What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I think your course is brilliant and it has opened up an opportunity I would like to pursue. I have never really written anything in my life and I have always wanted to do this. It has only taken me about 20 years to work up the courage to have a go. So thanks.

Have a go. You haven't got the free time, but you will make it and you will have a lot of fun.

I thought it was a great course! I enjoyed it a lot and have recommended it to friends. It's given me a kickstart to introduce writing as an everyday practice, or at least a few times weekly.

It's a great opportunity to explore writing creatively in an unpressured environment. You have weekly assignments which you get feedback on, which is wonderful, and the tutors are really good! I recommend the course to anyone thinking about dabbling in creative writing.

I liked the online lessons as well as the assignments and exercises (I guess that's all of it really!)

It's a wonderful gift to give yourself, to make the time to write with others, and to learn from those who know the way.

Thank you for a very enjoyable course.

I learnt so much and I'm excited to grow my current short stories into novels. I'm glad I did this course. Now to continue my writing... thank you.

Stephen gave me constructive feedback. I can definitely work with this to improve my writing skills.

I enjoyed the connection with others doing the course and the fact we had a shared goal in mind.

I now look at the world in a different way and look forward to writing every day.

A great way of developing your writing skills on your own terms.

The course makes you want to give it a go. I liked that. I have started writing a story/draft now.

For a beginner, it was great. Thank you. The course has been interesting, fun and has had a positive effect on my 'doubt devil' :-)

A friend suggested this course. I've wanted to start writing for about 30 years.

Stephen was very thoughtful and insightful. Great suggestions for improvement of my work.

I'm feeling more confident in starting my story. It keeps me awake at night with ideas.

I have completed previous AWC courses with Pamela Freeman and Patti Miller and found both very useful. I am currently completing a novel so I tried this!

I got useful tips during the course and feel that my writing has improved in key ways so that’s been great. The videos and materials provided were excellent. Stephen provides concise, useful feedback in a gentle and constructive way.

After writing and reading for decades, I finally 'get' POV (thanks, Stephen!)

I found the course to be extremely practical. The tutor was very informative and constructive. I enjoyed the way the content was delivered.

I've remembered how much enjoyment I get from writing.

It's an extremely practical writing course, excellent understandable content and so much fun.

So much encouragement. My goodness! I wasn't expecting that. I wasn't expecting to come out of it with any more confidence in my ability to write fiction that real people would actually want to read -- but it seems I did.

Margaret was great. Thoughtful and responsive. I always like it when a tutor actually specifies what they like about something they like. It's odd how you can feel a bit starved for feedback, sometimes, when you're reasonably good at something.

I most enjoyed doing the assignments. I found it really interesting reading other people's work as well. The similarities and contrasts in how people attacked the assignments was fascinating.

I now have some objective evidence that other people might enjoy what I write. I think I really needed that before I could seriously start working on something.

This is a great foundation course: short, sharp, practical. It doesn't eat your life. It's a great start for the hesitant and those who lack confidence. Highly suitable for the shy. Thank you.

I really enjoyed learning more about the process of writing and reading everyone else's work!

Angela was great, I found her feedback to be helpful and I looked forward to what she had to say each week.

I enjoyed the actual writing part. I haven't written consistently, ever, and I found myself drafting and re-drafting my assessments each week which improved my writing, but also became more enjoyable the more I did it.

I signed up for Novel Writing Essentials during the last week because I have an idea and I want to run with it as far as I can. The idea that I might actually write a novel is really exciting.

I really enjoyed the course. If you do the work and interact with the other participants you will get a lot out of it.

It is user-friendly and you get to meet plenty of people who love language as much as you. The tutors know their stuff and the classes develop into a small, protective community of their own.

Great job guys :)

Margaret is lovely. She was very encouraging throughout and timely in marking submissions. I felt that she gave feedback constructively, offering praise where it was due, picking up writing errors - large or small - and providing suggestions for improvement. She seemed genuinely interested in what everyone had to write.

I enjoyed the flexibility of accessing course material at any time and the assessment tasks. I liked how the assessments were of a manageable length and scaffolded my learning week by week; they didn't feel overwhelming or onerous.

This course has basically ignited the hope that I could be a published author someday... like it's not completely outside the realms of possibility! I hadn't written a story since I was 10 years old. Since then, I had limited myself, thinking writing was just a pipe dream. Now I have a good deal more confidence in myself - I know that I will still need to work hard - but since completing this course, I feel that writing a novel is actually achievable now.

My major learning point came when writing was described as a 'craft'. For years, I have been trying to find a creative outlet - learning an instrument, silversmithing, woodworking - you name it. The idea of crafting, having a craft, is really important to me. I never considered writing to be that... but it is! I've realised that writing is like weaving with words, it can be rhythmic like music, you can mould it like sculpture... it seems so obvious now!

GO FOR IT. If you want a course that gets straight to the point, that gives you the tools and inspiration to start writing without hesitation, this is the one.

Thank you for putting this course together. It has been an absolute pleasure being a part of it!

The flexibility of this course was fantastic. With a very young baby at home, I needed a course that I could pick up and put down whenever I needed, and could easily complete small bits at a time around my baby's needs.

My only concern was completing the assignments on time. However once I started, I did not find this at all challenging due to the very achievable time commitments for each assignment and the easy to understand content sitting behind those assignments.

The feedback was excellent and delivered in very kind terms. It was always posted on the Monday immediately following the assignment submission deadline, which allowed any feedback to be incorporated into the next week's assignment where relevant. The tutor also posted a number of helpful links and articles in week one covering some common issues among new writers.

The audio lessons combined with the handout were really interesting and the content was broken down into understandable and logical chunks of information. Going through the handouts each week was always a revelation, like a veil had been lifted on my favourite books, and I finally had an understanding of the authors' choices and why their books were so successful.

I had always considered myself to be 'on the outside', that is someone masquerading as a potential writer, with everyone else being 'true writers' whose novels came to them with distinct clarity and mastered in only one or two drafts. This course has not only filled me with self-confidence, it has given me all the fundamentals necessary to complete a good quality first draft. It also gave me the courage to pick up a novel I started many years ago, which I thought I had put away for good in fear that it was too ambitious and I would never have the skill to do the story justice. I now feel ready to revisit the story, and continue to write.

Novels are not written in moments of total clarity and inspiration. Even the best writers struggle to write some days, are sometimes unclear where their plot will go, and need to do multiple drafts to get the finished product I pick up off the shelf. I thought writers either had it or they didn't. It was wonderful to realise that all writers need to work hard, and if I myself work hard, there's no reason why I can't also be a writer.

This course is suitable for people of all motivations. Whether the goal is to publish, refine skills for writing competitions, create something for your own enjoyment, learn a new skill, or just to keep your mind active and sharp, this course manages to be relevant and interesting for people of all goals. The flexibility in learning and understanding the content is an added bonus. There aren't many courses of any discipline that could be comfortably achieved while in the trenches of early first-time parenthood, but this course was perfect for me.

Each week when I reviewed the content and submitted my assignment, I felt as though I had really achieved something and that I had taken a small step towards becoming a writer. The confidence boosts I would get each week were unexpected, and I hope I can carry the momentum moving forward.

Amanda was helpful and pointed out useful ways to improve my writing. I enjoyed meeting other writers and interacting online, along with reading everyone's work and receiving feedback.

The course has had a profound impact on my direction. Before beginning the course, I was trying to fit writing in alongside the rest of my life; now I am prepared to make it a priority and focus on my writing as my next direction in life.

Taking a course at AWC is inspiring and motivating, whatever direction you intend to go with writing.

Valerie's lessons and the additional exercises were really well delivered. I thought the tutor's assessment was very fair, honest and encouraging.

I began the course hoping to get the fundamentals clearer in my mind. I still have a very long way to go, but I more fully understand how writing a story is the result of a lot of work first.

I learnt more than I expected and pushed myself. The hardest things are often the most rewarding.

It is a very helpful, informative course that will help you improve your writing.

I really enjoyed Stephen's feedback - it was both overarching to the assignment as well as detailed in particular points. I found myself nodding along quite a lot in agreement with comments and feedback.

I enjoyed the group environment - providing and receiving feedback in a safe and friendly environment was definitely a bonus. Getting feedback from strangers is scary! But by week three I was already looking forward to comments and ideas from the others in the course.

I'm feeling so much more confident and excited to sit down and write! My self-doubt was getting worse and worse, but now I really feel like I could write my books - successfully!

I already recommended the AWC to someone who told me they were interested in writing and wished they were "good". Told them this was the confidence boost they needed!

Overall a great course, workload achievable to fit between fulltime work and family. I'll save all the lessons and exercises for future reference and guidance for sure. Can't wait to join another course 😀

I appreciated Stephen's clear and calm support in his feedback comments. I found that I could see the changes he offered to better a piece easily and the suggestions weren't overwhelming. I felt encouraged and could see my progress.

I enjoyed the feedback each week and the tools to scaffold a piece of writing to get the words down.

I feel more confident that I could construct a story that people might want to read.

AWC offers solid ready-to-use skills and a nice supportive community.

The best thing was that everyone was so helpful and supportive. The audio lessons were brilliant and I loved listening to them. They were packed full of useful information and advice.

Stephen Hart was so helpful and kind! His feedback was invaluable.

I enjoyed the online class - hearing about classmates' writing journeys and aspirations. I enjoyed reading other's assignments and hearing their feedback from Stephen.

I think I'll believe in myself a bit more from now on!

If you've ever thought you'd like to write - just go for it - AWC courses are an excellent way to get started. They give you so much encouragement to keep going.

Just, thank you. The knowledge I gained and encouragement I received has been invaluable.

I wanted something fun to do during lockdown. This course seemed like a good all-round place to start.

The content was extremely helpful in understanding and improving creative writing.

I thought Stephen provided fair and constructive feedback that improved my writing and others'. He has a kind and approachable manner. I enjoyed listening to the classes and applying the learning.

It's encouraged me to keep up my writing practise and pursue my current project. I think the small improvements I've adapted as a result of the course will positively benefit my future writing.

Thanks Stephen & AWC. Most enjoyable part of my lockdown.