What’s it like to learn with AWC?

Great level of feedback on the assignments, and always very timely. Bernadette was also great at engaging with questions and comments in the course chat regularly.

I enjoyed the assignments and writing activities.

For the last assignment I went back to an old short story and was able to dramatically improve it using all the skills and techniques from the course. I felt like a completely different writer by the end of five weeks.

It's a great first course to take at the start of your writing journey!

After writing one book without any preparation or experience, I realised I needed to learn more about plotting and planning before attempting my second book. I found this course advertised on the AWC web, registered my interest, and booked in once it was up and running.

Kate was amazing. Although I had discovered some of what she was saying (through trial and error), I also learnt so many things that will help me with my next book. The main point I took from it is that I need to be more professional and organised, and I love the 'top down' approach, i.e., write a telegraph, expand it into a synopsis, then expand that into an outline.

I like the artwork and I enjoyed how Kate related her tips to her own books. Also really appreciate the Challenges booklet. This will be very useful moving forward.

This is a step-by-step process to planning your novel. I can now approach writing my second book with much more confidence.

The author testimonials/stories were great and they spoke to me. Helped to take the fear out and allowed me to own my life as a writer and hopefully soon to be published author, which has always been my dream. Writing books seems to be on the up and up at the moment.

This is a great centre which helps writers of all kinds to learn enormous amounts about a vast array of forms of writing, which enables many of them to reach their goals.

I spent 15+ years in the tourism industry, but since having a child 7 years ago I have moved away from it. I wanted to find a way to get back in the industry that would work for my family life. This course seemed to cover all the basics and have a great overview of travel writing for newbies like me!

I don't know what I expected, but I can tell you I didn't expect to finish the course feeling like I'd just had all the nuts and bolts of the industry revealed! The course was superb: easy bite-sized modules with clear action points and takeaways.

I feel like a whole other world has been revealed to me! I am a freelance event manager who is feeling rather burnt out. A client said to me last week, "I don't have any more events coming up right now but if you ever start copywriting let me know, I could really use a hand." Because I was doing this course, I felt confident enough to say to her that actually I am doing a travel writing course and I would be interested in writing copy for her. We immediately had a Zoom call and decided I would write some blog posts and newsletter copy for her. They are not travel-related posts but I get to practice my writing with a client that fully understands I am a novice! I would never have put my hand up for this type of work if I wasn't doing this course.

I just loved how positive Valerie was in that if you keep trying it will happen!

The course was SO comprehensive and easy to digest - and also very good value!

I always enjoy Pamela's presentations. This one made me more confident to keep writing and not to overdo my writing. I think too many writers get carried away trying to show how clever they are.

It's a great opportunity to improve your skills.

Pamela's knowledge is refreshingly wonderful. Everything she says is like a light bulb moment for me. The way she explained style versus tone as well as the main points on achieving closeness with your reader were highly valuable. I will be actively using the tips and tricks Pamela discussed in my writing going forward.

If you enjoy writing and you enjoy learning, don't hesitate! AWC have something for everyone at every stage of the writing journey.

I am editing my novel with a focus on sharpening the POV. I have had feedback about my use of deep 3rd person POV and I couldn't explain it well enough to convince my critique partner that I knew what I was doing by using this technique in critical parts of my story. I needed a refresher, and when this course was offered along with Kate Forsyth's course, it was serendipitous.

I enjoy the ability to access the material when it suits me, and having access to the course for 12 months is also handy when I need to remind myself of some of the theories as I apply the techniques.

I am now more confident with my understanding of POV and when to use specific POVs in my writing and editing.

The flexibility of AWC's online courses is fantastic. The content of this course covered the basics for beginners, then covered the more complex application for writers who want to level up their craft.

I had heard about Cathie Tasker when I was talking to a writer acquaintance. I was asking who would be a good manuscript editor for middle grade fiction and they recommended Cathie. I thought this was my best chance to get helpful feedback from someone who has worked in publishing.

Cathie is very humble. She gives you the space to be the writer and then chimes in once everyone has shared their views. That said, she knows what she thinks works and will step in to share when she has a strong opinion.

We had great camaraderie within the group and I was impressed by how skilled my fellow writers were at writing, and giving feedback. It gave me confidence that I'm on the right track.

I was attracted to this course because I actually wasn't entirely sure what style and tone are. So felt I needed to know more.

Pamela Freeman is a wonderful tutor and makes the subject easy to understand.

I belong to a writers group, and I am happy to keep my style light and easy as that is the main character's POV, but I have had comments I need more description of scenes, more in depth. Now I realise my MC would not see the scene that way.

You'd be crazy to not do at least one course from the AWC; it has helped me and the courses suit authors from beginner to published.

I always like Pamela's material; it's carefully considered and very well presented. I especially love the speed and authority of her responses to questions; it shows how well she knows her stuff, and her warmth and humour show a real depth of understanding of people, too.

The examples were simple and well chosen to illustrate the points being made.

There is a genuine commitment at the AWC to helping writers understand what publishers are looking for.

Pamela is brilliant and delightful ;)

I appreciate the honest feedback to help improve my writing. I learned that you need to get the character to do something to create a good story and how you should show and not tell.

A good starting ground to launch your interest in writing.

I have been interested in writing middle grade novels for a while, and was half way through my first attempt. I decided it was time to find out more, and this course seemed the perfect fit.

Pamela knows so much about writing and was generous in sharing this knowledge with us all. Her feedback was constructive and I learnt a lot from the feedback I received, both for my current work-in-progress and also in a way that will be useful for my future writing.

I enjoyed being part of a cohort and sharing the experience with others, including the sharing of writing and feedback - this made the course so much richer than just doing it on your own.

The course made me think more deeply about the audience of my writing. While this seems obvious, it was the much-needed shift I needed.

I have loved every AWC course I have done so far. I was so nervous before I enrolled in my first one, but as soon as I started I knew it was exactly what I needed and more. I just wish I hadn't waited so long to jump on in!

The course was easy to follow and it was very interesting listening to Kate.

I'm now motivated to commence my journey with some aids in hand.

A great way to introduce yourself into tackling your dream to write.

AWC is a highly professional learning institute and I was attracted to a short course to explore my desire to develop my writing skills, particularly in fictional writing.

The course offers a very structured and highly supportive environment for learning. There is enough challenge and the option to extend your learning with comprehensive bonus exercises.

It was easy to listen to Nat's feedback each week. Her approach was systematic and streamlined for effective learning. Nat was affirming and consistent in her style of feedback so it was straightforward to learn from her suggestions.

I enjoyed exploring characters within the story's plot and setting. I was fascinated with the experience of inhabiting my characters as I wrote them.

As I'm now retired I really want to explore my creativity and writing looks like my strongest suit. The course has given me a taste of what it could be like to now extend myself in this area. I would love to develop a new career as a fiction writer in children's books and in writing crime and thrillers.

I'd say AWC is a highly reputable and professional institute learning with accomplished writers.

I was drawn to this course because I'm writing a story and I had a gut feel that it is suited to a middle grade audience, but I wasn't sure. Further, if my story is indeed middle grade, I want to know what that even means! And, what I should be aware of.

I have a habit of 'preparing' more than 'doing'. I was concerned that doing this course was another way for me to avoid putting words down. In the end, I believe I learnt exactly what I needed to know and I am grateful for Pamela's feedback.

Pamela is a comfort and a warm dose of encouragement through my ears. She also has a sense of fun, which shines through.

I thought Nat was great and offered great insight.

The audio lessons are very clear, to the point, and recorded very well. The point of view stuff was very helpful for me. And just knowing that it takes a lot of drafts to do something properly.

I would say it is very worthwhile and a great place to start. It is information that you probably can find anywhere in free resources, but it is better to have it neatly packaged and all in one area.

Thanks guys for an enjoyable month!

Nat was very supportive and gave great advice and critiques. She was great! Very encouraging and educational.

I enjoyed the assessments and feedback gained from them.

The course has given me confidence! Opened my eyes to the ability to share my craft with people, show people my writing and what I can gain from opening it up to people. Learning the small things that make a huge impact in writing that I was hoping to learn and expand on.

The AWC offers an accepting environment and easy flexible way of Learning. Easily understood points on how to write, great flow of themes to learn.

Thank you for giving me a reason to write and develop more of my skill and see it as a skill and bring me more confidence to share that!

I was so impressed with Creative Writing Stage 1. It is such a comprehensive course and it is such a lovely community to be part of. I found it very rewarding and Nat Newman is a great mentor. The audios and assignments are so valuable. Thank you AWC for giving me confidence in my writing.

Nat Newman has a lovely presence and gives a very experienced critique with gentleness and things to work on, which is very constructive. Thank you, Nat.

The audios are priceless. And the assignments were daunting but enjoyable in the end.

I feel I can now begin my manuscript on my mother's life. And will definitely do more courses in the future.

AWC is such a fun and professional writing space. Such an experienced community of writers.

Just a big thank you to all your lovely staff.

I have been looking at classes with AWC for quite a while. I'd had a particularly bad day at work as a neonatal nurse and bought a laptop on the way home from work and signed up for this course by the time I went to bed that night. I started it with plans to write a book for my nephews for Christmas.

I was concerned I would be out of my depth. I am a nurse and have never studied any literature or early childhood courses, but the course exceeded my expectations.

Cathie is a fabulous tutor. Her feedback on the assignments has been invaluable and also encouraging.

I loved all of it - both the content and the assignments.

I am writing every day since starting this course. This course has helped me to develop my ideas into stories. It has shown me the importance of show don't tell in picture book writing.

The course is well thought out and easy to complete around other life commitments. The feedback you receive during the course is invaluable for your writing progress.

It was a great experience, with a lovely bunch of people and a really experienced tutor. Thank you very much for putting it together and I’ll return to AWC writing courses in future and recommend them to others.

I enjoyed the feedback, both giving and receiving. The full manuscript feedback at the end was exceptional, and I was very lucky to have a superb reading group.

Coming into the course, I had quite a lot of chapters written, but was still completely unsure about what kind of book it was. Cathie helped me enormously on that. During the course, I've also rewritten almost every chapter, and added new ones. Interestingly, the chapters that really resonated with my final reading group were the ones I've only written since joining the course, which indicates that I'm both on the right path with the decision to make it more personal, and that my writing has really improved in recent months. Also, while I'd shared the first few chapters with quite a few people, the other chapters had never been seen by a soul. So having these really comprehensive feedback rounds has been a wonderful experience that makes the idea of this thing being published one day feel a lot more real. Finally, it's been really great practice for me to build writing (or feedback) time into every week. It almost killed me as I was working on it on the train to work and in lunch breaks, but it was just such a valuable practice that now feels part of my life.

I would say do the year long course for the discipline of a regular writing practice, the great feedback (both giving and receiving) and the professional advice. You come out a better and more disciplined writer for it, and you meet lovely people along the way.