What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I've always liked reading and writing but, due to work, never had much of an opportunity. My wife knew of my passion and enrolled me into this course as a birthday present. I'm so glad she did!

I absolutely loved the creative writing course! The learning content and resources were well constructed and, combined with the assignments and exercises, aided my better understanding of the art of creative writing.

Angela's assessments of my assignments were very constructive, helpful and on the mark every single time. It is quite obvious that she is a seasoned professional in the art of creative writing.

I enjoyed putting all the learning from the resource materials to work in my assignments and impressing myself with how much I had improved since starting the course. I also enjoyed the interactions among my fellow students...and knowing that I wasn't alone on this journey!

It has reignited my passion to start creative writing. The course has also given me the confidence to plan to write a series of short stories...and perhaps even a novel one day.

If you would like to start creative writing or improve your creative writing skills, contact the Australian Writers' Centre!

Thank you so much for including me in this course, which has convinced me that I am not too old to start a creative writing career!

I found being able to do this in an achievable time frame and not under pressure made this course enjoyable. It also gave me great theoretical background to writing which I had not covered for a while. The feedback was useful and I was able to use it to critique my writing for my next tasks.

The course was great in kickstarting my writing. Made me feel like writing for an audience is possible and that I am capable of it.

Do it - it's a great confidence builder. I'd always hesitated, because I was worried about sharing my writing and I'm not great with receiving feedback. However, I found I enjoyed the critical feedback knowing it was only going to strengthen my writing for other readers.

Thank you to my tutor Amanda and other students for their feedback.

This course absolutely clicked for me. It's exactly the kind of work that I want to be doing and I honestly cannot wait to get started!

I have so much respect for Bernadette, her knowledge, experience, and practical application to work are awesome!

I have always been a wordy writer, and I have found that this course has given me some tools around being succinct and tailoring what I write.

I loved the course that I completed, and felt absolutely encouraged and welcome to step into the world of copywriting. The course modules together with the assignments and feedback have given me the confidence and tools I needed to call myself a writer.

The AWC course on children's picture books is great! I have already recommended this course to a friend. It teaches you a lot of valuable skills for writing children's picture books as well as valuable tips for getting into the industry and approaching publishers. You will definitely come out of the course a better writer and with skills for approaching publishers professionally.

I have an illustration background but want to write and illustrate my own stories. I knew very little about the writing side of things, so this course was perfect!

I was a little concerned that it would be too much for me to fit into my work/life schedule, but it was very manageable. I could listen to the lessons whenever I wanted to. I really appreciate the flexibility the course offers in that respect.

I was impressed by the speed and clarity at which Zanni dissects and critiques stories. I found her feedback to be very useful, straight to the point and also very encouraging. She guided me to write a story draft that I believe is worth presenting to a publisher with a little more editing.

I found the structure and format of the online course really refreshing. I've studied a lot, up to a master's degree, and believe this to be the best course I've done in terms of balance between the volume of information and practical assessments. I also enjoyed Zanni's feedback. The course is affordable in terms of cost and time commitment as well.

This course has really helped me to start thinking like a picture book author and has also taken the mystery out of the publishing process and industry as a whole.

The Writing Picture Books course is a perfect introduction to the field. It offers a thorough understanding of the current trends, what's involved in the practical process of writing a picture book and how to edit and prepare for a publisher. I totally recommend it to anyone wanting to make a start or needing guidance on their first attempts at writing.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course. Thank you!

I have just retired from a very busy and enjoyable career as a developmental/behavioural paediatrician. I've always loved children's books and recently become a grandmother, with more grandchildren on the way. I wanted to do something creative in the area of writing and found this course on Google. The AWC looked such an excellent group to start my quest for learning to write creatively.

Zanni has been thoughtful, encouraging and the experience she brings, very helpful. It has been enjoyable to read the stories from the rest of the group, and also to listen to Zanni's suggestions for them.

I enjoyed many things about this course. Learning about the structure of a picture book, and what makes a 'not put downable' story. The interaction with others on our course and reading their great stories. Zanni's guidance.

This course has given me a new pursuit, which I think about daily, and look forward to continuing with.

If you are interested in writing in any form, do one of the online tutored courses to start you on your journey. The Australian Writers' Centre also introduces you to the vibrant community of writers and illustrators in Australia.

Just a big thank you.

I watched the Zoom information session regarding copywriting and feature writing that was held a couple of months ago. Bernadette explained what copywriting was and I was instantly hooked. I felt that I would really enjoy this as a career and wanted to pursue it.

Bernadette knows her craft extremely well and is very generous with her time, study material and guidance. I would highly recommend anyone to learn from her; she has so much knowledge and is great at teaching it. I also appreciated that she taught the actual subject herself and was the one that graded our assignments as well. This provided consistency.

I realised that I can write for a living and have a stable income working from home. I never knew copywriting was an option until I did this course.

The tutor was brilliant. No negative feedback at all. Very knowledge, clear and easy to understand.

I enjoyed the handouts we were given as resources for our future, I enjoyed the fact the course was online and self paced, I also enjoyed all of the assignments as I found them challenging but also really fun!

I feel like I now have more confidence when writing copy since learning about the headline formulas, features and benefits, linking words etc. I feel like it has made me a more confident writer.

I would say that the course content was outlined perfectly, that there was a right amount of learning/assignment, that it was easy to understand and that it was challenging but fun.

I am always interested in improving my skills. Working on my manuscript, I wanted more technical information on creating scenes. I was somewhat concerned that it might be too basic for me, but the level of detail was excellent and I can already see how I can apply this information to my manuscript in the second draft.

I feel better equipped to continue writing. I feel like I have more tools to work with, rather than just 'winging it'.

I've taken a few online courses now, and each has been beneficial. There is a huge variety of courses for whatever stage you are at in your writing and whichever way you like to learn - live, with feedback or accessing it when you have a spare minute like I do with the online course. Would definitely recommend.

I had just completed the first draft of a novel I'm working on. It was great timing, as I felt I needed help with the editing process.

It has opened my eyes to just how big a task writing a novel actually is. It's also provided tips that will hopefully prove beneficial in the future should I write another novel. Hopefully they will save me a lot of time.

The course material is easy to follow and the people working there really care about seeing you grow in your craft and having fun in the process, whilst being honest about how big an endeavour it can actually be.

Helped me realise what I'll have to do to edit my novel. I wasn't sure how to approach it (major rewrite several times!) but I really liked the clear steps and focus points of this course.

Editing is hard and it's not about rewriting a billion times - it's about being logical and proceeding through different stages to pinpoint problems!

Do it, it's helpful, don't leave it to the last minute like I did.

I loved the course. The information was clear and interesting and valuable. I will be referring back to the notes and exercises for sure.

Suzanne was great. Her feedback was kind and constructive and really encouraging.

I most enjoyed writing! I've been trying to get myself started for so long and this really put me in the path.

I was also really comforted by the information and advice. I guess I'd always thought writers sat down and the words flowed beautifully onto the page. It's just never done that for me and it was comforting to see how much "behind the scenes" work actually goes in to that finished product. It gave me hope!

It's very worth it. If you were trying to master any other skill, you would seek training and expertise from people within the industry, why not writing.

I knew I'd need this course to edit my manuscript when I finally finished it. It backed up what I learned in the Fiction Essentials - Scenes course. The handouts are an awesome tool to be used over.

During the course I found myself saying, "Yes! I did that in my manuscript." For example, the final segment - making sure the ending ties up answers asked in the first part of the book. It also highlighted areas I have doubts about - sagging middle.

The Australian Writers' Centre is the right place for all the write courses.

Michelle was great. She knew her stuff and was open and realistic about the challenges faced by editors. Michelle also talked about managing expectations and relationships, which I found very helpful.

Time well spent! I needed a confidence boost in some areas and the environment was friendly and encouraging. My tutor had extensive and current experience, and made us feel like we were all in it together.

Thank you :)

Angela was fantastic. Her analysis and assessment of each person's submission was very comprehensive, positive and encouraging. I especially liked the last assignment evaluation as she edited these as well.

The most enjoyable part of the course was reading and commenting on other student's work. Their comments on my writing was so encouraging in the sense that I really felt that I was in a community. I have made some new friends.

The course is very balanced in the amount of lessons and handouts as well as assignment expectations. I didn't get time to finish or even look at some of the extra exercises, but I will work through these at my own pace.

It has made me want to take up writing seriously, not just as something I dabble in. I want to be a writer! That is a profound life choice for me.

I had a wonderful experience participating in the course and this was due, not only to developing a creative process for writing, but also in the resources and support I received from my tutor and AWC.

I'll be back!

Angela's feedback is affirming and supportive, giving valuable comments and guidance, especially for someone like me who came into the course knowing absolutely nothing about the process!

I enjoyed reading the other students' work and communicating with them. Also, being able to do the assignments in my own time and at my own pace, within the weekly format.

I knew nothing about how to construct a narrative, a scene etc. I had no idea about structure, the importance of setting the scene, and using the four colours in a scene. This course has taught me so much, and has given me sign posts to guide the way. The handouts will be invaluable to refer to in future.

You don't need to be an enormously gifted writer to succeed - you do need to be prepared to do the work with passion, time and self-discipline, but you don't have to be the next Charles Dickens!

The atmosphere within this course is stimulating, but always very encouraging, which gives even the most sensitive writers an environment of acceptance and trust, knowing their work will be dealt with in a respectful way. This, in my opinion, is a huge "tick" for AWC.

If you're looking for an excellent grounding in the craft of writing creatively, to learn important guidelines and receive valuable feedback which will enable you to hone your skills and help you grow as a writer, then this is the course for you.

The tutor was good and informative. I enjoyed how matter-of-fact they were when talking about techniques and other writing stuff.

I'm thinking more about the writing process and taking breaks from different stories to gain a better perspective.

Nicole was a skilled writer and I found her feedback on all our submissions to be informative and supportive.

One, I grew in that I finished the course and committed to it the whole way through. Two, I learned from others that there is no magic - it's giving rein to your imagination and then, word by word, scene by scene, putting your story down. Three, don't agonise over making your first draft perfect - you'll change it anyway later.

Well-organised, practical lessons and handouts. Thoughtful, detailed feedback from the tutor and AWC's coordination/moderation of workshopping means that feedback is constructive and useful and not scary.

It was practical, topical and I haven't seen other courses covering this topic.

Bernadette provided great feedback - she always had something constructive to add, but also found something positive to say as well which helps with motivation!

I am now picking up on the SEO techniques mentioned in this course whenever I google something. The tips are very practical and applicable for setting up any kind of business.

The courses are practical and informative. The feedback provided on work is extremely constructive and the format is very convenient. I particularly like that most of the course work is listening to audio which (during lockdown) has been great to listen to on daily walks!

I've really enjoyed the course - thank you!

I'm writing biographies for a charity organisation and have always been interested in creative non-fiction.

I enjoyed the use of the examples from well-known authors. Also the clear layout of the course. I think I have a clearer idea of structure and I picked up some very useful tips.

The AWC offers an extensive range of courses taught by passionate teachers. The courses are insightful, inspiring and practical and will guide you in the world of writing.