How Emma Pignatiello went from teacher to romance author
The Australian Writers' Centre’s Romance Writing course came at just the right time for school teacher Emma Pignatiello. She had written three YA manuscripts and was working on a crime novel, but she realised that what she really loved was romance.
Read MoreSamantha Valentine’s novel ‘Normal Functioning Adult’
Samantha Valentine has two degrees in English, but when she decided to try out fiction, she knew she had to work on her creative writing skills. She was drawn to Creative Writing Stage 1 at the Australian Writers' Centre because she could fit it in around her busy life and the assignments were short and not too onerous.
Read MoreAWC alumna Brooke Graham’s picture books helps kids with anxiety
AWC courses completed:
Writing Picture Books
Writing Picture Books Masterclass
How to Write for Children and Young Adults
Build Your Author Platform
AWC alumna Dinuka McKenzie is an award-winning published author with her crime thrillers
Courses completed at AWC:
Anatomy of a Crime: How to Write About Murder
2 Hours to Scrivener Power
Build Your Author Platform
Dinuka McKenzie was a busy working mum when she decided to start writing as a creative outlet. The more she wrote, the more she loved it, so she decided to complete a few courses at the Australian Writers' Centre to hone her craft. After finishing her first crime manuscript, she entered it in the Banjo Prize for unpublished fiction – and then came the extraordinary news that she had won!
Read MoreAmy Hutton scores two book deals
When television producer Amy Hutton decided she wanted to switch careers and become a writer, she went all in.
After making such a decisive move, Amy knew she had to learn the craft of writing if she were to succeed. She liked the variety of courses on offer at the Australian Writers' Centre and she jumped in, learning the essentials of Fiction and Grammar, Plotting and Planning and how to Pitch Your Novel.
Fast forward a few years and Amy is now a published author, with her debut novel Sit, Stay, Love released in 2023 and the follow up Love From Scratch out in 2024, both published by Simon & Schuster.
Read MoreLiz Foster on the steps she took to get published
Liz Foster always imagined being a published author one day. She says: “Imagine being the key word there.” But it was while doing courses through the Australian Writers' Centre that she learned the difference between writing well and writing well for an audience. “I literally would be nowhere without AWC’s courses,” Liz told us. And […]
Read MoreFrom research scientist to author: Nancy Cunningham’s debut novel
She found inspiration from Reinvent Yourself, motivation from Creative Writing 30-day Bootcamp, and technical tools from Fiction Essentials: Structure. And now she is a novelist with the publication of her debut novel Crossing the Bridge, out now with Harlequin Escape Publishing.
Read MoreHow Mitch Jennings went from journalist to crime writer
Mitch Jennings had always harboured ambitions to write a novel, but he says that working fulltime as a journalist meant that writing at home after work wasn’t very appealing because he had already been writing all day. He knew that he needed structure and accountability, so he enrolled in Novel Writing Essentials at the Australian Writers' Centre.
Read MoreVikki Conley’s path to becoming an award-winning children’s author
Courses taken at AWC:
Writing Picture Books
Vikki Conley dreamed of writing for children and, over the years, that little voice telling her to write books got louder until she simply couldn’t ignore it. She threw in her marketing job, enrolled in an Australian Writers' Centre course and started writing. Within two years, she has already established herself as a prolific author, with the publication of seven picture books and contracts with four publishers. Her most recent book is the CBCA shortlisted Amira's Suitcase, while Milly and the Mulberry Tree and Where the Lyrebird Lives will be released in 2022. Vikki's other publications include Tomorrow Girl, Little Puggle's Song, The Lost Moustache and Ella & Mrs Gooseberry.
Read MoreHow Reece Carter became a full-time children’s novelist
“I enrolled in Writing Children's Novels and became a much better writer for it,” Reece told us. “I took everything I’d learned and wrote a fourth manuscript, A Girl Called Corpse, and the rest is history!”
Read MoreMeet our Creative Writing graduates
Creative Writing Stage 1
Writing Picture Books
Writing Picture Books Masterclass
How to Write for Children and Young Adults
Build Your Author Platform
Anatomy of a Crime: How to Write About Murder
2 Hours to Scrivener Power
Build Your Author Platform
Dinuka McKenzie was a busy working mum when she decided to start writing as a creative outlet. The more she wrote, the more she loved it, so she decided to complete a few courses at the Australian Writers' Centre to hone her craft. After finishing her first crime manuscript, she entered it in the Banjo Prize for unpublished fiction – and then came the extraordinary news that she had won!
Writing Picture Books
Vikki Conley dreamed of writing for children and, over the years, that little voice telling her to write books got louder until she simply couldn’t ignore it. She threw in her marketing job, enrolled in an Australian Writers' Centre course and started writing. Within two years, she has already established herself as a prolific author, with the publication of seven picture books and contracts with four publishers. Her most recent book is the CBCA shortlisted Amira's Suitcase, while Milly and the Mulberry Tree and Where the Lyrebird Lives will be released in 2022. Vikki's other publications include Tomorrow Girl, Little Puggle's Song, The Lost Moustache and Ella & Mrs Gooseberry.
Write a Business Book
Travel Writing
Blogging for Beginners
Travel Writing
Food Writing
Freelance Writing Stage 1
Copywriting Essentials
Freelance Writing Masterclass Program
Creative Writing Stage 1
Travel Writing
Copywriting Essentials
SEO Copywriting
Short Story Essentials
Write Your Novel
Online Travel Writing
Freelance Writing Masterclass
Laura Waters walked over 3000 kilometres across New Zealand to conquer her anxieties and find her true passion: writing. After finishing the Australian Writers’ Centre Travel Writing course, Laura turned her hobby into a profession and now writes travel articles fulltime. She is also a published author with Bewildered, the incredible story of her extraordinary hike, out now with Affirm Press.
Blogging for Beginners
Freelance Writing Stage 1
Travel Writing
Profile Writing
Ashleigh Mills wanted to combine her passion for cats, travel and freelance writing. So she took AWC’s courses in Blogging for Beginners, Travel Writing and Freelance Writing Stage 1. Then everything fell into place.
Freelance Writing Stage 1
Copywriting Essentials
Travel Writing
Profile Writing
Freelance Writing Stage 1
Inside Publishing
(previously called How to Get your Book Published)
After self-publishing four novels and a series of eight illustrated children’s educational books on Amazon, Jaci Byrne decided that she wanted to get her books ‘traditionally published’.
Freelance Writing Stage 1
Travel Writing
How to Build a Successful Freelance Copywriting Business
Copywriting Essentials
Living with profound vision impairment (Graham is legally blind) and growing up prior to the advent of the adaptive technology that has so enriched his life today, Graham felt completely lost when it came to mainstream employment. He had finished a Certificate IV in Professional Writing & Editing qualification at Melbourne Polytechnic TAFE but felt it was geared predominantly to fiction writing. So he decided to enrol into AWC’s online Freelance Writing Stage 1 course, and has never looked back.
Freelance Writing Stage 1
Travel Writing
Copywriting Essentials
How to Write Media Releases
Mandy McKeesick completed the AWC Freelance Writing Stage 1 course with the aim of showcasing the Australian bush. Today she has a successful business working with both magazine and corporate clients doing just that!
Magazine and Newspaper Writing Stage 1
Freelance Writing Masterclass Program
Copywriting Essentials
Profile Writing
The Business of Freelancing
Writing Australian History
Writing for the Web and Mobile
Freelance Writing Stage 1
Freelance Writing Masterclass Program
Profile Writing
Reinvent Yourself
Creative Writing Stage 1
Make Time to Write
Life Writing
Travel Writing
Profile Writing
Copywriting Essentials
Freelance Writing Masterclass Program (current member)
Working as a part-time lawyer, Libby first completed a five-week online course in Magazine and Newspaper Writing Stage 1. That changed the course of Libby’s life. "Before I started the course I actually had the goal of getting published, I wanted to see my byline in a magazine or a newspaper,” says Libby, who was working part-time as a lawyer.
Her company wanted her to return to work full time. "I remember sitting in front of my computer one day and thinking: 'what do I do?'" she says. "I always wanted to try writing since I was a little girl and I got caught up in this sort of sensible path of the mainstream thing people do. So I sat there and thought, right it’s now or never."
Creative Writing Stage 1
Freelance Writing Stage 1
Grammar and Punctuation Essentials
History, Mystery and Magic