to help an organisation I volunteer with to improve their website.

The group pushed me to improve my writing. And getting a full manuscript done was incredible. Editing novels at the end of the course was an important part of the course.

Margaret was a great facilitator. She was very encouraging but also gave clear feedback.

It made me start writing properly and finding that I can write.

If you a serious about writing, doing a course like Write your Novel is like going to school for writers. You go from year 7 to 12 in a year.