What’s it like to learn with AWC?

Pamela was an outstanding tutor. She was highly professional, gave clear and specific feedback and shared a wealth of knowledge and experience. I not only learnt a great deal from her about the craft of writing, but I finished the course feeling highly motivated, with a swag of practical advice that is really helping me to improve and progress my first draft.

I not only enjoyed the content of the modules, but getting to know the work of other participants through workshopping. It was motivating to feel part of a group of workshopping writers.

I have done a number of other writing courses, including some well-known courses in the UK. But this was the first time I felt that I was learning the practical writing skills I needed to improve and progress my writing, and to approach the process of fiction writing with more confidence. It has grounded my creativity in real skills and given me the tools to start developing an effective writing practice to get me to a finished novel manuscript.

I would highly recommend the AWC to friends and colleagues, particularly because of its focus on practical writing skills and process.

What spurred me to try the course was that I was stuck with how to progress from the ten or so thousand words I had written.

Jenny was fantastic. I gained a lot from her feedback - in fact I think it was invaluable! I thought her style of how she gave the feedback was really good too - e.g very positive, friendly and motivating. Even when giving feedback about things that needed work, Jenny said it in a motivating and uplifting way. Really good for new writers (all writers?!) I think!

I think this course has made my writing journey more of a reality because I can see the path laid out more clearly. I now have a more solid understanding of what I actually need to do to get those words on the page.

I'd recommend this course for sure. I'd say that you will finish with an actual toolkit to use to finish your manuscript. And a community to support you.

Just a huge thank you and I hope to be involved with AWC going forward!

I thought the course was fantastic. The level of concise technical detail is presented and delivered so well. Its focus on the step-by-step practicalities making up the bulk of the content along with the broader concepts was balanced perfectly in my opinion.

It was the first time sharing my work with others which was really daunting. I've always drawn and designed worlds and cultures and made up stories in my head. But to bring this world and a new story to others for the first time and see people getting enjoyment from it has been wonderful. I hope one day more people will enjoy reading this story.

I thought Jennifer was very knowledgeable and I greatly respect her expertise in this field. I was keen to work with her as I knew she wrote in Speculative Fiction. I really liked that she could pinpoint what areas were working or not and why and the technical solutions of fixing those issues. This was truly invaluable.

Overall, I thought she balanced her critical feedback along with encouragement wonderfully as that is so important for people just starting out like myself. It has certainly helped me believe that I can indeed tackle this novel that I've set out to write.

Really I just think it has given me the skills to achieve what I've set out to do with my novel. I wouldn't have learned enough of the technical skills without training and on my own. It was exciting to hear I actually have something that other people would really like to read, rather than just an amusement for myself in my own head hahaha.

I would highly recommend it for both beginner to even to more experienced writers.

I was just drawn to it as I was writing a novel but was stuck. I thought the info and the workshopping with other authors would help me, which it has. My only hesitation was would I have the time. I did and by making the time it helped to keep to a deadline. I will now keep that time for writing.

The online tutor Jenny was great. She has a lot of knowledge and will give it freely. I value her input. I enjoyed the workshopping.

I am a lot clearer now about all that goes into writing a novel. The pieces were there, I just needed to put them together, which is what the course did. All the strands are connected. It's just putting them together for me.

Glad I signed up!

My tutor was absolutely fantastic. Jenny has been incredibly helpful and provided many important insights that I have incorporated into my work.

I enjoyed workshopping and building a community. Everyone has been really encouraging.

Every lesson and workshop provided me with the information and support I need to take my writing to the next level. Without the support of this community, I would not be as far into my novel as I am today.

I have a lot more confidence in my writing. I would probably have given up by now if not for the course.

Thank you!

This course gave my writing direction and focus and helped a lot with giving my characters a voice.

Excellent feedback from Cathie as well as good ideas about which books I can buy to assist me in my writing. I really appreciated Cathie's individual attention to my work.

I started the course with some random chapters; I now have a main character with a strong voice and a direction for a novel.

If you're thinking of writing a novel you need to take this course so you don't waste time waffling about without focus.

I wanted to get a solid start on my novel, hoping it would steer the rest of it in the right direction.

At first, I was nervous about presenting large pieces of my writing to others for open critique, but everyone is all in the same boat and just wants to work together to improve their writing.

I really appreciated Cathie's wealth of knowledge and her specific feedback. It's great to work with someone with such experience and know-how in the industry.

The course has helped me to refine the synopsis, and target areas of writing such as deep point of view. It has helped me to keep writing and work on the story plan. I am motivated to continue and finish.

Jennifer was able to see things in the group's submissions from a much more professional point of view. It was very interesting to compare her critiques and feedback with my own. Her feedback for my own work helped to clarify some important points and, most of all, encouraged me to keep going.

Well worthwhile. You will learn a great deal about the craft of writing.

I came into the course with specific objectives and the course allowed me to meet them.

The tutor was helpful and encouraging, feedback and suggestions very useful.

If you don't know where to start, lack confidence or are completely terrified by the thought of writing a novel, this course will help you on your way. By the end of 10 weeks, I had a complete first draft - rough as guts, only 30,000 words, but the story was on the page, ready to be fleshed out and worked on (using the various tools provided during the course). I am now well and truly on my way, thanks to my tutor, the other writers I met through the course and the AWC.

Very impressed with the online learning platform - it's awesome.

I really enjoyed all aspects of the course. The discipline required each week really helped me progress my writing.

Jenny was awesome. She provided very constructive and fair feedback as well as plenty of support to our entire group. It really is a major benefit of the course to have an experienced and accomplished author to learn from. I greatly appreciate the work required from and inspiration that Jenny provided us. Thank you.

I loved providing and receiving feedback. I was a little hesitant to at first and had to develop my skills at providing supportive and constructive feedback, but I feel I developed this skill as the course progressed. I really enjoyed receiving feedback from both Jenny and my fellow students.

I also looked forward to each Monday when a new module became available and I don't say this lightly as I use to hate Mondays.

I now believe if I work hard, I have a very good chance of getting my novel finished and hopefully published. I've always wanted to be a writer but never had the discipline to follow through with it. This course has taught me the discipline required and dared me to dream!

Thanks to the entire AWC team for making this course an amazing and pleasurable learning experience. Abby with her cheerful, helpful and responsive email replies and presentation hosting, Nat with her support for following up our reviews. Valerie's audios and inspiring weekly emails and the rest of the team who work behind the scenes. I really appreciate everybody's efforts to make this course such a rewarding experience.

Jenny was absolutely fantastic. Her feedback was very insightful and she expertly pointed out areas for improvement and what was working well with my story. Her knowledge and passion for writing was evident and her enthusiasm to help her students was clear to all. I even learnt so much from her reviews of other students' work. Thanks Jenny!

I really loved reviewing the other students' work. We had such a diverse range of stories and I can honestly say that all were enjoyable to read.

I feel like I am finally finding my authorial voice in my story.

I would definitely recommend the Australian Writers' Centre. The course structure, the online learning platform, and the tutor were all easy to use and professional to deal with.

Jen was awesome. Very honest and open feedback.

The main thing I loved was the variety of feedback I received on my submissions. It was truly helpful. I found my strengths and weaknesses very quickly and I now know what I need to focus on in my future writing.

The AWC is an accelerator for aspiring writers with education, community, and accountability built in!

I completed the Creative Writing Stage 1 course and enjoyed that process. I was hesitant about sharing my writing - not knowing what to expect.

Pamela was great! She provided great constructive feedback and was always available to answer any questions.

The best part about the course is all the feedback on our submissions, and not just from the tutor but from the whole class. It's just so valuable!

I am more motivated to continue writing and I can actually see a way forward to completing my book.

For anyone thinking about writing a book, this is the course to do. Even if you know most of the theory, it's also great to just put you in touch with other like-minded writers.

The feedback I received from Angela and my fellow writers was invaluable in helping me to progress my memoir. Angela was very thorough and provided effective feedback on what was working and what needed attention and, more importantly, how to address any problems. She was warm and approachable as well as being professional which is a great combo.

I completely changed the beginning of my memoir based on the feedback of Angela and other writers. This has changed my course profoundly. I wouldn't have seen it if I was flying solo!

A great big thank you to Angela and the AWC for the wonderful experience that this course gave me. Much appreciated and best wishes to you all.

I'd say if you want to learn the craft of writing or you want to write a book, sign up with the AWC - it'll take you forward on your path.

I really wanted to have others read my work and help me to see where my strengths and weaknesses are as a writer. I also really wanted to make writer-friends.

I was worried about being able to give helpful feedback as this was my first time in a workshopping group, but as the course went on I actually learned from the others in the course how to give better feedback. It's given me more courage to share my writing, and also to just write!

It was seeing the different feedback being given by the other students; some were confused by aspects that others loved, some thought certain passages were too long whilst others thought they were just right. This course has really taught me that feedback/criticism is subjective and will always be affected by personal preference to a certain point. This revelation has actually made it less daunting for me to share my work and leave myself open to criticism.

AWC offers a range of courses suiting all stages of experience and interests. The course wasn't overwhelming or intimidating, and the lecturer was approachable and helpful.

I gained invaluable information about aspects of writing that I thought I already knew. The modules were easy to follow and I appreciated the reinforcement of some of the critical messages - it really helped me a lot.

Angela was very helpful and positive in her feedback. I appreciated the extra info she posted in the Course Chat regarding particular aspects of writing.

I enjoyed having a focus and developing a method to my process of writing.

It has made me realise I can write a novel, and given me some fantastic knowledge and tips to help me get there! I particularly appreciated becoming more aware that the self-doubt and problems writers face are universal (more or less). I've also enrolled in the Write Your Novel course.

This is a great course to gauge where you're at in terms of writing because others will read your work and critique it. You will learn techniques and tips to help improve your skills, and gain a better understanding of things you might've thought you already knew. If you're serious about writing a novel, this will really get you going.

Angela was a very considerate and kind tutor who gave excellent feedback and ideas on how to improve our writing without burying us in the ditch, so to speak. She encouraged me to keep going and I learnt so much from her about the craft of writing. I thought I knew how to write but I found out I knew so little. Thank you, Angela.

The most enjoyable thing about the course was that I began writing and found that I loved it. It sounds funny but I think I actually learnt more from giving feedback to others rather than receiving it. This feedback part of the course is possibly the most valuable part.

It has taught me to write every day. Even if you have nothing, sit down and write through it.

I would say that you will not regret joining one of these courses. You will learn a lot and also you could possibly make lifelong friends who can help you with feedback on your writing. I would say DO IT!

Thank you , thank you, thank you.

Angela is very knowledgeable and cares for us students and our writing. Feedback is thorough and constructive and there was always an extra link to an article or information on what we were struggling with - for example, POV for me.

I enjoyed reading my classmates' stories and learning a new skill - tracking changes in the document and giving feedback on a fellow writer's work.

At first, because I was nervous about people reading and commenting on my work, I submitted a story I started writing about 7 years ago and wasn't sure what I was doing with it but the feedback and writing practice has been invaluable and I'm strides ahead from where I was before joining.

I'm very conscious now about what I write, even if it's a text message! I'm not so blasé with just throwing words out there. I've learned so much about how to structure a novel, create scenes, describe characters, all these things that I was not aware of before. I feel excited to keep writing.

The AWC is a professional organisation with excellent content in their courses, great teachers and you will definitely learn something new. I highly recommend you do one of the courses that interests you.

Thank you and 8 weeks flew by!

Angela was great! She provided really thorough feedback, which struck the right balance between encouragement and constructive criticism. The extra links and resources she provided were helpful in giving extra context.

I was surprised at how much I learned from workshopping with other students, not just my work but from theirs. I also loved that this course gave me structure and accountability for my writing practice.

It's given me more confidence in my writing ability, more confidence in sharing my writing, and a brighter hope that I can actually finish this draft!

If you want to take improving your writing seriously, go to the AWC.

I had no hesitation in enrolling for this course. I loved the idea of a self-paced course with AWC. No set time, 12 months to do the course. AWC sending the course outline before I decided to go ahead was very useful. I suggest to anyone wondering about doing a course at AWC: Give it a go and delve into the writing world. You will be amazed at how much you learn, giving you the motivation and skills to finish that story that needs to be told.