What’s it like to learn with AWC?

I enjoyed Pamela's easy-going style and her ability to convey the important points in a clear manner. The option of a Q&A session.

I'm feeling reassured about how I'm handling the subplots in my narrative. There are no hard and fast rules!

Go for it! AWC courses cover all aspects of writing. There's nothing to lose.

Pamela has so much experience and knowledge, which I am privileged to benefit from. Her explanations of structure, texture, creating narrative tension, and more are invaluable. Knowing when subplots help the story and the climax and how to use them to achieve this makes sense when thinking about how to work on my own MS.

I can see clearly how subplots add value to my story and what I can do to maximise these. It was also reassuring to know that I was on the right track (albeit from a novice POV) and that in my second draft, I can make more of the subplots I have. VERY useful session.

As a novice, I've done several courses to learn HOW to write. The presenters and information are technically helpful, which is useful for me as a plotter. I like that there are plenty of materials and detailed notes so I can go back and review stuff if I get lost. I would recommend the AWC to anyone looking to write across any genre.

The quality of the materials and presentations is excellent. The work is thorough, and I always get a lot out of each course. I also like that they are practical, and the workshopping elements are fantastic. You guys do a fabulous job. Thank you!

Pamela Freeman's seminars are such outstanding explanations of the structure of fiction. I've read many excellent books on the subject, but am amazed every time I take one of Pamela's seminars with the golden insights she presents. I have little epiphanies every time, which directly and profoundly alter the structure of the novel I'm writing. She has a gift for explaining in simple, straightforward terms how a story is put together. I just can't emphasise enough how remarkably concise and practical her seminars are. I hope she packages her work in a how-to-write book one day soon!

My story is in desperate need of sub-plot attention. I've felt for some time that it has been lacking in that area.

Pamela doesn't disappoint; her language is user-friendly and she's very approachable.

Until I recognised the necessity of sub-plots, I didn't understand the importance of them. Pamela's tutorial has reinforced my understanding, and provided extra valuable information that I can apply to my own work.

The AWC team will welcome you with open arms. What's even more important is they can be trusted to provide essential guidance via their knowledge and experience.

Keep up the great work!

The course tackled an issue I'd been thinking about.

I enjoyed the honest and practical advice. I can use the information from the seminar in my current WIP.

If you're thinking about doing a course or seminar at the AWC, do it. It's always worthwhile.

Thanks for another valuable opportunity.

I enjoyed the course as a whole, and the ability to complete the course over twelve months suits me immensely. It has given me more confidence to take my writing to the next level and submit my manuscripts.

I recommend doing the writing courses with AWC as they are informative and up to date with industry standards.

I want to write a travel memoir. I had no idea where to start and felt overwhelmed at the idea! I found this course through a google search and loved that it was online, in my own time, and affordable.

I loved having access to the whole course right from the start and being able to go at my own pace. It was easy to follow and quite informative.

I've never studied writing before so it was great to learn the fundamentals from step one all the way to editing and publishing.

It is a clear, thorough, easy-to-follow course that's fun and is very affordable.

Knowledgeable facilitator. Great content. Loved the videos and also the resources - templates and extra info was great!

A great course that's easy to follow and full of useful info and tips.

I needed to learn from an expert how to plot and plan a novel or any story for that matter!

I love Kate Forsyth's passion. She's very infectious.

I love to 'plan' things ... dinner parties, holidays etc. ... I write everything down. I started doing the same for my first novel. It felt like I was just 'playing'. Kate confirmed I wasn't! And helped me put it in the right order. Although I still have a very long way to go, I feel I'm on the right track. Thank you!

As someone starting out in fiction writing, I was attracted to the scaffolded approach of AWC's course pathway. Creative Writing Stage 1 seemed to be the perfect launch point.

The course achieved a great balance between providing need-to-know-now learnings and information that will be useful closer to getting published.

Petronella's feedback was always insightful and helpful, and she supported her tips with examples of her lived experience as an author.

I have a much better sense of how to achieve my goal of writing a novel and (hopefully) getting it published. I'm confident the course has helped me to circumvent some of the mistakes I would have otherwise made just because I didn't know any better.

Why flail about trying to reinvent the wheel when you can get closer to your writing goals with the guidance of AWC's experts?

The course exceeded my expectations. I now have three wonderful main characters that I am looking forward to exploring when writing my novel.

At the start of Module 4, I looked back on all the work I had done to create the three main characters. The jigsaw started to fit together into a whole picture.

If you want to write, this is the place to start. You get the framework and the confidence builder.

I loved the course. I enjoyed hearing stories of true crime as well as fictionalised examples. Candice and Valerie were great presenters.

I am starting my writing career after other careers:) It confirmed some information but also made me think of other aspects of writing especially to engage my readers.

There were many a-ha moments and particularly the aspects of premeditation and intent. I thought what most resonated was the discussion about character dialogue as well as interrogation methods. I am writing a character who is a forensic specialist, and the forensics information helped a lot too.

Great courses, easy to enrol and reasonably priced.

I liked that the course is self-paced and the content is succinct. This meant I could complete it quickly and note taking was easy. Lesley gave terrific summaries and specific guidance.

I was surprised by how short the 'word count sweet spot' is in terms of publishing for this age group. When I started writing, I thought I was writing a middle grade book, so it was substantially longer than I now realise is desirable for junior fiction. I'm trying hard to reduce my word count, along with the complexity at story and sentence level.

Now having completed ten courses (ten!) with AWC, I can say wholeheartedly that they've been the best writing investment I could have possibly made. All courses are led by people with genuine industry experience and success who know what they're talking about. The content has been interesting and super helpful, and the connections I've made (particularly in a Writers Group established post the EYN course in 2022) have continued to sustain and elevate my writing habits.

Thank you, Lesley, for the relevant and insightful content you presented.

Grant was warm and engaging and certainly knew what he was talking about. The structure was good, and I learnt a lot.

I'm really enthused about my job now. Everyone in companies just writes things, with some boundaries given by templates or guides. Apart from spelling, punctuation and grammar, we don't really think of it as something that is reasoned out or needs to be taught. I learnt there are techniques for planning content around a structure.

Very engaging, and definitely worthwhile. Grant was an awesome facilitator.

Mark was very pleasant and positive. He provided feedback on assignments very promptly.

I enjoyed how easy it was to complete in my own time, the quality of the content that was delivered, and the professional experience of the course presenter and tutor.

I am planning on changing careers, to start my own copy and content writing business. The course gave me the information and confidence to keep moving forward with this plan.

I think Carli is brilliant and insightful, and does her best to keep participants engaged.

There were some concepts I'm already familiar with, mainly user groups and user journeys. On the other hand I did also learn additional concepts to be mindful of when practicing UX/UI design and writing, particularly tone of voice and text digestion.

Laying out the rule of thumbs in navigational text is something I didn't really consider while doing my work. This will undoubtedly change how I design my navigation elements.

If you want to get started in writing, this organisation is worth checking out.

Petronella's feedback was really encouraging and helpful and the structure of the course was super easy to follow. Thank you for putting together this content - it's been incredibly helpful!

I really loved how honest, warm and helpful Petronella was. The video feedback on everyone's assignment really helped me to learn and to reinforce learnings. The audio lessons were so easy to follow and a convenient way to learn.

The course has validated me that I can actually write this book. That I need to take the pressure off myself given it takes most first time writers two years to write their first book!

The course is affordable, convenient and really relevant content for anyone looking to write fiction.

Loved the detail of the course, particularly for a starting point. The bonus module on how to find paid copywriting work is a fantastic value add-on too!

Mark was fantastic - he provided detailed feedback videos on everyone's assignments weekly, and was very responsive in the classroom chat if you had a question for him.

I loved the breakdown on how to write great copy, from headlines to creative brief to SEO, and then combining it all by writing long copy in the last module. Video lessons were easy to follow, and handouts were very informative.

I loved every minute of it!

It opened my eyes to following tried and tested formulas and templates to write more efficiently and succinctly. I learnt more relevant info in the SEO copywriting module than I ever did in my three-year marketing and PR course at uni!

Definitely jump in and do it! The modules are easily digestible and the weekly assignments consolidate learning just enough so that you can get them submitted by the deadline around your usual work schedule and other commitments.

Looking forward to taking up the SEO copywriting course later on down the track, once I've dipped my toe in some freelance copywriting work.

A friend, who is an author, recommended I do a course as I had been mumbling about trying to write a novel for... years.

I have really enjoyed the course! I am impressed with the tight format and the clever assignments. It is a lot of information in a relatively short time, so I look forward to going over it all again and listening to some of the sessions again.

Nat was wonderful. I really appreciated her style. It was horrifying to me initially that she would read our work out... eekkk... but listening to her I quickly overcame my shyness and really found it a great way to share what was being written. I found her feedback really helpful. The way she showed us how to edit our work was really well done.

I loved that you got us writing straight out of the blocks. It was confronting but set us up well to continue. I think this course is extremely worthwhile.

I started totally unsure if I had the skills to write. I am much clearer now on the areas I need to work on... and it feels possible...

If you have had a little voice in your head quietly wondering if your passion for books could transform into a passion for writing... do this course. It teaches you really important skills to help you determine what you want to do and how to do it. I suspect it could be the difference between a hobby and a career.

I have been writing and submitting for a long time but unsuccessfully. I wanted to learn and have guidance from experienced editors, to allow me to be a successful picture book author. I am confident that I will achieve that now, following Cathie's suggestions and advice.