What’s it like to learn with AWC?

Prior to starting, I had written 60K words in my first draft, so I wanted to learn from Louisa by starting a fresh story and then retrofitting it back to my first. This course has been helpful in confirming my first story is on track and providing me with the confidence and tools to finish it. I now have a pitch, structure, character profiles and scene starters all set to go on with my next story.

Louisa Larkin is an amazing tutor with a true passion for the craft. She encouraged all of us along the way, followed up to ensure we were able to complete the set tasks and provided useful thought-provoking feedback.

I thoroughly enjoyed this course and miss the weekly Zoom sessions with Louisa. My fellow classmates were friendly, supportive, and inspiring, with amazing ideas that prove the magnitude of diversity in creativity.

Since starting my writing journey, I've been seeking a writing group with like-minded people. Louisa encouraged our lovely group to make contact and continue supporting each other. We now have a fabulous Writers' Circle, meeting regularly online. And I suspect will be lifelong friendships :)

The classic thriller structure Louise guided us through using segments from one of her own books was generous and invaluable. I found this particularly beneficial as I'd read her books and could clearly relate to the points within the three-act structure.

Go for it - you have nothing to lose and so much to gain!

Louisa is a brilliant and enthusiastic tutor who is an expert in crime and thriller writing. She really brought the genre alive and her enthusiasm is catching! She is really warm and encouraging, and I will seek out 'Novel Writing Essentials' with her as a tutor in a future course.

I really enjoyed learning 'in real time' with a group of other writers on zoom. I also enjoyed chatting to other writers in the breakout rooms. It was fabulous to get instant feedback from Louisa and other classmates too.

I now have a framework for writing a mystery/crime novel which I hope to utilise at a future date.

You can't possibly go wrong with AWC! The courses are all so well thought through and structured. You will always be amazed at how much you will learn.

This course is fun for novice writers but really valuable for more experienced writers who are already writing in this genre.

The course is well structured and covers the major areas for murder and thriller writers. I looked forward to meeting with the group each week. The breakout groups enabled us to interact with different classmates each week and receive feedback from our peers.

I am so very glad that I have had the opportunity to undertake two courses with Louisa. She is the most positive, supportive and encouraging teacher I have ever met. Having been a lecturer for over 40 years, you can imagine I have met many. I feel she has set me up with all the skills I need and now I need to do the work. Louisa provides constructive feedback in a very nonthreatening manner.

The group was talented and extremely supportive of each other. The interaction with Louisa was both challenging and entertaining. The two hours each flew by.

I have a better understanding of structure and suspense and have the opportunity to practice these skills. Being a published author in this genre, Louisa was able to draw on many of her own and other writers' examples to illustrate the topics under discussion.

The Australian Writers' Centre has many pertinent courses for prospective writers and the instructors are all published authors, which is very encouraging and believable. I only wish I had discovered this centre before I had proceeded so far with my novel.

L. A. Larkin was great. Very personable and natural. While she was teaching us, it didn't feel like we were being dictated it.

I enjoyed the interaction with the tutor, the Zoom meetings and the breakout rooms to discuss with fellow writers. It was a very supportive environment.

It's a really interesting and useful tool to have course information at your disposal before you get too far into your book. It has put me in a better direction to specifically write a crime/thriller novel, not just a novel.

I had seen the presenter at a previous writers festival and knew she was good. I needed skills and motivation to write my second novel which will be in that genre.

A well-structured course and great handouts. Seemed a friendly group and lots of opportunity to interact. The info about plot was particularly helpful, but all learning will be beneficial to improve my writing. I was absent for one session so it was great to have the recordings so I didn't miss out. The five weeks went quickly. I'm thinking about doing another course with Louisa now.

Louisa was very engaging, and generous with her feedback. Her presentation style was friendly and non-threatening and she was very knowledgeable about all things writing. I also found her very inspiring, this time as well as the first time I saw her present a few years ago.

I enjoyed the step-by-step nature of the handouts which I can also refer to in the future. Getting to know Louisa and meet fellow writers. I liked the homework - not too onerous and it kept me interested and on task.

Thank you Louisa. I am honoured to have met you and to have benefited from your experience, talent and wisdom. The course was lots of fun too. Thank you AWC.

My life has been impacted profoundly by all the courses I've done with AWC. This one in particular has motivated me to write that crime novel and given me skills and the direction that I needed.

I'd say - go for it. It will change your life.

The learning was fun and varied. Louisa was professional in her approach and knowledgeable. Great handouts for future reference. Valuable skills for my toolbox. The course has helped me with structure and building suspense.

Give it a go. Lots of courses presented in a variety of ways. Great newsletter keeps me in touch with the industry.

I am currently doing the Write Your Novel course with Pamela Freeman and I felt this genre specific course would complement it. My genre is psychological thrillers. It did :)

Louisa was very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humour which added to the enjoyment of the course.

I have done many AWC courses recently and each has always delivered a gem or two that hits the mark for me. Writing an elevator pitch was one of those gems. To come up with a short and punchy pitch is a skill we all need as writers with a desire to be published. The genre-specific material helped push me along with my writing. This is one of the great benefits of AWC courses: it keeps feeding the motivation beast within.

Louisa was an engaging presenter and made sure to answer questions. I enjoyed learning about the genre and its features as I have had limited exposure to it.

I enjoyed learning about the conventions of the inciting incident, turning points and climax as they relate to crime and thriller writing. I was able to come up with a new and improved plot for my story.

Go for it; it's just so useful and demystifies writing.

I'd heard positive feedback about this course on social media. I'd also heard Louise being interviewed on a podcast and I'd read a few of her crime books. While reading her books I was so impressed by the technique of her writing that I was interested to know more about the mechanics of what made her novels such page turners.

Louise was a positive, encouraging and supportive tutor. She was engaging, had an infectious sense of humour, made me feel comfortable and a valued member of the group and her handouts were thorough and presented in an easy-to-understand point format. The course content was extremely useful and pertinent to my writing.

I loved the group interaction. The homework tasks gave me the incentive and the confidence to plan and structure my current work in progress and this is coming from a serial pantser! Now, I have direction and clarity with my storyline. This course also made me go back to a crime novel I had completed a few years ago, while completing the Associate Degree of Professional Writing and Editing course at RMIT, and re-work aspects of it to give it more suspense and intensity. It was exactly what I needed at this point in time of my writing journey.

This course gave me the courage to be a more daring writer. It gave me the confidence to venture deeper into the psychology of what makes a twisty and suspenseful crime thriller.

Not only was Louisa knowledgeable, she was lovely - friendly and approachable.

I changed the climax of my book to make my main character much more proactive.

The AWC has the best writing teachers in Australia.

I am currently writing a crime novel but needed some structure to help finish it.

Louisa is a great crime writer and I would highly recommend her support as an author to anyone. I loved her handouts and she was very thorough. I feel the course helped me structure my work better.

All the courses I have done with the Australian Writers' Centre have always been amazing in terms of supporting me as an author and being able to do them online with a well-known author is an amazing experience.

The online tutor is very competent and answered everything very well. I enjoyed the writing exercises and the breakout rooms.

I want to thank the tutor for her brilliant tuition. It has been enjoyable 5 weeks. I'm self-confident now. I dare to go on writing.

I thought Louisa was a very positive and helpful tutor and provided a lively course. I really enjoyed the lesson on structure as such an important aspect of writing.

I have been keen to write but now will try and achieve the goal.

LA Larkin was very warm and open to all questions. She was clear in the explanations, giving multiple examples and encouraging the students.

We learned a lot and the environment created was very supportive and relaxed. I understand the process of writing a crime thriller much more now.

Louisa was SO great! Her enthusiasm & wealth of knowledge were brilliant. She's a fantastic tutor. She goes above & beyond to make sure everyone has time to ask questions and understands the content. Her content depth was fantastic & the exercises were very helpful to get me thinking.

The character profiling exercises were fantastic - made me think about things I hadn't developed yet.

It's a brilliant starting course to get your head around the building blocks of crime writing, full of easy to digest content and fun exercises.

Thanks Louisa.

Louisa was great. Very friendly and very affirming. I enjoyed the resources, the exercises and Louisa's personal anecdotes.

I am now confident that I can structure and plot to meet the expectations of readers of crime fiction.

Great courses, great tutors and a great way of meeting other aspiring writers.

Love the work you do!

I have completed courses with the AWC before and found them to be both informative and enjoyable. When this course turned up in my emails, I thought that it sounded interesting.

Louisa was an excellent presenter. It was great to have her personal experience as an author interwoven with the course theory. I enjoyed her engaging delivery of the course.

Louisa had the best tips and really got my gears working for plotting and all the things I'd never even thought of. She was easy to interact with. An honest and genuine person. She has enthusiasm for the genre and the teaching. That's always nice.

I enjoyed learning something new. Compact yet concise format. Small group. Interactive.

I would recommend this course in particular. I would also say to sign up for the newsletters and enter the competitions when you can. Join in on the free sessions and learn what you can. Who doesn't love free stuff?

Louisa was fun, engaging, witty, enthusiastic, genuine and led us through the course content with flair. Her humour was infectious. She was generous with her ideas and honest about her experience.

It gave me the structure I need to write my novel. A worthy investment of time and money.

I think Louisa is a great teacher, very personable and clearly enjoys teaching and talking with students. She has a methodical approach and gave a very good introduction.

I would recommend the course for providing a structure and also as motivational. It's nice to hear other stories and views from fellow students, especially those with different backgrounds.