What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I am interested in writing in general, and also part of my work involves writing copy for a website, brochures and emails. I joined as I thought having some training behind me would make me better at these tasks, as well as being interesting for me personally.

I found Bernadette to be very professional yet relatable. She was able to provide great tips and feedback in a manner that was easy to understand and put into practice.

I will be able to put these skills into practice in the aspects of my work that require copywriting. It has also given me skills that I may be able to use in future jobs and any writing that I do for myself.

I would definitely recommend it. Great course - thank you.

Since moving to Australia, I was unsuccessful in securing a job as a journalist and worked instead in community care. When Covid-19 hit in 2020, I decided it was time to get back into writing. This course with the AWC has given me the assurance that it can be done no matter which stage of life you are at.

The modules are self-paced or can be binged during these frequent lockdowns in Melbourne.

The case studies with authors and writers is invigorating. It's almost like I've found my tribe.

I found this course at the point in my life when I was ready to make a career change. It has shown me that it is possible to venture into freelance writing or novel writing while having a job.

The Australian Writers' Centre allows you to dream and helps you achieve it.

Suzanne has great industry knowledge and was a massive asset to have as a tutor. She provided constructive criticism and often provided alternatives to the way things were written. That helped me understand the differences between my writing and what publishers are looking for.

I enjoyed writing! Being given a weekly assignment to write stories was great motivation and a thoroughly enjoyable task. It has made me realise that I really want to pursue this path to writing a children's picture book.

I would highly recommend the course! The more your commit to the course and the assignments, the more you will gain from the feedback.

Bernadette was excellent. I found the thorough feedback given to everyone to be very valuable. I enjoyed the challenge of the homework!

It may be a pathway to something new for me. Even if I don't take it that far, I will now think about what I've learned in this course whenever I have to write something. Great course.

If you want to improve your writing skills for whatever reason give the AWC a go.

I am writing a chapter book for children and would like to include a lot of humour. And it looked like it'd be fun to do! :)

I enjoyed the examples read by Tim, bringing theory to life. Exercises were fun and practical. Loved getting Tim's recorded assessment of my writing exercise - that was an unexpected added bonus!

Received so many tips and ways of injecting humour into a story that I wouldn't have thought of or naturally used. Invaluable.

Zanni came across as caring and experienced. She delivered her feedback in an insightful, helpful and constructive way

Although in the beginning it was daunting to construct a story in a week, it became a bit of fun to create another new story idea within a timeframe. I also enjoyed reading everyone else's creations and enjoyed how different they all were.

Before this course I had very little confidence in my ability to write a children's story let alone let anyone read any of it. This course made me face my fears and allow my thoughts to be public. I feel I have moved closer to making my aim of writing a book a little bit closer to reality.

It's been so wonderful to be creative and challenged as a distraction and different focus from the current everyday life. In fact, my partner watched me enjoy the course so much he signed up to do the copywriting course as well.

Bernadette was so welcoming and friendly from the get go. Her welcome video made me feel so comfortable as she was so confident that absolutely anyone could become a copywriter. She also seemed to be able to read my mind and know exactly what reservations I had and why I should put them behind me and give this a go. Her feedback was always kind and constructive. She was able to tell me what I had done well and where I could improve and how. Best feedback I've ever had from any tutor!

I actually enjoyed the assignments! They didn't make me feel overwhelmed and they were short and sweet while allowing me to put the skills Bernadette had taught me to the test. I also loved the handouts Bernadette provided; they were all extremely helpful and are a great visual for me to keep and refer back to.

The instructors are friendly and helpful and make the learning process simple. Learning online and at your own pace is also a win, so that you can take your time and take it all in. You can also download the slides, audio and handouts so that you can come back to the material in the future.

I thought it was going to be like all the other how-to's I've encountered on the Internet over the last 5-10 years, but I was proven wrong.

The tutor is skilled and experienced, and knew exactly how to diagnose what was wrong with my work or the approach of it. I found the learning and the "breaking down" of what I thought I knew enjoyable.

The course and teacher for the course taught me how to improve my writing, since I had an inkling of something about my previous work that didn't feel right. In attending this course, I had someone look at my work, no matter how small, with fresh eyes.

It will change your writing.

Stephen gave very thoughtful and encouraging responses to all the participants. I learned a lot not just from his feedback to me, but also from what he said to other writers in the class.

I enjoyed exploring fiction writing for the first time in decades!

The difference point of view can make when you are writing characters is astonishing. While I knew that intellectually, I had a real aha! moment while exploring one of my own characters on this course.

Thank you for giving access to the online material after the course is over. This allows dipping back in when you have time, which I find valuable.

Tim was very entertaining and funny - which I guess you would expect in a course about writing humour! Everything was laid out very clearly. The reading suggestions were highly beneficial. Loved that Tim used examples from his own work and other popular books to illustrate concepts.

I've realised how important it is to include humour in children's books, regardless of the target age group. I have re-written an idea to include more gags, especially ones delivered via illustrations.

I've promised my Nana I will write her memoirs for her 90th birthday. I'd like to take her life story and turn it into a novel one day as well. I know I need a bunch of new skills and feedback on my writing to achieve both!

Suzanne is kind and creative. She has offered constructive feedback to all the writers in my course. I learnt something from every recording Suzanne provided, not always from the writer or their piece, but how to become a better reader too. It's been great to look deeper into my own writing with her guidance.

One major learning moment was understanding how the structure of a novel plays the most crucial role in the success of a book. The different roles of scenes and summaries was something I didn't know, and now notice in every book I pick up!

I got so much out of these five short weeks. You won't regret investing the time and money into this course if you want to really get serious about your writing. I feel like I have new skills to implement and know I WILL write this memoir.

Just THANKYOU! So much.

I've heard a lot about Scrivener and out of pure frustration of scrolling through 90K plus words in Word I finally took the step of faith.

I've never done an online course before (I'm an in-class face-to-face kinda girl). But Natasha was SO clear and thorough and explained the steps really well. I also liked that it was a short course, giving me the motivation to do it knowing that it can be completed.

I enjoyed the clarity and sharpness of Natasha's voice and articulation. The fact that each video was short and could be accomplished in one sitting (say after work). And I liked that she repeated the steps a few times just to make sure we got it.

I did a little dance when I discovered you can put images, and research notes and web links directly next to the scene you're working on! Amazing! I haven't applied it yet (as I just finished the course), but it's been something I've been imagining for a long time. I believe this Scrivener course will change my life - for the better.

Definitely do it! These people are passionate about their craft.

I liked the idea of having deadlines to work against and the feedback aspect from multiple people unfamiliar with the genre I was writing in. I had self-doubt about what I was doing and my writing, but with the encouragement of my tutor and classmates that was stripped away pretty quickly.

Angela had a great no-nonsense approach to giving feedback which I loved. It let me know clearly what needed work and how to go about fixing it. She gave me a great motivational boost when telling me what worked and why. She also gave real world examples to the group that were thoroughly helpful and made sense. I couldn't have asked for a better suited tutor.

The most enjoyable part was definitely the workshopping. As writing is a pretty solitary pursuit, it really helped to get second opinions on sections I was unsure of. It was also great to read genres I don't normally read and to see how others worked through plots and character.

It helped me to understand that even the most successful writers still have doubts about what they're doing. It also helped me to develop habits to continue writing, maybe not at the pace of this course, but definitely to continue with a second book. Nothing is perfect and to let mistakes happen. Just continue writing and get that first draft done. Everything can be fixed in the next draft.

I loved this course. Yes, it was stressful and I feared I wouldn't finish my first draft, but I did and had fun while doing it. This was the perfect course for me. It has made me a better writer, a better planner and most of all given me the motivation to keep going and write more.

If you're looking to develop habits to help you write, get used to feedback and not feel so alone, or to just finally get your first draft finished - do this course!

Cindy provided me with great feedback on my assignments. She was professional and insightful in her feedback.

I enjoyed interviewing a classmate. Even though I did not really know the interviewing process, I really enjoyed talking to another person doing the same course, learning about their lives and what they hoped to achieve.

It has given me some tools to start writing stories for magazine and online publications.

Value for money and helped focus me in Sydney lockdown. If you want practical information and knowledge that builds your writing practice, whether creatively or commercially, then try out the AWC courses.

I love the AWC. Your website is so informative, welcoming to new writers without being patronising, and honest about the writing process without being intimidating or gatekeeping. It's one of the best decisions I've made to enrol in Creative Writing Stage 1 last year, so I knew that the next step would be even more informative and engaging.

Pamela was wonderful. Very honest about feedback given, but never in a way that was impersonal, overly harsh or unhelpful. Very thorough, detailed comments that gave me a really good springboard for my further drafts.

I enjoyed the video feedback format from the tutor. I like how different learning styles were incorporated - some people respond better to detailed text instructions, whereas some digest them better in video or audio.

I now have a very confident path to forge ahead with my planned novel, and during these uncertain times of lockdowns, it's fantastic to have something you can confidently focus on.

I have written a novel (draft), but wanted to learn how to write better. I also hadn't written for over two years and wanted to get back in the habit of writing.

I was worried the course would be too basic, but I found it was great. There were some things I already knew like the three-act structure, but many that I did not. It was really valuable and Angela's feedback was great.

Angela was knowledgeable and encouraging. She also gave us link to articles relevant to each of us/our writing specifically, which was great.

I enjoyed writing! Having a Sunday night deadline was great as it forced me to do what I love (which sounds so stupid, but there you have it). Perhaps 'prioritise what I love' is a better description.

This course reminded me of how much I love writing and I have actually taken a semester off from my uni course to focus on it for the next six months. Perhaps I'm doing the wrong thing at uni...

In the final assessment, I chose to use a scene from my previously written draft and straight away I could see things that could be improved, which I did before submitting. Angela's feedback then allowed me to see in which areas, generally, that I need to work on and this can be applied to the whole novel (along with what I have learnt). I feel confident that I can read my manuscript now and improve it significantly thanks to this course.

Thank you!

I was hesitant at first, because I was a complete beginner and I had to get over those feelings that it wasn't meant for me, but only for people with experience or who were already 'writers'. That definitely wasn't the case! It was a really supportive environment and I felt comfortable being a complete beginner and learnt so much.

The course delivered everything it said it would. The information was extensive but easy to follow, there were so many helpful resources and the assignments were enjoyable. The feedback received from the tutor and other participants was really valuable.

Angela was responsive and provided really valuable and encouraging feedback. She also generously shared extra resources and hints with us, such as her blog posts and other articles.

It has improved my confidence immensely, and changed my mindset around writing. I feel like I have a much better understanding of the foundations, and that it has given me the 'permission' to take it more seriously.

I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in creative writing, for any purpose. I would tell them that if they're thinking about it, give it a go! It was a really encouraging environment, and there was so much to learn.

Thank you!!

I wanted to refine my scene writing skills. I am 35k through my first draft of my first novel and things were starting to get complicated!

I'm bogged down in a complicated Act 2 and this gave me the help and the motivation I needed to get on with it!

Carli was a great tutor! She quickly established rapport with each of us and effectively tailored information to our specific situations throughout her teachings. She answered all questions with ease, and was friendly and professional.

I loved the nitty gritty session on Thursday. It was great to get some clear guidelines for best web practice. I also appreciated Carli's insider tips around freelance rates.

I am able to confidently tackle my work project, understanding and practicing best practice when it comes to website management and accessibility. I also feel better equipped to continue my career in writing with a very important skillset added to my toolkit!

I would highly recommend this short training for a crash course in web practice and accessibility. Learning from the vast experience of both my tutor, Carli, and the other students, was a really great experience. The online format of the training fit perfectly with my work schedule and I have left with great knowledge and confidence in how to execute best web practice!

Thanks to Carli and the AWC team!

The whole course was set out very well and seemed to cover every aspect that I could imagine would need to be covered for historical fiction.

It has spurred me on to actually start researching and putting pen to paper.

All the courses that I have attended in person or completed online have been very informative and enjoyable. I thoroughly recommend the Australian Writers' Centre.