What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I really enjoyed all of the lessons and exercises, and found that I learned an enormous amount. Angela is very knowledgeable and supportive. The extra tips she provided were really valuable.

I enjoyed reading most of the other participants' work. As you predicted, I learned a lot in forming my comments on their work, because it also helped me to reflect on what that might teach me about my own. The comments from others on my own work was really useful because other eyes picked up all sorts of things that I hadn't seen. Angela's comments were also very valuable given her experience and expertise.

I made significant progress with the plot of my novel, and learned a huge amount about characters and plotting.

A great blend of incentive, inspiration and fabulous course materials.

Nicole's feedback was excellent. Her queries and concerns about my pieces were spot on. She was encouraging too and made me feel I wanted to continue writing my novel. The right encouragement is so important for an emerging writer like me. She also was extremely knowledgeable about the genre I was writing in (YA), which was very lucky for me.

I liked workshopping other writers' work, providing feedback from a reader's perspective and offering suggestions. The writers in my group were kind and supportive and helped me by providing feedback about my own writing too. Getting feedback from Nicole, our teacher, about my own work was also a highlight, and I learnt a lot from listening to what she had to say about the work of the other writers in the group too.

It has given me confidence and has motivated me. I know that I will continue to write this novel now.

Do an Australian Writers' Centre course! The teachers are wonderful -- knowledgeable, experienced and supportive -- and you'll meet fellow emerging writers that will keep you interested in your own writing and the craft in general.

I had completed the 'How to write for Children and Young Adults' course and it was excellent, so I was excited to continue on my writing journey with AWC.

Angela Slatter is very knowledgeable and provides real insight into the art of writing. Angela also provided constructive, direct and real feedback in a respectful manner. I feel like I learned a lot.

The course material was excellent. However, the part I enjoyed most was the actual writing, giving and receiving feedback to/from fellow writers and Angela.

Since I was 8, I had always imagined I would one day be a writer... that dream moved further and further away. However, this course has provided me with some real tools and I feel like it has finally kick started my writing journey.

If you want to write for fun, if you want to make writing your career, if you just want to kick start your creative side, there are a host of courses with AWC that might benefit you. This course could be the start of your writing journey.

I completed How to Write for Children and Young Adults and was impressed with the quality of the course and tutor. Novel Writing Essentials seemed to be the next logical step for my further education in writing a novel.

The course content made so much sense and was invaluable for developing a mindset of persistence in what is, for many, a very abstract or romanticized endeavour: writing a novel. The technical advice and feedback provided by the tutor and audio modules was exceptional in quality and delivery of information/education.

Angela impressed me with her professional communications (to me and other students) and critiques. Like other tutors at AWC, to be encouraged, educated and critiqued by someone who's established in the industry like Angela, gave me confidence to keep going with my writing and feel great about the decision of having enrolled in the course.

I thoroughly enjoyed and learnt a lot about how to refine and control my writing. Angela is generous with her comments and positive with her critique. Her comments were detailed and invaluable.

I am motivated and will keep going and am looking forward to writing my first story.

If you want to write you must go through at least the creative writing course - it is brilliant for putting you on your track to write.

I wanted to push myself to write more and to hit the 20,000-word mark. I also wanted constructive feedback from other writers. I was nervous about not being good enough but it ended up being a very supportive environment.

The feedback from Angela was extremely helpful. She opened my eyes to things I hadn't noticed and gave me some things to focus on. I felt she was very thorough. Her feedback is invaluable.

It pushed me to write! I am writing more than I ever have. It's motivated me to get a first draft done.

It's a very supportive, non-judgemental course.

Pamela was straight to the point with her feedback, in both what she liked but also in what needed improvement and why. I like that she would give examples to explain where and how improvement could be made and the impact this may have on the story.

It has given me the self-confidence to keep going. I have been accepted into the 12 month Write your Novel course next year.

Just do it, don't hesitate, you won't regret it and you can only go forward.

Two of my friends were doing the course and highly recommended it. I just love to write and find hurdles in getting through the editing and keeping inspired.

The tutor was great and the feedback really intricate and helpful. I do like how our characters and writing are taken seriously. I enjoyed the reading of others' work and the interaction and receiving feedback on my own work from tutor and peers.

I have novels in drawers (files on my computer) that are only first draft and now I feel excited to be able to revisit them with more knowledge around structure and character development and plotting. I don't have a problem with getting the words down; it's all in the editing. I feel more confident now to tackle that.

The course helped change my perspective about me being a never published writer - it has given me hope!

I got a lot out of this course. I tried out a lot of the new techniques (e.g. I wrote one scene in 6 different voices) and used the templates to help me figure out more about my characters and structure my work. I also valued the feedback I got and was surprised what I learned when commenting on others' work.

I like that Pamela chats with us in the comments section, and for my synopsis I very much appreciated the feedback on my work. I'm looking forward to further comments tomorrow.

I enjoyed reading other people's stories and meeting like-minded people.

If you're stuck creatively and want some direction, go here.

Angela gave great feedback on each submission and generously shared her knowledge and experience of the industry throughout the course. It's reignited my commitment to the novel I'm working on. It's also changed the way I look at my writing as well as any other printed material. Thanks to Angela and her highlighters of doom! :P

AWC provide great courses. I've done two online and the time commitment was very do-able. The tutors are knowledgeable and supportive and the format encourages a nurturing environment for participants. What's more, the modules are available for a full year so you can revisit them to keep you on track if you want to finish what you started - which I do!

Thanks very much!

I liked that it was a mixture of theory and workshopping. A previous course I did was just workshopping which I felt didn't cover what I really needed. And the theory modules were wonderful. Very practical and also very encouraging. I liked that they addressed exactly the type of fears I have about my writing.

It's really encouraged me to believe that I can and will finish my novel and that it will be worth reading.

I found the course really helped with my writing. The flexibility of doing it online and at a time that suits you is great.

I've been wanting to write fiction for years, but have always got caught up on the 'how to', so the 8 weeks of content and the accountability of getting 20,000 words done in two months were the major draw cards for me.

I was worried that my perfectionism would kick in and I'd get caught up on making my submissions "perfect", before missing my deadline and giving up. (I've done that before!) But the structure of the course and the invitation to share imperfectly really did allow me to move forward in "good enough" mode, which was a massive relief!

Angela did a great job. Her feedback was practical and actionable, and she was happy to share resources that she thought would help, in addition to the coursework. I found reading her feedback on other students' work super helpful as well.

I enjoyed the writing habit that I established, and the lessons themselves. I've discovered that I like to learn and work in a particular way, so the coursework combined with uncovering my own process were my highlights.

It's given me the regular creative writing habit I've wanted for years, and the confidence to just let my first draft be a mess. I've written nearly 70,000 words since we started the course, and the momentum feels fantastic. I've also got a much stronger idea of structure, plot and character development to carry into the rest of the book, as well as the (many, many) subsequent drafts to come.

Consistency is key. Getting up and writing my 1000 words a day is literally the only way my book will get written. Recognising that sometimes those words will be terrible, and it ultimately doesn't matter, has been really liberating.

If you're looking for a nudge (or a friendly push) to get your writing underway, then do it. Every course I've taken with AWC has given me some kind of important discovery about my own work and I've now got an almost completed manuscript to show for it.

The communication from AWC has been excellent, and the coursework has been brilliant and I'm so grateful to everyone who works at AWC. Thanks!

I had completed the How to Write for Children and Young Adults course as I was curious about writing. I've always wanted to write a novel, just didn't know how to go about it. During that course I discovered that I really enjoy the writing process and gained some insight on how to go about it. I came up with a rough idea for my novel and then enrolled in this course to continue and learn more.

Angela was great - insightful and helpful feedback, which I will put into place in my subsequent drafts.

A great course that got me inspired to actually write a novel.

Pamela Cook was a brilliant tutor. I had her for Creative Writing Stage 1 as well, and she does a great job with her feedback, pointing out areas to improve and how we can move forward. I learnt so much through listening to her feedback given to other writers in the group too. She was very giving of her time, answering additional questions we had. Also shared her insights on the publishing industry at the final wrap event which was very useful. She was also fantastic at instilling confidence in me as a writer, to the point where I feel like I can tell people I'm a writer, I'm working on a novel!

It has greatly improved my writing skills, my understanding of novels, characters, POV, setting, plot and so much more. Most importantly, it has built my belief in myself as a writer. I know it's still a tough road and getting published isn't easy, but I'm going to give it my best crack, as I now have belief in my work that I didn't have before.

The courses at Australian Writers' Centre have been instrumental in developing my skills, knowledge and self-belief as a writer. I've completed quite a few, Novel Writing Essentials being the latest one. It has propelled me forward with confidence, and I now have 65,000 words down for my first novel. I've written for years - probably the last decade - but doing these courses has put me on the right track in terms of learning about structure, plot, character, dialogue, setting, POV (just to name a few). I couldn't be more proud and am very grateful for AWC and the tutors. If you're thinking about starting a course - don't hesitate. You will not regret it!

I completed the Creative Writing Stage 1 course last year and, much to my surprise, started writing a novel. I was stuck at around 4,000 words and signed up for Novel Writing Essentials to learn how to move forward. I was also interested to get feedback on my writing style to determine if I should keep going.

I was a bit hesitant about having my work read and critiqued, but it turned out to be a very useful, and not too painful, experience. I was also concerned about providing feedback on other people's work, however we were provided with advice on how to do this constructively.

I learnt more than I thought I would, the feedback was useful and I now have 24,000 words written.

I found Angela's feedback practical, helpful, honest and encouraging. She was generous in sharing her knowledge and experience along with useful techniques to improve structure and style. Angela answered all questions our cohort put forward and provided guidance. Overall I enjoyed Angela's class and was pleased we had her as our tutor.

What I found most enjoyable was learning more about the craft of writing a novel. It was comforting to realise that there are guidelines and structure that can help to get the story onto the page in a way that readers will enjoy. I've always read novels and marvelled at how the author creates dialogue, scenes and action that seem to just come naturally, to hook the reader and keep them reading to find out more - to learn there are techniques and guidelines to help me do the same was a wonderful revelation.

Do it, you will be surprised at the writer that's lurking within you and just needs coaxing out.

Angela was very encouraging and provided targeted advice to each writer. It was helpful to see her feedback to other students as well as our own. She provided insights into my writing that I realised were blockers and I now have strategies to overcome them. I really appreciated the 'extras' she gave us on structure and narrative too.

I'm enjoying writing a lot more now that I have a better idea of the novel writing process and less pressure to write beautifully in a first draft. The words are now flowing and I have a plan to get through my first draft.

There is no substitute for making the time to write, but the AWC can provide motivation and guidance to help you make the most of that time.

Nicole's feedback was invaluable. I really enjoyed listening to her recorded feedback not only for me but for all the other participants in my course. I got the impression everyone in my course got the confidence boost they needed to keep working on their manuscripts while at the same time benefiting from the constructive criticism and tips about what's not working.

By the end of the course I was emotionally invested in everyone's stories.

I have some confidence that I can actually write (of course there is lots to improve). Before doing the course, I was wondering if I was wasting my time.

DO IT! It's money well spent and the worst that can happen is that you discover your novel hasn't got legs. In saying that though, the course content is highly engaging so you're highly likely to be inspired to start another story that does have legs.

Nicole was a skilled writer and I found her feedback on all our submissions to be informative and supportive.

One, I grew in that I finished the course and committed to it the whole way through. Two, I learned from others that there is no magic - it's giving rein to your imagination and then, word by word, scene by scene, putting your story down. Three, don't agonise over making your first draft perfect - you'll change it anyway later.

Well-organised, practical lessons and handouts. Thoughtful, detailed feedback from the tutor and AWC's coordination/moderation of workshopping means that feedback is constructive and useful and not scary.

I love the AWC. Your website is so informative, welcoming to new writers without being patronising, and honest about the writing process without being intimidating or gatekeeping. It's one of the best decisions I've made to enrol in Creative Writing Stage 1 last year, so I knew that the next step would be even more informative and engaging.

Pamela was wonderful. Very honest about feedback given, but never in a way that was impersonal, overly harsh or unhelpful. Very thorough, detailed comments that gave me a really good springboard for my further drafts.

I enjoyed the video feedback format from the tutor. I like how different learning styles were incorporated - some people respond better to detailed text instructions, whereas some digest them better in video or audio.

I now have a very confident path to forge ahead with my planned novel, and during these uncertain times of lockdowns, it's fantastic to have something you can confidently focus on.

After completing Creative Writing stage 1, I was hooked, and found myself writing a story. The Novel Writing Essentials course felt like perfect timing.

Pamela's feedback was very useful and I found myself having many aha moments during her feedback. I enjoyed reading all the other stories from classmates and receiving their feedback. The audio lessons are fantastic!

I was using a lot of flashbacks in my story and, after the useful feedback from Pamela, I have re-written many scenes using story present. As a result, I am feeling a lot happier with those scenes and feel closer to my characters too.

I highly recommend taking a course with the Australian Writers' Centre. My understanding of plot, characters and individuality as a writer has transformed my approach to my writing and I feel very encouraged about where my story is going, thanks to what I have learned through the course.

I look forward to signing up to the novel writing course next, although I am going to pause to zone in on my story for a few months just using what I have learned from the Novel Writing Essentials course. I plan to go over the coursework again and continue to workshop with the group privately for the time being. But I will certainly be back for more courses.