What’s it like to learn with AWC?

Pamela was very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. The environment was encouraging.

I'm working hard on completing my novel and thanks to this course I am out of the thinking stage and into the active writing stage.

As I worked on writing my own piece and providing feedback for my fellow course-mates, I realised that the important thing was to get the story down and that it doesn't have to be perfect. As long as the story is written I will have the opportunity to make it better as much as I want.

The Australian Writers' Centre provides a friendly and encouraging environment, especially to someone like me who lacked confidence in her work and was afraid of criticism. The experience is constructive, inspiring and overall fun.

I completed a creative writing course a few years ago and had started writing a novel. I hadn't looked at it in a year so wanted to get motivated to write again. I have listened to the podcasts for quite a while and enjoy Allison and Valerie's banter, so thought I would give Novel Writing Essentials a go.

Pamela was amazing! Her feedback was so useful and made perfect sense. She gave a lot of tips throughout the course interwoven through her various feedbacks. I learned a lot from listening to her feedback to other students as well as my own.

I enjoyed the learnings from the feedback sessions - both Pamela's and the other students. Also, reading other submissions and seeing the many different writing styles/genres.

I have started writing again and I feel like I know (sort of) what I'm doing now.

Even though I have completed a couple of creative writing courses over the years, I regret that I didn't start with the Australian Writers' Centre creative writing course.

Pamela Cook was an excellent tutor and gave great feedback throughout this course, not just to myself but all the students.

The opportunity to read the work of others and offer feedback, and receiving feedback, was fantastic as it has helped improve my own work.

These courses are great, the tutors are very helpful, the classroom is respectful to your work and the feedback others offer is fantastic.

I really enjoyed meeting other writers on this and other courses run by the AWC. I feel like I have made a real connection with some of the other students and may have found not only some new friends but really wonderful long term beta readers.

Anyone with dreams of being a writer would be helped by a course run by the Australian Writers' Centre. It is a great starting place.

I started writing a novel and wanted to learn more fiction techniques and I needed some accountability to keep writing! I also wanted feedback on my work in a safe environment.

I was a bit scared about sharing my work with others, but I actually found it so helpful in the end having feedback from my classmates and Nicole.

Nicole was great at giving feedback. She picked up on a lot of things that I didn't think about until she said it, which is really going to help improve my work. She was a good tutor.

I enjoyed the workshopping, receiving feedback (even if it's a little scary) and reading other classmates' work.

I would say that if you are keen to learn fiction techniques properly and want to actually write a novel (the right way) to look to the AWC :)

The insights gained from feedback and workshopping has taken my work to another level, and was an excellent way of learning to identify some things I missed, and what to watch out for in the future; what worked and what didn't.

I learnt a lot of additional titbits - introducing characters in a way that readers will remember them, developing anchors for them.

Obtaining the courage to develop my own writing style, although I am a newbie, and not one based on any perceived standards or expectations.

The program of learning, writing, feedback and workshopping is spot on. Never underestimate the immense value of workshopping and feedback. This form of obtaining beta readers is far superior to tapping into your own networks in many ways.

Stephen gave excellent feedback, including oral and written which broadened it out. He gave considered comments and often did extra research in an area if he needed to (e.g. historical facts). He was always very encouraging but not afraid to say something major if needed. If he was held up with his feedback, he made it known that was the case.

I've learnt a number of things which will improve my writing, such as fleshing out characters more, for example. The feedback from all participants was invaluable, enjoyable and a positive experience. I respect their opinions because I know that their own writing is of a high standard, so the feedback is well-grounded.

It's a great organisation, which caters particularly to Australian writers but not excluding others. The course was of a high standard, and they add extra interest by having webinars/zoom sessions, fun competitions and extra blogs/emails to help keep your motivation up.

The structure is well designed for learning and the feedback is relevant to the stage of writing. Very informative and supported.

The tutor was very straight forward, good and constructive feedback with suggestions.

I enjoyed reading other stories as well as feedback.

It provided structure and encouragement to hit the target, without too much pressure. Tailored for the needs of writers who need the scaffolding to build their stories.

Practical, useful and engaging. Get going.

I wanted to dedicate myself to my dream of writing a novel, and I thought this course would be a great first step. I desperately needed the structure and accountability to get to work! My only concern was not being able to keep up with the writing schedule.

I found the lessons very interesting and applicable. I have never written such long-form fiction before and so the advice and direction of each of the recordings offered a great foundation for my writing. I have taken several writing courses in the past, and still learnt so much! I also liked the interaction with my fellow coursemates!

This course has started me on my lifelong dream of writing a novel! The advice, techniques and skills I have gained will be instrumental for me on my writing journey.

I enjoyed workshopping the manuscript of my fellow course members, and reading their feedback.

It's given me the belief that I'm on my way to becoming a capable, and hopefully engaging, writer.

The tutor was lovely, caring and very direct with critiquing on what can be improved, which was brilliant. That is exactly what I was looking for.

The video comments on the submitted work were brilliant. Thank you - so valuable

I will be placing more importance into character development and how they are seen by readers and how to use them to move the story forward.

I found Angela's feedback very helpful. I also contacted her privately with my doubts, given I was the only student writing memoir. She reassured me and supported me to continue with my writing. Her positive feedback has encouraged me to continue writing as I've gained a great deal of confidence.

I enjoyed listening to the online tutorials and then trying to put the advice into practice. I also enjoyed receiving Angela's and the other students’ feedback which I will now process.

I'm very motivated to continue my memoir, given Angela's positive feedback about my writing style. Whether I have it published is another issue as I have no idea how to go about this. It's now my focus to go down that path, as Abby, who has also been very supportive to me during the course, has also encouraged me to pursue the publishing aspect.

Angela was great. Learned so much from her feedback given - not just to me but everyone else as well. Plus the extra info she gave us on various subjects was really useful.

The tutor and the workshopping were fantastic. I found the process so valuable for keeping my writing on track and learning lots at the same time.

The idea of writing a novel has felt so overwhelming. After this course, I feel much more confident about not only writing but finishing.

I've taken a few courses here and the standard of tutoring has always been so high. The weekly lessons and resources are practical, easy to understand and apply. Definitely builds confidence.

I had just completed Creative Writing Stage 1 and wanted to bridge the gaps in my knowledge with Novel Writing Essentials before applying for Write Your Novel.

I worried that perhaps it would just recap what CWS1 covered, but it really didn't. It took everything I learned in CWS1 and built upon it, enhanced that knowledge, and developed it further.

I loved working with Bronwyn. She was so encouraging and her feedback on everyone's work was insightful and right on-point. She always pinpointed the places I'd struggled with in a scene and gave me some wonderful suggestions for fixes!

I really enjoyed getting to know my classmates and seeing their work evolve. I've found quite a few folks I'm hoping to workshop with more in the future!

I'd recommend (and do!) the AWC to my writing friends. The courses are rich with information, and even after having spent ten years "teaching myself" how to write, these course have filled in a lot of gaps in my understanding of how fiction works. I am, without a doubt, a better writer today than I was a year ago, and I wish I'd come to these classes earlier!

Bronwyn gave detailed, encouraging but realistic feedback that was timely and helpful.

I enjoyed having a structured approach to keeping writing, learning how to shape character and story etc in the weekly lessons. Seeing what other people are up to! Realising that there are many approaches, time frames and approaches to novel writing.

I'm looking forward to a brief break before beginning the twelve-month novel writing programme. I'll continue to write in the meantime, with the momentum I've gathered, though!

Bernadette offered very insightful and crucial feedback, especially on my first submission. She was very encouraging and clear, which was very helpful

The course was very accessible and flexible. The podcasts and written materials were great. I think the subject and content of each module was spot on. Not too heavy, not too light.

The course has given me the courage to keep going with my novel. It has made me realise the magnitude of the task and given me some key clues on how to achieve that all-important first draft. The course has also made me feel I am not alone in this pursuit and there is plenty of help and guidance around, which is great.

I had completed a couple of self-paced AWC courses and felt they'd really improved my writing and knowledge of how to write a novel. They also got me started on writing my first chapter. I thought this course would be great to get me started more seriously on my manuscript.

I really enjoyed having Bron as our tutor. She was an astute commentator on our work and tailored her feedback to each of our pieces and styles. She also combined positive and encouraging feedback with more critical feedback to enable revisions. She was very generous with her time and I had a separate conversation with her about a dilemma I was having in writing true crime/memoir where she gave me some very useful tips and, most of all, encouragement to continue writing this story.

I enjoyed the workshopping component- both by the students and tutor. It really opened my eyes to some of the flaws in my writing and gave me concrete ideas on how to revise it. Workshopping others' stories and reading others' comments gave me the skills to critically appraise a piece of writing. It also made me aware that some feedback is subjective or inappropriate and needs to be evaluated by the writer with respect to overall intention and instinct. Judgement on what to change and what to keep is a skill I will need to keep honing!

I now have over 10,000 words written and I have a draft structure with an idea of my POV characters that feels right for me at the moment. Starting to write seriously has also thrown up a whole lot of ethical and legal questions on writing true crime/memoir about people that are still alive. It has shown me how important it is to read widely in this genre to understand where the boundaries lie between fiction and non-fiction. My goal over the next few months is to saturate myself in creative non-fiction writers and techniques, while continuing to write my first draft. I have also enrolled in the creative non-fiction self-paced AWC course.

It's an amazing course, especially if writing fiction, that will set you up with the skills, discipline and community to begin your manuscript.

I guess the most important thing for me, which surprised me, was that the course didn't attempt to give me a formula for how to write. Rather, it gave common sense general parameters and the encouragement to write in my own style and then relevant feedback.

The tutor was first class; very direct at times, but encouraging, which is the best style for this sort of endeavour.

It’s a funny thing to say but I found I just loved writing and the course forced me to write and not to be afraid.

I have had a story in my head for twenty years and now I'm confident it will be written. I have enrolled in the Write Your Novel course.

I thought that the feedback that Bronwyn gave was excellent. She was very thorough and constructive and went into great detail too with lots of good suggestions.

It was great to see the way that other people write. Our "stories" were all so varied. There was never one that was the same, so it was interesting to read genres that I would not normally read.

Bronwyn is an accomplished author and editor. I've downloaded her feedback for everyone in the course because there's a lot to learn from her in-depth observations. She gave comprehensive, insightful and incredibly useful feedback that will inform the rest of my novel. Thanks, Bronwyn.

I enjoyed Bronwyn's feedback and the online chat where some interesting topics were raised. Also, everyone's different points of view/opinions and some good reading recommendations.

It gave me the kick up the bum I needed to get started, yet again, on this story that has been knocking around in my head for a long time. I also received encouraging feedback from most of the group members, which is motivating as I have very little confidence in my writing. It's nice to know fellow writers liked my work (or at least I think they did!)

I would say, go for it. The course content is good, and I like the balance between the notes and the audio. It is also a bonus to have access to the course for 12 months after completion - I had to rush through it and I still haven't listened to module 8 and some bits of the other modules. Also, our tutor Bronwyn Parry was incredibly professional.

Overall the course was enjoyable. The participants were from all over the place and from all walks of life, which kept the chats lively. Their work was accomplished too. There's a lot of talent out there!