What’s it like to learn with AWC?

One of the things I really wanted to understand is show don't tell, and I feel that I have a good understanding of that now, along with a few things that I didn't realise were a problem.

Nat was great. She always answered questions quickly and her feedback was beyond what I'd expected. It must take a lot of experience to notice the things she picked up.

I enjoyed the assignments. Loved doing those.

I believe that the 3 books I've been trying to write can be written. It's going to be a very long journey, but belief is a massive steppingstone in the right direction.

My 'aha' moment was when the penny dropped about showing not telling. I literally rewrote my whole assignment (assignment 5) and boom, it was way better. A big thank you to Nat.

I've already recommended it to my son, who has the most amazing natural talent with words and quirky story telling. I'd say that knowing the rules of any trade are fundamental to being able to complete a project.

As part of my Uni degree, I completed a unit in writing fiction. I really enjoyed that. But this course was much more practical.

The tutor was great. Very encouraging, but offered very useful feedback. Practical tips, about aspects of writing that I had previously not even been aware of.

I thought it was great. Just right for me at this time. I have started writing my book.

There were quite a few aha moments! But probably the most important, is the concept of pushing on and writing the story, even though it's nothing like it should be, because you then come back again and again, until you get it right.

Do it, it's fun and it's well worth it.

Cathie gave kind, honest and critical feedback which was very helpful.

I enjoyed the assessments and committing to writing weekly.

It's nudged me into writing each week again, and meeting and maintaining writing goals.

Dive in. You'll learn lots and come away armed with the knowledge of how to write a well-structured picture book story.

Alex is great. Her feedback was very helpful.

Learning practical skills with the advantage of Valerie's experience was just fantastic. Her insights into the industry and real hands-on advice was just amazing.

It was great to learn about the techniques and structures of feature writing--hooks, subtopics, transitions, stats, case studies. This opens me up to a style of writing I'd never considered before, and I think it will help my academic writing too.

Go for it. The content is so practical and easy to digest. It's confidence-boosting.

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.

Nat was absolutely awesome. Her feedback was balanced between praise and constructive criticism. She has so much knowledge and I loved her voice and expertise.

I enjoyed the assignment feedback and reading others work and the amount of content and very practical guidance.

I feel inspired to keep writing even if I don't become a bestseller author. To have fun with writing and to keep my language much more simple. I found the style and genre I want to be.

The course was really insightful with lots of useful tips and great guidance.

Great course with friendly feedback and just the right level of challenge steps, each week expanding confidence. I surprised myself with how I have grown skills and am taking away some great foundational character, scene and plot ideas to go further.

The Newman factor has been so fun! The most entertaining feedback. That woman keeps me in my scene. Additional support offered through the extracurricular Words At Dawn write-in group an absolute winner for showing that frequent progress shared in an accountable way is where the gold is. Thankyou Newman for the motivating support and great technical feedback. You rock. My leaves will not crunch underfoot if it's been raining.

I enjoyed the feedback that had me belly laughing in the car drive home. Discovering how much I love this habit. Finding I can write.

I'm doing it! I'm really doing it!

I really enjoyed the course which covered all the elements required and provided inspiration through interviews and also some excellent examples of other authors' books to illustrate points.

I enjoyed learning all the elements involved in creating a work of non-fiction and how the industry works/ what is marketable.

It provided a vast amount of valuable information in a format that was easy to use and is a valuable resource to refer back to. I believe you hit the mark on the key information required as well as inspiration and motivation to find out further information and develop further skills as required.

I have embarked on a goal I had set myself over fifteen years ago and now feel as though I have a process to follow that will ultimately lead me toward fulfilling that goal to write up my travels into a work of non-fiction.

The courses provide industry relevant information that will not only help you develop your writing style but also provide industry tips to assist you with producing an end result which could be marketable and saleable.

Alex was an excellent tutor, and her feedback was always relevant, thoughtful and timely.

The course materials were relevant and current. It was great to receive tutor feedback from an editor in the industry. I particularly enjoyed reading and learning from other students' assignments, and the profile interview exercise was practical and interesting.

It has been a great reminder to write simply.

The freelance introductory course is practical, and based on sound adult learning principles. I have seen two other AWC writing courses, and was consistently impressed with the course materials and design.

It has been good fun, and practical.

I loved the course and learned so much about writing structure.

Nat's feedback was fair and constructive. She made me think of alternative ways to write the same words to improve the story line.

There was enough time each week to address the online lectures and do the assignments.

I would say this is a very informative, practical and useful course for any aspiring writer. The course has given me confidence that 'I can write'.

I really wanted to push myself into writing again after a very long time away. I enjoyed the assignments and the opportunity to workshop.

Nat was fantastic and I really valued not only her feedback but her Words at Dawn sessions as well.

It has given me a sense of confidence to write again.

The format is terrific with the opening and closing zoom and the weekly writing and workshopping. Loved it. Great to have tutor moderation and feedback too. Also love the weekly lectures. It was all a great learning curve that was spread out.

LA Larkin (Louisa) was fantastic. Very engaged, supportive, encouraging and knowledgeable. Wonderful that she's a published author and also remembers her journey as a beginning writer. Very consistent and reliable and always felt like we were in expert hands.

It was really positive vibes in every respect as well as facilitating great break throughs and confidence building. Inspiring to meet other students at the same stage of their journey, great to do the structural synopsis to gain clarity, great to submit chapters to get feedback on writing style, great to have the lectures to carry you along week to week. All fantastic.

I feel like the breakthroughs and learnings have probably saved me three rounds of drafting. The course helped me identify my main character, helped me realise what needs emphasising to meet the structural requirements, helped me realise my scenes need to be orientated to real-time-action rather than reflection/flashback/exposition. So I feel like the 10 weeks has saved me a few years of writing in a less focused way. Was also a very gentle way to get over the fear of showing people my work. This feels really significant for the future.

Just an enormous thank you!!! I have felt so supported in my writing journey and so grateful for this phenomenal resource. Everything about the AWC is so incredibly well conceived and executed.

It's brilliant and invaluable! Do it!

I had done Creative Writing Stage 1 and really enjoyed the structure. I finally have the time to do more writing, so I decided on NWE so that I could try to get a story I've been thinking about for years started.

I was worried I wouldn't have the time, but I decided that everyone else in my family (husband and three kids) have things that they like to do that they just do without worrying about if it'll be too hard for everyone else to manage around, so I could do that too :) And it turns out that they can all manage without me while I'm writing (although it did take a few weeks of "would you interrupt Dad while he was working?" until the kids understood that I was doing something important to me).

I thought I'd struggle to get the 20k words. I've just hit 37k, and it doesn't feel like it's been that much of a challenge.

I was really impressed with Louisa. She was upbeat and honest and talked us through her writing processes and what she does when she's working on a novel. Her feedback was clear and helpful, and she gave me a lot of ideas to work with.

I've started writing regularly and enjoying it again. And when I'm not writing, I'm thinking about the scenes I need to write, or what my characters might do in a particular situation and it's fun.

It was a fun and manageable way to get back into writing and the coursework was so helpful to make me think through my story and my characters.

I enjoyed the course very much: the content exercises and structure. The zoom sessions were very interesting and I learnt so much from Pamela-she is a wealth of practical knowledge and I appreciated her feedback

An excellent tutor: highly skilled, accessible and she gave great feedback.

Bernadette was extremely helpful and knowledgeable - an expert in her field. Very warm and empathetic approach and adapted feedback to accommodate beginners without being disheartening. Did not hesitate to give constructive feedback. A very welcoming individual with a good sense of the industry (and great sense of humour).

The extra content on AI was extremely beneficial and the examples provided were exceptional. It really consolidated my understanding of the entire course learnings.

This course has reignited my writing flame! I'm so pleased that I enrolled in this course. It's boosted my knowledge and insight into copywriting and I truly believe it's opened doors that I never knew even existed before. Bernadette's own passion came across in each session too, and this was super inspiring. This is only the beginning of my copywriting journey. I look forward to enrolling in more of Bernadette's courses later this year.

If you're interested in kickstarting your copywriting career in any way, this is the course for you! Even if you're not completely sure you understand all aspects of copywriting yet, you will once you complete this course. Bernadette will guide you through it all with incredible knowledge and effective feedback throughout. You'll discover that copywriting opportunities are actually everywhere and learn the tools to seize them.

I found Nat Newman authentic and approachable.

I enjoyed learning and realising that I could in fact write. It has ignited my creative desires and changed the way that I now read and watch movies/shows.

Pamela provided excellent feedback. She was very balanced and always made sure she gave you strong recommendations for how to improve while also highlighting what you did well. I feel all her suggestions helped improve my writing, even in the short 5 weeks.

I enjoyed the weekly deadlines and seeing what everyone wrote and how they approached the assignments differently.

I feel that it helped me make connections between what I thought I needed to write a book vs what I actually need. It helped explain ways to bring out your writing in subtle ways that don't require huge change but help bring the writing to life. Basically, just the way it broke down the writing process and made me feel it was more achievable than I did before.

It's an easy course, assignments are light and fun (not HUGE assignments), the groups are encouraging, the feedback is valuable, and it really helps motivate you if you've always wanted to write that book!

Bernadette was a great facilitator. Always very positive!

The zoom meetings when it was time to receive our feedback was a big highlight. It was very empowering and helped focus on what to do next to improve my novel.

This is the 4th course i've done with AWC, and you should definitely do it!

Kate is amazing. Her knowledge is, of course, exceptional and she was able to deliver this in a supportive, interesting, and informative way.

I enjoyed Kate's delivery - the way that she presented this wealth of information made it so interesting and inspiring.

I've never been much of a plotter, preferring to write in an intuitive manner. However, Kate has given me a series of tools that allow me to create more structure in my writing while at the same time enhancing and extending my intuitive, discovery style of writing.

Don't hesitate! No matter where you are in your writing journey, there is a course on offer that will help you develop your writing skills and process.

The tutor was kind, honest and focused on building confidence in writers (which was very much appreciated). The feedback was also specific and actionable which was really great. I learned a lot through Nat's comments about small details that might have been overlooked.

The course was approachable and achievable - just what a trepid writer needs to build confidence.

I used to think that when a piece didn't automatically work for me, it was because my ideas were 'bad' or that I wasn't 'talented' or 'knowledgeable' enough as a writer to make it work. This course flipped that thinking around and showed me it's rare for a writer to nail it in draft one (or even in draft five or six!) Now I have tools to help me reframe, rethink and re-envision my writing. I can better identify issues and resolve them without scrapping the whole idea.

I'm also able to engage more in conversations online and with 'formally' educated writers around me thanks to the theories and terminology in this course.

The changing POV exercise blew my mind - it solves a bunch of smaller issues in one go, like developing voice, tension between characters and place, and how going from first to third-person can overcome structural issues. I think a lot more about how and why authors choose characters in novels now.

If you're feeling discouraged or wondering if you're meant to be a writer, this will help reinvigorate your love for words. The tutors offer kind, actionable advice to help you improve your work and the learning materials are designed to take those abstract ideas and make them work on the page, perfect for novice writers.