What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I wanted to challenge myself to learn a different style of writing and have always valued children's' books and reading. It was a big change from the type of writing that I usually do for work!

There is an amazing amount of information in this course and the industry-specific information was very useful for me. The structure of the course is very cleverly thought out also. Thank you for all the information and resources provided.

It's great to have a tutor with industry experience providing feedback. The comments received were valuable and insightful - thank you.

I enjoyed the challenge of having to come up with different stories for a few weeks. I also enjoyed listening to the recorded modules.

I think the course was great value for money and provided amazing insight into the world of children's picture books. It's provided me with a lot of things to think about and I am keen to keep working on my story/stories!

This is my third course at AWC - I have been very impressed. Thank you.

I look forward to the next course!!

I was hesitant because of time commitment but I was at the point of needing direction to take my stories and ideas to the next level. Really glad I took the plunge and enrolled!

I looked forward to Cathie's weekly feedback. I like the fact she was tough - her own words! Her feedback was constructive and helpful. She gave me confidence that I could resolve the story to the next level while providing valuable insights into the publishing world.

I enjoyed listening to respected children's book experts; the feedback; and of being challenged - using a different story idea each week.

At the end of the course it felt great to have presented a correctly formatted manuscript with two pitches and a blurb. While some elements need work, it was satisfying to understand the whole process of writing and submitting a children's picture book.

The course has improved my writing and made me more efficient in the process. My increased understanding of the synergy between author and illustrator has helped me to focus on writing well, with an economy of words.

Several 'aha!' moments were - understanding how emotion is the driving force of fiction, discovering how helpful storyboarding the text is, and the importance of killing your darlings.

Do it! The course is enjoyable and there is so much to learn.

Thank you AWC, Valerie Khoo and Cathie Tasker.

The information provided was easy to digest. The written material and the fact that I can now review learning tasks again is a real bonus.

I found that Cathie was approachable, gave constructive feedback and looked for positives. I liked that she didn't sugar coat feedback; it was robust and enabled me to review my written work and improve it.

I feel justified in spending time on a creative pasttime. I also feel that I have something worthy to work on and hopefully publish one day.

AWC courses give you a great starting point, a structure to learn and feedback to hone your craft.

I work full time and have a primary school aged child, so I was a little hesitant that I'd be able to fit the course in, but finding the time to complete the course wasn't an issue. I enjoyed it so much I MADE time :) The 5-week structure and weekly assignments worked well.

My tutor was knowledgeable. She answered all my questions thoroughly and provided plenty of helpful advice and insights.

I enjoyed writing in first person perspective. I loved being creative when writing the weekly assignments.

You should definitely do a course at AWC. They're online, so can fit within your schedule, and you get valuable weekly feedback from your tutor, who's an industry professional!

A big thanks to Cathie for all her advice.

Cathie obviously has a lot of experience behind her and her feedback certainly helped shape what I am trying to write.

It's a great starting point and, never having done a course for writing, this was great.

I had no idea how complex becoming a writer can be. Definitely challenging me to push myself to continue my dream.

As an introduction to writing, this course will definitely open your eyes.

Cathie was great! So encouraging and supportive. Her feedback was honest and really, really helpful. I learnt a lot from her.

I enjoyed the process of writing that we developed over the 5 weeks. Feeling like I now have some solid skills to get practising.

I've always been writing but never sure what to do with it. Now I have some clear direction.

Go for it, you will learn a lot!

Cathie was fantastic with her explanations on editing or proceeding with different parts of the story.

I enjoyed the challenge of making my idea real.

I would say give it a go. You never know what small piece of information is missing from your story. That might just be the word you needed.

I've had a passion for writing and several stories drafted for a long time. I needed to be proactive and learn the skills of the trade with a view to sending the stories off to a publisher.

The tutor was very helpful and knowledgeable. Feedback was great and helped me refine my works. When I had questions, they were always answered and were very constructive.

I enjoyed being able to do the online lessons and handouts in your own home at your own pace.

It's helped me get over my perfectionism, to push through the barriers when I found things difficult. It led to my developing a saying for myself 'Activate Don't Procrastinate!' and' When the going gets tough... PUSH on through!' It also helped me learn to cull my words by having to stick to the word limits. It developed my creativity and self-esteem.

An excellent self-paced course. I will not hesitate to enrol in the Masterclass course and other courses in the near future.

I had done a course with Cathie before and I wanted to work with her again. I also love picture books and read a lot of them in my job as a Teacher Librarian.

I loved how comprehensive it was. Cathie is an amazing tutor. She is super knowledgeable and her feedback is always spot on.

I learned I could write a picture book and it has given me some new writing goals. Before that I had written 2 YA novels and did not see myself writing anything else.

The AWC has excellent courses and I regard them highly.

I enjoyed the exercises and assignments, and learnt so much from the audio lectures.

I appreciated Cathie's constructive and prompt feedback.

I'm aware of themes, plot growth in relation to pagination, and the role of the illustrator. This has inspired me to revisit all my old drafts and edit ( drastically ) to implement what I have learnt.

Wonderful opportunity to learn new writing skills and to better understand the genre and marketing.

The weekly individualised feedback on each assignment attracted me as I would like to be a published author and I didn't know where to start.

I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the assignment deadlines and I was worried that everyone else would be a higher standard than me. I didn't need to worry as I managed to keep up and everyone was very supportive and welcoming.

Advice on language and story structure was the most valuable to me. The encouragement and constructive feedback was wonderful. Felt like I was guided through the process of writing a picture book from start to finish. It was also encouraging to feel like I was on the right lines with my writing and my goal of becoming a published author could actually become a reality.

It has encouraged me and given me the confidence to take the next steps in my writing career.

Cathie was great. Very knowledgeable and had top advice.

I enjoyed the informative videos. It's a brilliant, well-paced course.

I really enjoyed the different writing tasks and being able to focus on different elements of picture book structure.

I had an epiphany today on the kind of stories I want to write for children and the kind of author I want to be. The course has provided me with incredible tools and resources to make this happen. I feel I already have now several very good stories to polish over the next year and hopefully have success publishing.

I would say that this course was excellent, and I wish I had done it several years ago. Sometimes life is busy, and this felt like a treat - it was!

I've done lots of courses for novel writing with AWC but, in amongst the emotional rollercoaster of writing a novel, I had a seed of an idea for a picture book. Then the seeds grew to many! So on a whim, I put the novel on the backburner and did the course. I'm very proud of the 2 picture books I've written in this course.

I loved hearing Margaret read my manuscript. It was so helpful in hearing the rhythm and word choice from her voice. She gave me great feedback and was really encouraging.

Now I'd like to pursue publication of picture books!

Really easy and accessible way to do a course. It's always enjoyable.

It's like exploring a new thing. Each Sunday at midnight, I used to open the new module and check all the titles that we were going to learn in that module.

It made me understand how picture books are created and its various aspects. With my little illustration skills, I tried to create a picture book.

There are so many 'aha!' moments throughout the course. For example, learning Approaches to Illustration is an 'aha!' moment, learning Visual Literacy is an 'aha!' moment, learning about the storyboard template, and so on. All the Modules are 'aha!'

I felt like Cathie knew the subject very well and was able to provide solid feedback.

What I enjoyed most was the different way you write compared to writing for an adult audience, which is what I'm more used to.

Do this course, it's fun.

I enjoyed having a deadline each week to keep me regularly working on my writing.

The course was well structured, had good supporting materials in the handouts, it was practical, I've loved it.

Cathie was very supportive and constructive. I liked the way her comments were delivered by video and by the written word. This meant I could really hear the emphasis of her comments.

I really enjoyed learning about the structure of a picture book and how to incorporate point of view and emotion into that structure. This was all new to me.

I would say that it is essential to writing a picture book if you are a beginner.

The tutor was encouraging. The feedback was practical and I was able to apply it to the next module's exercise. Provided the framework for translating ideas into stories.

I have wanted to write children's picture books for years. I started myself several years ago and I still have the same ideas and now have the tools and guidance to seriously pursue this.

By module four I was able to apply the theory into practice and write in the style required for professional writing.

I wanted a short course that would be give me an insight into writing children's picture books. As a classroom teacher, I've read hundreds of books to my students and absolutely love it. I wanted to explore the idea of possibly writing a children's book, and I was looking for a course that was online and flexible which allowed me to study after work.

I really enjoyed the flexibility of the course and the engaging course material. I learnt so much as the course content was extensive and was able to download all the material for future referencing.

My online tutor (Cathie Tasker) gave timely, constructive feedback and very valuable suggestions to improve my ideas and writing skill.

This course has motivated me to attempt to write a picture book. I'm thrilled with the experience. As a novice, I was nervous to even try, but the knowledge I gained from this course and the classroom forum has helped me start to plan and move forward as I explore the idea of writing for children.

The course covered everything from storytelling fundamentals to publishing guidance. I loved the interactive lessons, engaging story writing exercises, and valuable feedback from the tutor. I think my 'aha' moment was deeply exploring picture books and learning about structure and pagination, such as the 3-act structure applied to a page plan. After learning this I went back and read many picture books I'd read previously to my students over the years and looked for this structure. This learning experience also helped me structure my ideas and the flow of my story ideas.

Go for it! You will gain so much knowledge and confidence around writing picture books.