What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I was inspired by the title. It's exactly what I'm searching for...to recreate myself as a writer.

Valerie was an excellent presenter. Presentation was professional, pace was good - not too onerous in terms of expectations.

I was introduced to the idea of freelance writing which for some reason never really inspired me before, but it is exactly what I'm after in terms of the life I'm trying to create for myself, I just couldn't see the pathway before. Now I understand there is a path for me and I just need to learn the more technical aspects of writing, so I will be definitely enrolling in more courses to explore.

I realised that I can use my previous experiences and passions (corporate, culture, sports, wellbeing, neurodiversity advocacy and parenting) to help me to recreate myself as a freelance writer.

Very easy to access online (for us in the regions), first class material, makes me feel excited to be back in Australia again and like a new start is actually possible for me now. I feel less stuck and more empowered, after massive changes brought about by the pandemic.

I have lots of opinions to share and wanted to learn the specifics of writing opinion pieces.

The presenter is a lovely, clever, friendly woman who made it easy for us to participate.

I now have a much better idea what an opinion piece is and how to construct it.

AWC courses are worth the money. Keep up the good work:)

I really enjoyed learning more about the process of writing and reading everyone else's work!

Angela was great, I found her feedback to be helpful and I looked forward to what she had to say each week.

I enjoyed the actual writing part. I haven't written consistently, ever, and I found myself drafting and re-drafting my assessments each week which improved my writing, but also became more enjoyable the more I did it.

I signed up for Novel Writing Essentials during the last week because I have an idea and I want to run with it as far as I can. The idea that I might actually write a novel is really exciting.

I really enjoyed the course. If you do the work and interact with the other participants you will get a lot out of it.

Alex provided useful feedback at every step of the way.

I really enjoyed learning the art of transitions, and the opportunity to interview my classmate and to write a profile about her. I also found the handouts and examples of good and bad writing really useful.

I think it provides a really good foundation for someone wanting to pursue freelance writing. It has given me the confidence and skills to develop ideas into feature articles, and pitch them to prospective publications.

These short courses are a great opportunity to dip your toe into a subject you've been curious about. The timeframe is manageable and the cost isn't too prohibitive, so why not embrace the chance to learn something new.

Writing fiction is a relatively new pursuit for me and I know I need guidance so this course was an ideal entry point. I recently finished a PhD so waited until I had the time and headspace to be able to tackle the exercises and story writing before starting.

I enjoyed the variety of sample stories and exercises, but my favourite part was watching my story develop from the structure I'd mapped out.

I come from a journalism background and this course has made me appreciate the value of just writing instead of editing as I go and giving myself the time to edit and redraft to make sure my story is polished, rather than going with the first draft and one round of edits.

The Short Story Essentials online course is structured so you can work at your own pace, with everything you need to plan, structure, write and edit a short story.

I loved trying a new writing style on for size. Thanks.

Vivienne is an engaging and motivating facilitator. The supporting docs and slide decks were well thought through and presented.

I had never understood what OpEd was in a newspaper and who wrote them or how easy it is. This knowledge will be an easier first step for me to get my writing out there. The hardest part is gaining confidence and getting an understanding of how the industry works.

AWC offers professionally-crafted courses in all types of writing disciplines, designed and taught by industry leaders and accessible to everyone.

I've thoroughly enjoyed all the courses I've ever done with AWC (6,7?), the material and the people I've met.

Margaret is lovely. She was very encouraging throughout and timely in marking submissions. I felt that she gave feedback constructively, offering praise where it was due, picking up writing errors - large or small - and providing suggestions for improvement. She seemed genuinely interested in what everyone had to write.

I enjoyed the flexibility of accessing course material at any time and the assessment tasks. I liked how the assessments were of a manageable length and scaffolded my learning week by week; they didn't feel overwhelming or onerous.

This course has basically ignited the hope that I could be a published author someday... like it's not completely outside the realms of possibility! I hadn't written a story since I was 10 years old. Since then, I had limited myself, thinking writing was just a pipe dream. Now I have a good deal more confidence in myself - I know that I will still need to work hard - but since completing this course, I feel that writing a novel is actually achievable now.

My major learning point came when writing was described as a 'craft'. For years, I have been trying to find a creative outlet - learning an instrument, silversmithing, woodworking - you name it. The idea of crafting, having a craft, is really important to me. I never considered writing to be that... but it is! I've realised that writing is like weaving with words, it can be rhythmic like music, you can mould it like sculpture... it seems so obvious now!

GO FOR IT. If you want a course that gets straight to the point, that gives you the tools and inspiration to start writing without hesitation, this is the one.

Thank you for putting this course together. It has been an absolute pleasure being a part of it!

Vivienne is professional and a good online tutor. I enjoyed the work and feedback, also the content of slides. It gave me some tools and the confidence to write an opinion piece.

The course is for all levels and capabilities as long as you enjoy writing. I have already recommended it.

Thanks Vivienne.

Lesley was a pleasure to listen to. She clearly presented information and tips that were really helpful.

The opportunity to send a small assignment and receive positive feedback from Lesley has given me the confidence to write a chapter book for 6-9 year olds. Thank you, Lesley. The next AWC course I am doing is Laugh out Loud with Tim Harris.

To anyone wondering - there's no set time. You can have 12 months to do the course. AWC sending the course outline, before you decide to go ahead, is very useful. Give it a go and delve into the writing world.

Vivienne is knowledgeable, kind and interesting to listen to. She has a way of encouraging ideas and discussion within boundaries so that participants didn't get too derailed.

This is my third course with the AWC and I've enjoyed each one. It is very professional and personable. They communicate well and the tutors are knowledgeable, experienced and lovely.

It has given me confidence to try new ways of writing. I have always wanted to be a novel writer but now I am looking at exploring other ways of writing.

I was amazed at how many ways you can write and writing professions.

You have to do some courses through AWC; they are great. You learn so much and the tutors have a wealth of knowledge.

What a kick start! The course has woken me up from a long nap in a dreary world where I honestly started to believe that writing was not achievable for me. Feeling and being proactive in my own goal now seems achievable and a reality. Ultimately, I feel I have been given the permission to write and that is what I am now doing.

If you are stuck in your own beliefs and trapped by unhelpful thought patterns then this is a course that will lift and inspire you as well as answer questions regarding the process of writing and publishing in an honest and helpful way. It is short, sweet and motivating.

I actually hadn't realised just how much could be taught in only two lessons, but Kate has completely packed these lessons with so much information and examples for writers. It is such a gift.

I loved the way Kate gave us so many examples, and she also unpacked trickier concepts so that all of us could grasp the way different plotting and planning ideas can be used in our own work.

Everything was enjoyable about this course!

Kate's example and discussion of her own plotting plans, including the word count she aims for with each incident in a story, has profoundly impacted my ideas for writing. I feel so much more capable and able to tackle the projects in my imagination.

Kate's planning session lined up with what I had done for when I was undergoing my PhD, but the plotting session just completely blew me away. Her explanation of how to go about plotting your story and its course is just the biggest help I could have asked for.

Any writing course you choose from the Centre is going to give you the *best* advice. And you will learn so much, you'll wonder how you never knew about this great resource before now.

Thank you for making these courses that are filled with information so affordable. It makes a huge difference, and sparks both our imagination and determination to go for our dreams.

I knew picture book writing was a finely honed craft with specific conventions, and I wanted to get clear, concrete information on this, as well as a sense of how the industry works, particularly expectations in presenting manuscripts to publishers. I was happy with the quality of the information covered in the modules.

Suzanne is very encouraging and constructive in her feedback and responded to questions promptly. It was good to have her insights as someone who works as an editor/publisher within the industry.

I liked the way the information in the modules was designed and structured, and released weekly rather than all at once. This made the course more dynamic i.e. to be a part of a small group receiving info, specific learning outcomes and deadlines each week with personalised tutor feedback. I also loved that the course allows each participant to get what they want from it and there's plenty of time to access the information afterwards.

From my earlier exposure at RMIT, I understood the incredible craft and perspiration it takes to write the best picture books, and the course cemented this well and truly, but it also offered important insights into the publishing side and great information on how to become immersed in the thriving children's writing community. I feel more confident now, though I know it's a pretty tough road to get published.

The course is very enjoyable and provides a solid foundation in the elements of the craft and up-to-date industry insights.

The flexibility of this course was fantastic. With a very young baby at home, I needed a course that I could pick up and put down whenever I needed, and could easily complete small bits at a time around my baby's needs.

My only concern was completing the assignments on time. However once I started, I did not find this at all challenging due to the very achievable time commitments for each assignment and the easy to understand content sitting behind those assignments.

The feedback was excellent and delivered in very kind terms. It was always posted on the Monday immediately following the assignment submission deadline, which allowed any feedback to be incorporated into the next week's assignment where relevant. The tutor also posted a number of helpful links and articles in week one covering some common issues among new writers.

The audio lessons combined with the handout were really interesting and the content was broken down into understandable and logical chunks of information. Going through the handouts each week was always a revelation, like a veil had been lifted on my favourite books, and I finally had an understanding of the authors' choices and why their books were so successful.

I had always considered myself to be 'on the outside', that is someone masquerading as a potential writer, with everyone else being 'true writers' whose novels came to them with distinct clarity and mastered in only one or two drafts. This course has not only filled me with self-confidence, it has given me all the fundamentals necessary to complete a good quality first draft. It also gave me the courage to pick up a novel I started many years ago, which I thought I had put away for good in fear that it was too ambitious and I would never have the skill to do the story justice. I now feel ready to revisit the story, and continue to write.

Novels are not written in moments of total clarity and inspiration. Even the best writers struggle to write some days, are sometimes unclear where their plot will go, and need to do multiple drafts to get the finished product I pick up off the shelf. I thought writers either had it or they didn't. It was wonderful to realise that all writers need to work hard, and if I myself work hard, there's no reason why I can't also be a writer.

This course is suitable for people of all motivations. Whether the goal is to publish, refine skills for writing competitions, create something for your own enjoyment, learn a new skill, or just to keep your mind active and sharp, this course manages to be relevant and interesting for people of all goals. The flexibility in learning and understanding the content is an added bonus. There aren't many courses of any discipline that could be comfortably achieved while in the trenches of early first-time parenthood, but this course was perfect for me.

Each week when I reviewed the content and submitted my assignment, I felt as though I had really achieved something and that I had taken a small step towards becoming a writer. The confidence boosts I would get each week were unexpected, and I hope I can carry the momentum moving forward.

I was attracted to this course because it specialised specifically in writing picture books for children.

I found the handouts very helpful to follow while listening to the lectures. The extra exercises were helpful too. I found Suzanne's feedback was a good balance of encouragement and areas to improve. I found her comments about my and other students writing astute and specific enough to understand and make a change.

I enjoyed the lectures and completing the assignments. I enjoyed reading other students' writing.

I am keen to keep writing and improve my writing. I would like to maybe send something to a publisher and see how it goes.

A professionally presented and informative course.

The feedback was excellent and very helpful. I thought Vivienne was very respectful yet was able to give critiques and point people in the right direction with helpful advice. She is a good teacher.

I liked the different types of assignments and that each one looked at a different aspect of feature writing. Even though I found it stressful that other people would see my writing, I think doing the assignments and getting feedback, and listening to the feedback for others' work was the best part.

I think the course reminded me that I like my day job - being a scientist - that I like being the 'expert' but it also helped me think about how to communicate science to the general public and to find avenues for that. Just by doing assignment one on finding magazines, I found out a lot about where science articles get published and found an online science journalism group in Australia. That was great.

The course I did gave very practical advice and the feedback is well worth the money spent. If someone was thinking about moving into freelance I would DEFINITELY recommend the course I took.

Thanks Vivienne.

I found the handouts very helpful, and the videos excellent. I enjoyed being able to do it at my own pace.

The course has enabled me to look at my characters I had already established and give them a voice, to tell me their story.

Do this Essentials course. Give your characters a chance to tell you their back story. This course has enabled me to think why Seb and Amber in my story behave the way they do. My characters have a voice.

This course was excellent, I found that the handouts, which you can download, and the videos are really good and very well-articulated.

I wasn't sure where or how to start to become a writer, so this course seemed ideal.

I really enjoyed listening to Valerie and all the guest speakers. The book is remarkably comprehensive - thank you for making this available!

It led me to realise the type of writing that I am best suited to. Narrowing things down in this way is enormously helpful.

I'm very glad I took this step. I'm now doing the Copywriting Essentials course - I'm on my way!

This course is ideal for those who are interested in exploring professional writing, but are not sure how to begin the process.

The explanation and examples have really helped me with my next novel. I hit a snag and doing this course helped me to clear up which POV I could best tell this story.

I now have a set of questions to ask myself before beginning to write to know which direction I'm heading in.

The courses are prepared by people who have been where you are now and are where you wish to be in the future. The information they impart is from their writing experience.