What’s it like to learn with AWC?

It helped me to focus in on the two areas of writing I'd like to continue to pursue. Everyone feels like an imposter sometimes. It will light a fire under your bottom and make your fingers itch with the desire to get writing!

I have a lot of ideas for children's picture books and wanted to learn more about the industry and the 'rules'. I thought I'd come out of the course with a story idea ready to submit to a publisher, or at least ready to start thinking about that. But it's clear I've still got a lot of work to do!

Zanni was great. Her feedback was helpful. She clearly has a good understanding of the industry.

The idea that you have to convey so much in so few words actually means it's very difficult! New respect for picture book authors!

I will make more time to write as I found I really enjoy it. A great way to study and learn and write in your own time while still feeling like you have classmates. Thanks for the course!

I'd recently completed Creative Writing Stage 1 and wanted to continue the momentum. Getting my word count up to meet the entry requirements for Novel Writing Essentials was a good incentive, and I liked the idea of having writing targets to work towards during the course.

I enjoyed the pressure of showing my work to my classmates but I also feared it at the same time, if that makes sense! It made me try much harder to bring out my best writing. I enjoyed reading my classmates' stories too, and learning how to read and review as a writer.

Bronwyn is knowledgeable, kind and sensitive in how she provides feedback. She obviously put a lot of effort into critiquing our work, and I enjoyed reading what she wrote about my own writing as well as my classmate's. I've learned a lot from this.

Before doing courses at the AWC, I'd listened to or read dozens of books on the art of storytelling. I thought I knew quite a lot about how to approach writing a novel. But doing 'How to Write for Children and Young Adults', 'Creative Writing Stage 1' and 'Novel Writing Essentials' has shone a light on many gaps in my knowledge and skillset, and provided me with tools and insights to fix this. The encouragement and camaraderie of my classmates and teachers have been highlights too.

I liked that it's foundational and teaches the basics of good story writing

The online tutor was great; she gave good feedback. I enjoyed the lessons and the feedback on my assessments - so I could see where I went right or wrong.

I now want to explore other courses to expand my creative muscles.

I would say it's a great course where you can learn from quality teachers, get quality lessons/materials and feedback on your work.

This course was really thorough. I didn't realise how much I didn't know and feel like I learnt so much.

Zanni was great! She knows what she's talking about and I really enjoyed her feedback via Loom. I also enjoyed reading other students’ stories and interacting with them online.

I already have recommended AWC to two other friends.

I thought Cat was great and offered useful feedback and encouragement.

It was a really accessible and easy to navigate course. I feel much more confident to pitch an article to a magazine and how to do that.

A great way to get into the writing industry with fantastic insight and mentors.

I have always wanted to write a novel but didn't know how to go about it. I knew that I needed help to get started. Just going on Google was not helping me, I needed structured help.

I want to start writing my novel now whereas before I was too scared to start.

Annabel was extremely helpful. I loved getting her input about what I had written. It really helped me improve.

... I am sad it's finished. It went so fast.

I have never written before and the course gave a good guide to how to start the process of writing a Picture Book.

I would recommend the course as it was very informative and enjoyable.

FANTASTIC. Cat seemed to know exactly what was in my head. Her feedback was always helpful, constructive and spot on.

I understand how to write a profile piece now. How to analyse a publication. I understand that my stories need to be current, that for a feature article your content has to be unique or new.

The AWC is professional and has a wealth of knowledge of the industry.

With my plans for 2020 totally changing I figured it might be time to pursue my writing career.

This course made me feel like I could make a career out of writing and I love that.

Cat was very supportive and helpful and catered to any needs that me or my fellow peers had throughout the course.

I now feel like this is something I can pursue as a career, where once it used to just be a dream that I could never achieve.

... it is great for people who lack the confidence in writing and feel like they are unsure if this is something they want to pursue as a career because it is a really well done and supportive course.

It got the creative juices flowing and took me out of my comfort zone. This is the first time I have ever done anything like this, although I have fantasised about writing many times. I surprised myself by how I was actually able to come up with anything. It was not easy and automatic but I certainly enjoyed the journey.

The tutor was always positive and helpful.

I am taking on board writing every day, or at least as often as possible, for 10 minutes or maybe more if the inspiration takes me. I'll write about anything just to get the practice of writing. Anything that piques my interest on the day.

The AWC has heaps of great courses facilitated by writers. There is a course for everyone, all types of writers and even non-writers.

Someone on a FB graphic design course mentioned it as a good course for anyone wanting to start a small business. I also remembered a friend spoke positively of AWC when she did one of your writing courses a few years ago. Word of mouth testimonials for the win!

The content of the course is balanced and spot on. I feel like I have the knowledge, I have a kick start in motivation and now I just need to keep going on this trajectory to get my business running and successful. There are also enough bits to go back to when motivation flags, to re-motivate me.

Bernadette is excellent. It feels like you're in a room with her and she's talking to you. She is the right mix of professional and down to earth. She shares her broad and extensive knowledge generously. I also got a lot out of assignment feedback.

The tutor gave detailed and constructive comments without making us feel hopeless. I enjoyed the challenge, the fact that something had to be done each week, and the constructive criticism.

It made me feel more confident in pursuing writing as a hobby. I think that the way I write dialogue has improved greatly.

I certainly would recommend the AWC. In fact, I gave my 11 year old grandson one of your courses for his birthday. Keep up the good work.

I was attracted to this course by the desire to launch a part-time career in wine writing. I have been published in the past and am now keen to pursue this with greater focus.

The tutor is super inspiring, thorough and prompt with feedback. I enjoyed the actual learning and also hearing of real-life examples of course attendees who are now writers. It's given me skills to use and inspiration to pursue writing as a career.

I'd say the courses are super-practical, in chunks that allow me to fit it in around my daily life.

Bernadette is clearly very knowledgeable about this industry and her wealth of experience shone through in the lectures. Easy to follow layout and was very informative about all aspects of growing a copywriting business.

It has helped me sharpen my writing skills including condensing information into easily digestible headlines. How to write headlines that catch people's attention.

The course is very in-depth and informative. It will give a good foundation from which to build your business.

It has been a pleasure being Bernadette's student the past 5 weeks and I hope to apply what I've learnt in the near future.

I signed up for the Blogging for Beginners course and thought this one would go well with it to build my knowledge & understanding. It was easy to follow. It all flowed well.

I didn't know how to start writing content before. It's taken the hesitation away and I feel confident to start now, using the templates. It's not brain science! Just need to use a structure, and start!

I wanted some fresh ideas on how to run a Freelance Copywriting Business.

I've been a copywriter for 40 years and I learnt something.

I'd never done workshop / critique type work before. That was daunting. I was nervous about whether my writing was good, because I wanted it to be good. I was worried about critiquing other people's work.

Bernadette is an excellent teacher / facilitator. She is very patient and engaging. She only inspires, even when critiquing. It was a pleasure working with her.

It was a great, intimate group of people to work with. I enjoyed it more than I expected to.

It has given me confidence that I should proceed with writing a publishable novel.

I wanted some constructive one-on-one feedback on writing and the fact that it was face-to-face via Zoom basically sealed the deal for me.

I thought Bernadette was great. Her feedback was constructive and honest but at the same time encouraging.

Having the face-to-face interaction with the other participants allowed for a much freer conversational environment than the standard online format.

It has given me a little more self-confidence in my writing and allowed me to entertain the thought that I may actually have the ability to at least write short stories, if not the 'great Australian novel'. Everybody has a different viewpoint. Writing and reading are very subjective and what appeals to one person, doesn't necessarily have to appeal to another.

Give it a go. The feedback you get from fellow writers is invaluable and the tutors are great.

I wanted to dip my toes into a short writing course that would give me a basic overview of some of the key elements of writing. I also wanted to get feedback on my work without having to do the scary face-to-face part. I was unsure how engaged I would be in audio material without being present in person, but I found the content engaging. It's also difficult to put down hundreds of dollars for an online course without being sure how much you would get out of it, but I don't regret that now.

I really liked Pamela; I thought her feedback was always constructive and encouraging. It feels amazing to get positive feedback from such an accomplished author.

I really liked the assignments each week. Although the course content is engaging, it really does help to have to put it into practice. I also like how the course is layered so each week you focus on one thing, and then bring it all together in the last week. I think this is such a clever way to structure (and I know how important that is now), the course so that inexperienced writers aren't overwhelmed and having to think about dialogue and character and description etc all at the same time from the get go.

I haven't actually sat down and applied what I've learnt to any of my writing projects yet, but now I'm SO excited to! I was wondering if I really had any motivation or skill to actually finish a piece of work, but now that's all I want to do!

I think the main thing is just knowing what to name aspects of writing now. Previously, I may have looked at my work and just been like, there's too much talking, without being able to know that I needed to add description or action and ground the characters in a setting. I also never realised how hard it is to not use filter words!

I would say that the course is:
- Engaging.
- That the course content is interesting and helpful. It gives you a great overview, but grounds them in examples so that you really understand them.
- That the feedback is constructive and the assignments are interesting. It's really helpful to give you options to share your own work, or use the scenario given.
- Cliche, but that you only get out of it what you put in. On weeks where I was time pressed and wasn't 100% happy with my piece, my feedback reflected it.