What’s it like to learn with AWC?

Pamela was exceptional! I've never attended any of her workshops before, but I will from hereon.

I thought Pamela was concise, generous with her information and very knowledgeable. She presented ideas concisely and in an applicable way. Just fantastic!

The sessions are helpful and inspiring. Just what you need to kickstart your writing engine, and if you are brand new to writing, you will learn SO MUCH. I feel rewarded, if not with knowledge, then with inspiration, every time I participate in an AWC course.

I was trying to develop a main character for a murder mystery. I have attended other sessions with Pamela both live and on zoom and I knew she would be knowledgeable and helpful.

I really appreciated the workbook that came with the session and the enthusiasm and great communication skills of the presenter.

All the general points really came to life with the multiple examples Pamela gave. They really helped the message to get through to me and gave me practical assistance and a way forward to develop character and plot.

I thoroughly enjoyed the session and stayed until the end. Your speaker was very informative and forthcoming. Great course.

Launching myself as a freelance writing feels quite daunting. I really appreciated how Vivienne said to do something every day towards getting started and I really appreciated that. Great life advice as well as for going into freelance writing. That's what I'm doing.

Vivienne was fantastic. Incredibly thorough, honest and encouraging. I learned a lot from the comments about other people's work too.

I enjoyed working on all my assignments and feeling my capabilities grow and expand. I can do this.

I have some pretty serious health issues so being able to do the course from home, and the step-by-step way the course was taught, is seeing me take on freelancing, get my ABN and get cracking. I think doing the course has also helped me get back into the swing of things in other areas as well.

I wasn't sure if I was actually a romance writer, but this course cleared up that there are multiple ways to write romance regardless of whether I see myself doing only that.

I liked all the worksheets and handouts; I think that's an integral part of what AWC offers in their courses.

I know what I want to write, how I might go about that and what paths there are if I ever feel like being published is in my future.

It's so easy to dismiss a calling as a writer as something for 'another day' - but with AWC courses, that day can be TODAY! They're easy, simple to understand, offer great connections to other budding authors as well as professionals and the takeaways are enormous.

I've really enjoyed this course and feel like I have a much better understanding of the business side and other writing avenues.

It's given me more confidence to embark on my freelance writing career.

This course has all the business information you need to embark on your freelance writing career and I highly recommend it.

Pamela was very knowledgeable and encouraging. Her feedback was clear and helpful. I really enjoyed listening to her thinking aloud process during feedback. It was constructive and gave me direction to improve my writing.

The pace and the exercises were a lot of fun. I liked that we developed the character before writing the narrative.

This has been a fun learning experience. I had a very strange 5 weeks though, a big restructuring suddenly happened at work, then I got COVID, but I was still able to fit this in. I am definitely going to keep making time to write.

It is worth the time and effort. If you want to learn about writing, then this is the way to do it.

I knew Pamela would be experienced and knowledgeable, but what I was impressed by was her thoroughness and dedication and that she seemed to immerse herself in each piece of work and care about every would-be author in the course.

I enjoyed seeing the beginnings of some fabulously creative pieces of work and recognising that the comments from Pamela would make these pieces even stronger.

I have been studying creative writing at uni and copywriting is not on the list of units. I wanted to know more about it. The price of the course was attractive and the length of time.

After the course, I am not left wondering about any aspect of copywriting, or what it means to be a copywriter. The handouts are invaluable, and the videos were easy to understand and felt perfectly conversational.

I want to set up a webpage and have a crack immediately. It's a great side hustle to learn and execute. You just have to understand what copywriting actually is.

I have been loosely following Australian Writers' Centre for a while and I was finally ready to take my writing a bit more seriously. I wanted to polish my skills and learn how to pitch ideas.

Vivienne was great; her feedback was clear and much appreciated. I enjoyed having the accountability and the feedback.

I'm feeling so much more confident about pitching ideas and trying to make a career from freelance writing. The course was extremely helpful and well worth the time and financial investment.

Angela's feedback was useful in that it provided a different perspective on my writing. She saw things which I hadn't considered (or even tried for) which was very interesting for me.

I enjoyed having assignments with deadlines - this pushed me to get some writing done and block out time. Given that I've not been sure how I'm going to be able to find enough time to write, this was a valuable lesson in what you can get done even in a short period of time.

The course provided a really useful foundation for understanding the technical language and frameworks for creative writing. Without that, even experienced writers might look at the creative writing process as confusing and opaque.

I'm also reading "The Novel Project" by Graham Simsion. The chapter I was up to happened to perfectly coincide with one of the course modules, and I realised that I actually understood the book's contents, thanks to the course.

I really enjoyed the audio lessons and working with the handouts. It was a great balance of theory and real-life application. I enjoyed the relaxed tone and the level of detail given in modules 1-4.

I was editing my second novel at the time of beginning the course, and it really helped me 'check' that I had all the right elements, tension points, the arcs etc. in place. While completing this course I also signed with Danielle Binks of Jacinta Di Mase Management. So, while the later modules weren't very relevant to me (pitching/publishers, etc.), the craft-based modules really helped me refine my manuscript.

The 3 Act Structure and tension points content was great, really well explained, and I appreciated the clarity provided with regards to the main character drives and motivations. These points really helped me while editing.

Great value for money. Self-paced! All materials can be downloaded. Easily accessible. Trustworthy and well-informed content. Loved it.

From Valerie's beautiful speaking voice to Pamela's insightful critiques, and the in-depth course content, I was hooked.

Pamela's critiques via video were so helpful. We were encouraged to view everyone's critique to gain more knowledge. She pointed out areas of concern or delight and said why she thought that.

If you are serious about writing for children, this is the course you should do. It is definitely worth the money. A bonus is the camaraderie between the students who post helpful comments.

Thank you, Pamela and Valerie, for this excellent course. I have been saying to myself, no more courses, that's enough. I'm so glad I did this one.

Pamela really knows what she is talking about. I was impressed by the way she was able to provide detailed and relevant feedback to a variety of writers.

I liked that it is available all week, but with valuable feedback at the end of every week. I enjoyed getting valuable expert advice on my work. It was good that we could listen to everyone's feedback and learn from each other too.

AWC teachers are experts in their field and the teaching is practical and relevant.

I enjoyed the pragmatic elements of how publications operate, and the need to quickly get to the point when pitching an article and not wasting an editor's time.

The tutor was very positive & motivational! Vivienne provided constructive criticism which meant I didn't feel disheartened when hearing feedback from her.

I feel more confident in actually pitching an idea to a publication - I can see that the barrier to get started isn't that hard.

Do this if you already have some passion in writing and sharing ideas with people.

I loved the detail it went into. I didn't realise how much there was to think of.

I have all of these tools now to improve each scene of my second draft, especially my settings which I think I have been a bit slack on.

AWC courses are both very thorough and concise; it would be hard not to get something out of them.

Doing this course was well worth it. Excellent and thorough advice. I liked that the content was easy to understand and follow.

Several points just clicked and I feel I was able to make significant improvements to my manuscript.

I would love to illustrate children's books and I have been working towards this for some time. It would be an absolute dream to develop my skills in writing to both write and illustrate and get the wacky visions in my head out there. I would love to help struggling readers develop a love of reading.

My biggest concern was dedicating enough time to the course. The way it is run is fantastic. I ended up having so much other work on my shoulders and still managed to actively listen to the lessons, read the handouts and complete the assignments.

I love that there is so much detail about the industry. I feel so much better equipped to chase this passion. I have wanted to start writing for a long time. I briefly started a university course that was nowhere near as valuable as this one. I feel confident in practicing now where I was so lost before. I am so thankful I found the Magic and Mayhem podcast that led me here.

Susan was amazing. She was empowering, gentle and so knowledgeable. I can't thank her enough for all her wonderful feedback and dedication to helping me become better.

I loved the bonus material for illustrators. It really made me feel I'm where I'm meant to be.

I didn't know how to start a story at all. It was as if there are just too many options in how to write a story. You gave me structure and now it's like I can control my creative powers! It was also so nice to get positive feedback. I'm a very practical person and I'm almost embarrassed to admit I'm chasing this dream, but this all just feels normal now.

Please tell Susan thank you! She is a rock star and I can't wait to do another course to learn more!

Just do it! You won't just improve your writing but get guidance on the whole journey.

The course is sooo detailed; I had no idea that there were so many techniques to make kids' books funny.

There was so much to enjoy, but being a nerd, I have to say completing the assignment and receiving Tim's detailed and positive feedback was the most enjoyable. He was so thorough and kind.

It is cementing something I have been considering for a while, namely writing something in a longer form than picture books. While middle grade has always been my preferred reading style, the longer word count has made this rather daunting and prohibitive. I was given a great idea for a story by a child years ago, which I thought was rather ridiculous at the time, but still instinctively always knew there was a gem in there somewhere. With the knowledge gleaned from this course and the detailed planning and editing methods I've learned through this course, I may just attempt to write it. Even saying that I might use planning techniques is in itself a HUGE change. I'm rather excited to see what, if anything, will come of it.

The innovative and forward thinking team at the Australian Writers' Centre are always looking out for and developing new course ideas to meet the needs of writers in the 21st century, whether that be in actual formal writing courses, or in blogging, or promoting yourself and your books/work. There really is something for everyone and I have no doubt that there will always be something (often new) for everyone who is keen to engage in communicating with others through the magic of putting words on a page.

Lesley is a great presenter and really emphasised the important aspects of writing for this age group. I will be more aware of adding drama and maybe a catastrophe or two to my writing.

Lesley presents a great course that covers all aspects of writing chapter books. If you want to write for children, it's a must.