What’s it like to learn with AWC?

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.

I knew I wanted to write a children's book; other than the idea, I didn't know where to start.

This course exceeded my expectations. Having actual tutor feedback on my writing was invaluable. She was very patient, very thorough, very quick!

I enjoyed completing my assignment, sitting on it, letting it rest, submitting on Sunday. Waiting for my next lessons, waiting for my Loom feedback session!

I am determined to continue with my journey to be a published author.

I have joined the Furious Fiction writing, I'm listening to your podcasts, I've joined your Facebook pages. I'm getting very involved and very excited! The AWC is a great spot to find a course to help in any aspect of writing that needs it.

I have always wanted to write children's books but felt stuck, so thought a course might help. This short course seemed good quality and covered the things I wanted to learn.

Jude is very knowledgeable on all aspects of what we covered - illustrating, writing and publishing. She was very down to earth and engaging. I really enjoyed seeing Jude's works in progress and comparing them to the final product. It made it feel more doable and not just a distant, unachievable dream.

I think I used to procrastinate writing because it seemed so unrealistic that I could actually create a book. But I feel motivated now and I feel like it's possible.

I already knew it in theory, but I really 'got' the idea that you have to draft and then refine, and keep going through that process, rather than starting and editing it before you have even finished a draft. I would end up being so put off by the thought of a publisher seeing my crappy draft that I would never finish anything!

People do this course for all kinds of reasons, but for me it helped me get unstuck. If you feel like you want to write a picture book but for whatever reason you just don't do it, then it's definitely worth doing this course.

Fantastic opportunity to learn the foundations of picture book writing from an expert. The Convent in Abbotsford was perfect.

Judith Rossell is a natural teacher. The group worked well together under her guidance. We shared out writing exercises and the feedback was incredibly constructive. It made me think about my stories in different ways. I learnt how to develop the story from different POVs and how to analyse and cut/tighten up my work. I would highly recommend enrolling in this course with Judith.

I now feel confident that I have the skills to put my work out there.

Don't hesitate to sign up. If you want to take your writing further, in a supportive learning environment, these courses are invaluable.

Jude was great; she created a safe and encouraging environment. She has a huge amount of knowledge of the book world. Jude was very encouraging to everyone and gave appropriate and helpful advice without judgement.

The group was fantastic and as a complete beginner I found the shared knowledge and input from the group to be very valuable.

It has given me the knowledge and confidence to create a book from an idea, and with some further work I now have the knowledge to submit to publishers.

The course is very worthwhile and good value for money.

This course is very methodical and very comprehensive. Very easy to do online. I am pleased I finally made the leap to follow my dream.

Cathie was very supportive and encouraging. There is a lot to learn, but Cathie gave some good tips. I would like to meet her personally. One day, perhaps!

I enjoyed the challenge of self-discipline - doing the course each week helped with gaining momentum. Now that I have finished I want to invest more in my writing and in more courses.

More, More, More! I want to learn and do more. Thank you AWC! Your emails just keep coming and I knew one day, I would jump in! I am so glad I did. You make it seem easy, but you don't sugar coat it. I have a lot of work to do, but I know you are there for encouragement, support and ongoing learning opportunities.

I absolutely recommend AWC. You have a wide range of courses that suit so many. So accessible and flexible.

I was most impressed with the course and feedback. I enjoyed how the modules built on each other, linking to new material.

I have given myself the challenge to write daily and in a couple of months enrol in the picture book masterclass.

Just do it, you won't be disappointed.

Thanks to Cathie for all of her learnings and feedback. I have learnt so much and I'm extremely excited to continue on my writing journey. She was very specific even down to grammar which helped me immensely to finesse my writing.

I have learnt the structure of how to make an impact when writing a picture book. It has given me the confidence to continue writing and, after some more courses, to send out my manuscripts.

If you are considering doing the course, do it. It's great value for money and you learn so much.

The course was very informative and has given me the confidence and knowledge to work on my own drafts and hopefully submit them in the coming months.

Cathie's feedback was welcomed. It was clear to me how knowledgeable and established she is in the picture book world, and I was happy to take her comments on board.

I liked that it pushed me. I liked that there were two module tasks that made me come up with two manuscripts. I liked that within a relatively short period of time, following submission and feedback, I was able to come up with two manuscripts that I was happy with.

I am motivated to pursue this dream of having a published picture book.

Do it! If you have a passion for children's literature, give it a go.

The content is sound and the steps are set at comfortable increments.

I found the feedback especially encouraging. It is super motivating to engage with a current industry professional. The feedback is prompt and helpful. Cathie's skills and passion for the craft are clearly conveyed. Her advice gives me the confidence that all I have to do is EXACTLY what she says!

I enjoyed the stretch to actually get a couple of stories working. The immediate feedback is an amazing experience.

I feel I have the tools to achieve my dreams. The course is a solid step. Now it's up to me to grow the skills, spend the time consolidating, do the set ups and continue to see what I can achieve.

The content is clear, cleanly presented and challenging in a great way. Anyone interested to learn picture book writing at any stage in their journey will grow from this material. Just be prepared with some story ideas and put your best time into the course while you've got access to feedback.

I just loved it. Thank you so much.

I have struggled for a while with knowing the 'rules' of picture book writing, since I come from the point of view of an illustrator who creates characters and worlds visually. I was itching to be able to write the stories to accompany my own illustrations so I signed up!

I was really happy with Cathie's approach to giving feedback. Her honesty is really essential as it helps you cut out bad habits from an early stage in the course. She offered some invaluable insights to me as an illustrator too which I was happily surprised by.

I enjoyed the opportunity to learn at my own pace and to be able to receive individual feedback from a professional in the industry.

The 'show don't tell' concept has been my biggest revelation. I had heard of it before but now I understand it better and can see how it's an entire world to be studied. The lessons about using potent verbs and active tenses, and about what to cut out were absolute gold to me.

The course has given me the confidence to approach publishers and a newfound self-belief that I CAN write impactful picture book manuscripts.

If you are wanting a real industry-centred writing course then definitely enrol with AWC.

The commitment of a few hours a week for 5 weeks seemed achievable as a first step for me, with two young children and a business to run. The cost seemed reasonable, and since completing the course I can confirm that it was good value for me.

This was a great introduction to writing picture books. I didn't expect to learn so much about pitching and how to establish my online presence as a writer. The 'Bonus: Insights from an industry expert' was really useful, in addition to the course content.

Cathie provided useful and meaningful feedback. This meant a lot coming from someone of her background in the industry.

I enjoyed the writing, and seeing my stories improve with practice and applying Cathie's feedback.

Since completing the course, the idea of publishing picture books has gone from a vague dream to something within my power to achieve. Although it will require plenty of work (I won't pretend it's easy), the path forward is clearer.

Whether you're a complete novice (like I was) or have been practicing the craft for a while, there is something in this course for any unpublished writer curious about writing picture books.

A big 'thank you!'

I wanted to hone my writing skills and learn the craft of writing children's picture books. I couldn't wait to start!

Cathie is amazing! I'm so grateful for her guidance and knowledge.

I enjoyed absolutely everything about the course. I have a better understanding now of how to structure a picture book.

The AWC is a fantastic hub and learning centre that offers great courses, webinars and has a supportive community.

Cathie obviously brings a great deal of experience and knowledge to picture book writing. She's a master crafter!

I enjoyed seeing my improvement over the course.

I've been writing and submitting stories to publishers, unsuccessfully, for over 25 years. I didn't know there were so many techniques and requirements that I needed to have perfected.

An outstanding opportunity... Thanks for offering such a great course!

Cathie's feedback was really good. She was encouraging while detailing what I should improve. I enjoyed seeing my writing improve over the different assignments.

I was already a writer of fiction but I had never done any course and felt that I learned a lot in this course. I want to go back to my published book and use what I learned, even if it's not a picture book.

If you want to improve your writing with professional advice, don't hesitate and register with the Australian Writers' Centre.

Lots of great content to revisit, mull over and practice practice practice.

The tutor was very succinct, clear, knowledgeable. I enjoyed learning the content and hearing positive and constructive feedback from the tutor. Reading submissions from other students.

It has opened my eyes to what is involved in creating a picture book. I have learnt to persevere with something that I am not automatically good at. Good for the brain and new neural connections. I feel motivated to keep working on creating a successful picture book.

My AHA moment was during assessment 4 when I kept working on successive drafts and practicing implementing different elements of what we were learning. That 'polishing' is a practical process and a mystical (inner) process too.

I had stalled with my writing in recent years but this course has reignited my love of writing and again I feel the joy of creating new manuscripts.

I loved receiving the feedback in such a timely manner and always edited my text while the feedback was fresh.

This course is well paced and very informative. It will help you polish and fine tune your work.

Thanks to everyone involved and I am so glad I did this course.

Loved gaining the knowledge. I was very pleased that I enrolled. I know I can do this now. I can take the next steps; that inner critic has quietened down.

The course removed doubt from my mind that I could do this. That my stories could be written so others could enjoy them too.

I had a couple of children's stories which I had submitted to publishers but never received responses. I saw this AWC course advertised, and it sounded practical.

I feel that I have a greater awareness of direct language, economising with words, punctuation, showing rather than telling and revealing feelings. Cathie looked closely at my work and provided useful feedback.

This is a practical course which offers useful writing tips for children's picture books.

The tutor was very knowledgeable. Great and specific feedback that was helpful and with examples to show me how to go about making the changes also.

I enjoyed receiving the feedback from Cathie. I felt the written support material was comprehensive and helpful also.

I think I have the skills now to adapt my writing for children's books and I definitely have the knowledge to take my writing further if I wish.

The course is worth it for the money and what you get out of it. You will gain knowledge from it you can't get anywhere else.