What’s it like to learn with AWC?
Each year, thousands of students just like you achieve their writing goals through our courses and world-class presenters. Here they share how their new-found skills and confidence enriched their life.
I found the tutor very knowledgeable. The feedback she provided was constructive and I was able to implement it immediately.
I enjoyed receiving feedback for my work and interacting with other people passionate about writing.
It made me realise that I can write a given number of words based on a prompt and I can meet writing deadlines. I spent so much time worrying about this for no reason.
The AWC is the place where people really care about writing and they do their best to guide students in writing their first novel, short story or whatever they choose to do.
I've been writing and editing for a while but all through self-taught means (I.e. "Google, help me figure out how to write this!"). I was looking to improve the professionalism and accuracy of my writing by learning the accepted rules.
Michelle was wonderful! I really appreciated her welcoming, humble approach and found her content matter knowledge to be incredibly valuable.
I enjoyed the concise, clearly articulated 'rules' of editing. There were many things I learned that had always been a source of confusion.
I gained confidence in what I was already doing correctly, and clear guidance on the things that I'd often spend a lot of time trying to figure out.
Thank you for another great course and for supplying the recording so I could catch up on the section I missed.
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.
Having completed the Copywriting Essentials course (and loving it), I decided to add real estate writing to my arsenal as I set up my copywriting business so I have more skills to offer my future clients.
I liked that the course was delivered with a sense of humour. I found myself looking forward to each new module. The tips were practical and I felt it covered everything that I needed to know.
This course gave me the confidence to take the first step towards finding my first client. It was delivered in a very aspirational and positive way, making the world of copywriting seem very inviting and the goal of becoming a real estate copywriter achievable!
You're never too old to learn grammar and punctuation. The Australian Writers' Centre course improved my grammar immensely, so much that my writers' group now say my punctuation skills are better.
Really loved Bernadette's teaching style, personality and feedback. For me, the main takeaway was detail & specificity. The more words you use that relate to the target market's concerns the better.
I enjoyed the content and resources. The homework is designed to be very actionable and digestible. I didn't spend hours on it, but it targeted all the key skills which were put together at the end. Really well-designed structure.
I'm much more confident with copywriting and writing in general! It got the writing floodgate open. I never thought of myself as a writer, but I really do write a lot in my current job. Others in my organisation have called me a wordsmith before but I really didn't think so myself. Now I feel like I really can own that. I now have the tried-and-true tools to guarantee my work is at least above-average in its ability to incite action. With more practice, I can get quite masterful at this!
Took my copywriting to the next level. Ties together a lot of what I already did instinctively but now I have a handy checklist to ensure I'm always following best practice. Made me more confident in my writing. Highly recommend the course to anyone who needs to write to sell or influence (which is ALL OF US!)
I enjoyed being able to tap into the online content wherever and whenever it suited me. Of course, it helped that the content was engaging and full of helpful advice.
It has given me the tools to critically analyse what I've written. It has also helped me to realise that some of what I've written is really quite good...and some of it less so.
Before doing this course, I don't think I'd realised just how critically important scenes are. That sounds so random. Of course, I understood their importance. I had just underestimated how much work they do for the overall story.
Writing is a journey and if you'd like someone to help guide you on that journey then I'd highly recommend the AWC.
The depth of experience and honesty of David Leser exceeded my expectations.
I most enjoyed the online lectures. It has clarified what I will write next.
If you want to write profiles this is the course for you.
I have always wanted to have some of my opinions published. This course seemed to offer the right balance of theory, practice and advice.
I found Vivienne to be an engaging and knowledgeable tutor. It was well structured and progressed logically. As always, I enjoyed the diversity of the participants.
Without over engineering, I will now structure my letters to the editor and any proposed opinion pieces more effectively.
It delivers pretty well exactly what it says it will and I think offers good value for money.
Vivienne was great. She provided good content and a good model to utilise for future pitches. Her feedback on our opinion pieces was also very thorough and useful.
Inspired me to get back out there writing and honing my opinion writing.
AWC provides practical, hands-on inspiration and writing support so you can reach your writing goals.
I love my young students and I wanted to create some new stories for them! I've always loved writing and I've always been writing, but lately it's been more writing for work (marketing) rather than for pleasure or creative projects.
The assignments were great! The feedback was SO useful. I was not expecting to be able to read everyone's stories and hear their feedback and have everyone read/hear my stories and feedback, but it ended up being so cool. :-)
I loved Zanni's honesty and positive attitude. She provided really wonderful and useful feedback and recommendations!
Honestly, giving myself the time and space to read and appreciate all these picture books was so fun and inspiring. I always loved picture books but I feel like I appreciate them even more now that I realise how challenging they are! And of course, the ability to read other people's stories and hear their feedback. And to hear someone read my stories out loud was slightly scary but awesome. I really appreciated Zanni's feedback. :-)
This course reminded me I need to make my creativity/writing a priority. :-)
Give yourself the gift of creative time. It's more important now than ever! This course was part of my new 'self care' routine, honouring and nurturing my creativity.
I love you, AWC! :-)
I like how Bernadette provided constructive criticism without being unnecessarily harsh/belittling. She was warm, friendly and very helpful.
I enjoyed being able to see the work of other people taking the course. Getting detailed and helpful feedback on my assignments (and being able to listen to feedback provided on others' assignments with more useful tips!)
I've realised there's a lot more to copywriting than meets the eye, but I'm eager to find out more.
As Bernadette says, people don't think you need formal training to become a good copywriter. That might be true for a (special/lucky) few, but for the rest of us, there's this brilliantly structured course that keeps you engaged every step of the way thanks to Bernadette's wisdom and wit.
I never considered the huge amounts of corporate and technical writing I undertake in my current employment as writing until I listened to the course audio. It made me realise I already have a wealth of experience as a writer which really boosts my confidence.
You do not need to be born with a natural gift for creativity that flows easily from mind to paper in order to write. It is a skill that can be learned and honed.
Undertake this course if you are considering a change in career and suffer from self-doubt.
I enjoyed the course, especially being able to listen to the modules.
Zanni was very helpful and I enjoyed getting her feedback each week. It was great having someone who is in the industry to offer a professional perspective.
The course was nice and relaxing, was not too stressful and demanding. It really allowed me to just sit back and slowly digest the information, then put that information to words.
Amanda Hampson was a great tutor, provided good feedback for areas to improve on and when asked questions, answered the best she could. No faults.
As I opted to write segments of my own story, it really made me want to revisit it and continue the journey (the particular story used was one I had abandoned for nearly two years now). So it gave me that spark I needed to continue.
I'd like to thank Amanda and the students for all the feedback.
Get on it and don't wait like I have for so long!
Bernadette was a fantastic tutor for SEO Copywriting (as she is for anything copywriting!)
I enjoyed the common-sense approach without jargon. Feeling much more confident to tackle anything 'SEO'.
Bernadette was great, her feedback was constructive and extremely helpful. I never felt as though I had done something wrong because she always explained her feedback in a positive way.
I enjoyed learning a practical approach to the art of copywriting, complete with examples and resources. I felt as though I was actually learning rather than hearing/reading academic theory. I remembered how much I enjoy writing and copywriting is something that I could happily do professionally.
AWC has a diverse range of courses available to anyone interested in writing, whatever their preferred genre/interest. The practical skills that they teach and their teaching style makes learning fun, plus there is a wealth of knowledge and experience to tap into. I'm certainly thinking of enrolling in more courses, just have to decide which ones.
I loved that it was only five weeks. Being my first course with AWC it gave me a chance to see the quality of courses offered without making a major time commitment.
I have gained so much knowledge from both the tutor, Zanni, and my fellow classmates.
Zanni was lovely. Her comments and feedback were always so encouraging but also really helpful and insightful. She would see things immediately that would elevate the story and gave really thorough feedback to everyone in the course.
I enjoyed actually sharing my stories, which at first I thought terrifying, and getting to read others was great.
I now write every day and believe I may actually one day write something that is good enough to be published.
Thank you for this course. I have never done a writing course before and this was so wonderful. I will definitely be looking into further classes with AWC in the future.
If you want to do a writing course, go to AWC!
I've always liked reading and writing but, due to work, never had much of an opportunity. My wife knew of my passion and enrolled me into this course as a birthday present. I'm so glad she did!
I absolutely loved the creative writing course! The learning content and resources were well constructed and, combined with the assignments and exercises, aided my better understanding of the art of creative writing.
Angela's assessments of my assignments were very constructive, helpful and on the mark every single time. It is quite obvious that she is a seasoned professional in the art of creative writing.
I enjoyed putting all the learning from the resource materials to work in my assignments and impressing myself with how much I had improved since starting the course. I also enjoyed the interactions among my fellow students...and knowing that I wasn't alone on this journey!
It has reignited my passion to start creative writing. The course has also given me the confidence to plan to write a series of short stories...and perhaps even a novel one day.
If you would like to start creative writing or improve your creative writing skills, contact the Australian Writers' Centre!
Thank you so much for including me in this course, which has convinced me that I am not too old to start a creative writing career!
I found being able to do this in an achievable time frame and not under pressure made this course enjoyable. It also gave me great theoretical background to writing which I had not covered for a while. The feedback was useful and I was able to use it to critique my writing for my next tasks.
The course was great in kickstarting my writing. Made me feel like writing for an audience is possible and that I am capable of it.
Do it - it's a great confidence builder. I'd always hesitated, because I was worried about sharing my writing and I'm not great with receiving feedback. However, I found I enjoyed the critical feedback knowing it was only going to strengthen my writing for other readers.
Thank you to my tutor Amanda and other students for their feedback.