What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I love the way Pamela presents her material plus it is always so informative. I now understand the pace required in completing a successful novel.

The AWC is a fabulous and necessary resource.

The Q&A session at the end is fantastic. While the questions are sometimes only slightly linked to the topic, Pamela is always ready with some excellent advice. I think I take as many notes during the Q&A as I do during the seminar itself!

I was reminded how much fun working with words can be. After a day filled with bureaucrat-ese, it was a joyous moment!

If you feel that you have a story inside you that needs to be shared, but don't know where or how to start, go and do a course with the Australian Writers' Centre.

Just thank you! I appreciate the Focus On seminars so much because they remind me why I love writing.

Bernadette is amazing - so knowledgeable and easy to relate to.

I enjoyed that the course was easy to follow with so many useful strategies, as well as the very constructive homework feedback.

I learnt so many skills and techniques from the course, and from Bernadette's constructive feedback.

I enjoyed Pamela Freeman's passionate, informative, and entertaining style. She paced the presentation perfectly.

I'm far more confident about editing my work to control its pace. I now know that pace is about a reader's perception of the story's speed of progress - and how this perception is affected by genre expectations, macro elements, and micro elements.

The AWC's extraordinary writing courses, run by experienced authors, have helped me refine my craft and network with like-minded writers, some of whom have become dear friends. Their online writing seminars are nuggets of pure gold.

Thanks Pamela and all the AWC team for taking the time to make these seminars - and all the courses - a reality.

Pamela's knowledge is AMAZING. And her clear concise presentation skills made the information easy to digest.

I'm going to edit my draft specifically for pace, now I know it's an element under my control. I actively control the pace. It's not a wafty thing that happens instinctively.

AWC presenters are fantastic and the courses contain heaps of easy to apply content.

It was very enlightening to learn about the many types of writing. I enjoyed the encouragement from Valerie that anything really is possible.

I now know that to be a writer is not just a dream anymore; it truly is a possibility for a successful and flexible career.

The AWC environment is a supportive one, where there is a genuine desire from Valerie and the tutors for the graduates to succeed.

I enjoy writing and wanted to explore the romance writing genre. Wanted to learn how to write romance.

I enjoyed listening to the other authors and their stories. I learnt a lot throughout the course.

A great place to learn about romance writing, with exercises and helpful handouts. And the presenter explains well. During this course, I came up with a story idea which I started writing.

Jo was really engaging, helpful and encouraging. Her feedback was cast at the right balance of empathy and constructive criticism. She had a warmness that encouraged all levels of writers in the class.

I enjoyed the Zoom calls with feedback and discussion.

By providing opportunity to workshop with the tutor and other students, I got to see a range of ways to improve my writing.

The AWC offers well thought-out structured courses with knowledgeable tutors.

The handouts are thorough and the videos are good quality sound and lighting. The content was excellent.

When Pamela said the first draft is where we learn about the character's internal struggles, as we write, was an 'aha' for me. I am writing a middle-grade novel and have been beating myself up for not knowing my character better.

The courses are an excellent resource and are all designed to a professional standard. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

Thank you for creating the smaller courses. I really appreciate being able to do short cost-effective courses.

I have previously completed a course with Pamela and found it incredibly informative and inspiring. She is a wealth of information and I have so much to learn from her. I am partway through writing my first novel and am absorbing as much as I can learn about the art of writing :)

The course has clarified so much about my novel in my own mind and helped me move forward with writing in a more structured way. I now understand how narrative tension really works and what techniques can be applied to increase narrative tension.

There is such a wealth of knowledge to be gained from undertaking these courses and I have not yet undertaken one course that hasn't vastly improved my writing.

When I was given Scrivener as a gift, I was really daunted by what appeared to be the complexity of it. I was recommended to enrol in 2 Hours to Scrivener Power and it has proved to be a fantastic low-cost investment, saving hours of struggle and time. Each video covered off the basics and, by the time I had finished the six modules, I was looking at my own complete manuscript uploaded, utilising the various functions and tools covered.

Scrivener makes everything so much clearer in terms of an umbrella view on the manuscript - combined with the ease of accessing and moving information around within the document itself.

The course presenter, Natasha, delivered the information in a clear, concise and easy to follow format. I have already recommended it to the other members of a writers group I belong to.

The tutor was great - personable, empathetic, gave helpful practical tips and ideas.

I enjoyed the audio lessons. Such useful material and delivered in a very professional and humorous, relatable way.

It's given me the confidence and structure I needed to move forward to the next level.

I wanted a detailed explanation of the three-act structure and was happy to also get information about other types of structures. The handouts were really useful for me. It enabled me to plan the novel I am trying to write in a more considered way.

If you have never been taught about story structure, or need a more in depth explanation than you have had previously, then this is a fantastic course.

I knew this short course on dialogue would be packed full of helpful information that I could easily consume and apply to my work in progress - (I've done a previous course through AWC and was very impressed and knew this would be to a similar standard).

The handouts and audio format are very digestible and easy to follow. I feel more confident when it comes to writing dialogue scenes and all they involve (so much more than spoken words!)

The AWC provides an incredible amount of helpful information within each course. Lasting knowledge - I have notebooks full of tips from the courses I've done. Great value for money, and a worthwhile investment for any writer looking to improve their skills.

I really enjoyed all the lectures: perfect length, easy to understand and great downloads.

Bernadette was truly awesome! I loved her presentations, humour, kindness and generosity of spirit. What a remarkable woman. I am so grateful to learn from the best! She has thought of everything, her knowledge of the industry is second to none and her feedback on assignments was always so encouraging and constructive. I am hoping to do more courses with her in the future. A massive THANK YOU Bernadette!

I feel that I now have the skills and confidence to start a new career as a copywriter! I've already got my first client!

I was given a voucher for my birthday. This was just the nudge I needed to take my dream seriously, and take steps to write my novel. The timing also worked well for the start of my year.

Petronella was incredibly encouraging. She was able to carefully critique and lightly suggest, without taking away from the original idea or intent of the writer. I think she set the tone for a kind, uplifting and thorough group when it came to giving feedback.

I enjoyed both sides of the feedback process the most and reading other people's synopsis and submissions.

Just want to thank Petronella again for her kind encouragement. Petronella, our group benefited from your knowledge and suggestions for improving our plots, characters and scenes. You set the tone for this group of writers, who also became cheerleaders for each other. How unique! Thank you!

I was able to write 30,000 words of my novel. There is simply no way I would have done that without this course. Being almost halfway through my first draft feels pretty incredible.

If you're looking for accountability to your goals, encouragement for your craft and a knowledgeable guide from inside the industry, Novel Writing Essentials is for you!

Pamela's feedback was valuable and appreciated. She was knowledgeable and skilled in offering constructive criticism.

My confidence has increased and I learned a lot with respect to the technical aspects of fiction writing.

AWC courses are delivered professionally by skilled presenters that provide important information from their lived experiences. You don't know what you don't know and AWC courses highlight the problem areas and teach you the solutions.

I've always loved writing, but hadn't been writing creatively (i.e. fiction writing for myself) for some time - I had worked as a B2B journalist for a while and that work had become my focus. I wanted to reconnect with the more creative side of writing that I fell in love with when I was younger and possibly look at a different way to write for a living.

Pamela was amazing! All her feedback was highly constructive and motivating. She helped me look at my writing in a more critical way and always had something good to say about everyone's assignments - it was very encouraging having her as a tutor.

Everything was enjoyable! In particular, having both the tutor and classmates reviewing my work and looking at it through their eyes. Also, having assignments due each week both prompted me and encouraged me to get things done.

Although I feel quite far off from publishing a novel, this course has given me the confidence and techniques I need to make a start on planning and writing one.

Just wanted to thank Pamela and the AWC for what they've put together in CreativeWriting Stage 1. It's a great course (which is obviously why it's so popular!) and has helped me a lot. And thank you for committing to motivating and encouraging so many people in pursuing writing as a career or a creative outlet - long live literature! :-)

If you're sitting on the fence about whether to enrol, consider this a sign to do it! Once you know which course is right for you, the AWC will lead the way. There's so much knowledge at your fingertips, and if you love writing it's well worth it. The content is interesting and easy to understand, and getting feedback on your writing is very encouraging.

I just loved this course. I found the content interesting and well-paced. I really liked the mixture of audio and physical handouts. The audio ones I especially loved as I have been able to go back and listen to them a second/third time in the car, in the shower etc. Valerie has a lovely tone and you can tell she is smiling as she spoke and I really liked that.

Pamela was fabulous. I felt she was fair with a great balance of positive and 'what needs to improve' feedback. She could really get to the nuts and bolts of your writing so quickly and insightfully. Even when giving the 'what needs to improve feedback' I always felt invigorated by these and not upset. I think this was because of her non-judgemental tone which she used for everyone. Thank you Pamela.

I really enjoyed connecting with other writers. I loved reading people's work and commenting on it for them. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Pamela's feedback not just on my assignment but on everyone's work. I picked up so many hints and let go of quite a few bad writing habits.

The feedback was very important to me. It sounds reward driven but it wasn't just that. It was the icing on the cake after a great week of writing myself, reading others' work and giving the feedback to others. It kept me writing to meet the target each Sunday night.

This course has pointed my pencil or maybe 'finger on the keyboard' to just get writing. This course has given me the tools to do this now and not put it off another moment.

JUST DO IT! You can't lose with this course. Fabulous content. Wonderful audio. A group of budding writers like yourself to connect with. Weekly valuable feedback from an industry great. WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK FOR!

Thank you Pamela, Valerie and AWC.

The amount of resources and the generosity of Candice was phenomenal.

I enjoyed the exact detail on real arrests, real prisons, and the dispelling of myths. The course is interesting even if you are not a writer but just a reader.