Despite being surrounded by books in her day job, Kell Woods knew that if she wanted to be successful in publishing her own fiction, she’d need some guidance. That’s where the Australian Writers’ Centre came in – providing the content and flexibility to learn a range of new skills and improve her writing craft. It also gave her the confidence to reach out and pitch her manuscript, which ultimately led her to a two-book deal to publish her fantasy novels After the Forest and Upon a Starlit Tide.
“My books are both historical fantasy retellings of fairy tales set in a real place in a real time. After the Forest is a retelling of Hansel and Gretel and Upon a Starlit Tide is a mash up of Cinderella and The Little Mermaid.
“Before doing the course, I worked as a librarian. I had children, I was a mum, and I had studied creative writing at university and looking for something to get back into brush up on those skills. I came upon the Australian Writers Centre and their online course, Novel Writing Essentials, and it was just fabulous.
“The process of becoming a published author and getting fter the Forest published for me really began with that course at the Australian Writers Centre. That's when I made that decision – to focus on the writing and try and chase that dream that I'd had since I was six or seven.
“I found so many things useful in the fiction writing courses. Practically, they were fantastic because the online courses you can work at at your own pace. I had small children, I had a day job, I had a husband, I had a life and other commitments. So the fact that you can work through them at your own pace is fabulous. And the content was amazing. You're getting hard-won nuggets of gold from really successful, really talented authors who are sharing all that knowledge with you. It's invaluable. I started with the History, Mystery, Magic course, and then was able to start pitching to agents. That's how I got my agent in the UK, which then led to a two book deal in the US.
“When I found out I was going to be published, honestly, I think it took me about 18 months to even accept that it had happened. I think I was just in shock for a good year. I'd wanted it since I was a little kid. I had worked really hard. I'd had rejections. I'd had the whole gamut of experiences and it was just amazing. Such a great feeling.
“I have recommended the Australian Writers Centre to friends and people I hardly know many times, especially when I've been asked by people what the best steps are to get published. I think investing in the craft and learning from people who have run through it, who have experience, who know the publishing industry, who know technique, that's what you need. It's just the best way to polish your technique, to learn skills and to get that really beautiful information and support from writers who've done it all before.
“Plotting and Planning is one of my favourite courses. I love to see that narrative structure. And in that course, I learned how that narrative structure works together, the different beats of the story and how a story is made. How you pull it together. It's a fantastic course. Even if you're not a plotter or a planner, it's still a really interesting course because you can see the shape of stories.
“Through working with the Australian Writers Centre, I discovered so much about the technique and craft of writing, how to make that better, how to really work towards being published traditionally. And I also discovered a whole lot about other types of writing too. I did some copywriting courses and so now my day job is in copywriting and content editing. I've done a whole bunch of different things and I've just discovered so much about a lot of different types of writing and how it all works.
“If it wasn't for the Australian Writers Centre, I probably wouldn't be a published author. I think that doing those courses was what changed everything for me. It's what helped me make connections with amazing authors who are friends now and who are supporters of mine. And it was the best decision I ever made!”
If you’d like to explore fantasy, magic realism or historical retellings, find out more about our self-paced online course, History, Mystery and Magic, created by international award-winning author Kate Forsyth. You can begin today!
