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.
Once again, it was full of the meaty stuff. Pamela emphasises the importance of show, don't tell, and manages to deliver it in an interesting yet informal way.
I'd aways felt the required 'telling' in my novel distanced the reader. Now with the removal of filter words (which I've been working on today) I can see it makes a remarkable difference.
I love writing but did not know how to get into it in a profitable way. This course caught my eye and I have had it in the back of my mind for a long time. I also wasn't sure how much of a time commitment it would take, but it was easily doable around full-time work and raising children!
The actual writing exercises were the most enjoyable part! Mark's feedback was great. I don't know how he remained engaged in everyone's writing all the way to the end!
I can see now how I too can be a copywriter.
I've heard the advice to 'show, not tell' so many times, but never really understood what it meant.
Pamela was amazing. She made it so clear, and made a molehill out of what I'd believed was a mountain. Her examples were great, the way she explained things was so accessible, and I feel like a veil has been lifted on this subject for me.
It's given me the key to immerse myself more fully in my fictional universe, as experienced by my POV characters.
I enjoyed the practical tips - it wasn't just an explanation of show vs tell, but was packed with ways to identify telling and how to rectify it.
I've already started reading over my (in-progress) first draft to spot the telling. I feel like I now know how to amend this writing and improve my manuscript.
This course will help to strengthen the writing on every page of your draft! To have someone delve into what it means to show, rather than just advise you to show, was just brilliant. Getting a handout was great too. I will definitely be referring to it in future.
Pamela Freeman is an excellent presenter. She gave organised comprehensive notes, kept the information rolling, answered questions succinctly and finished on time.
The examples Pamela used were more than helpful and the slides and handouts worked well for me. I have done quite a lot of work on 'show don't tell' over the last few years, but I can always learn more.
Pamela highlighted the importance of seeing this as part of the editing process. It has reminded me not to be too worried about it during the creative writing time. I needed that reminder.
All AWC courses are of a high standard and the presenters are well prepared and easy to listen to.
I was happily gobsmacked that, yes it was a good refresher but oh so much more. I immediately went to my computer and started implementing what I learned into my draft.
Show don't tell became much clearer to me. The list of filter words was great. The seminar notes are excellent.
If you want to be a competent writer, save yourself time by investing in some AWC courses to guide you on your way.
to AWC for yet another valuable lesson.
Pamela used some excellent examples to underscore her key points. Without examples, I find it very hard to see what is being said. I have often found it hard to determine what parts of my scenes need more showing and now I feel like I have a solid understanding of where to focus and what to do when I get there!
I am working on the first draft of a romance novel and I really need my readers to experience my protagonist's emotions and I wasn't 100% clear on how to do that. Now I feel like I have a clearer understanding.
AWC courses are practical, informed by real experience from multi-published authors and include techniques that can be easily applied in our own work!
I'm about to begin my second draft so it made me feel a lot better about all the 'telling' I've done and confident in changing it to 'showing' as I move through the editing/rewriting process.
This has been a great first online experience for me. I hope to do many more as I learned so much in a short space of time and came out feeling confident and inspired about my writing.
I had completed the 4th draft of my manuscript and never understood this phrase until Pamela sorted it!
One of the best AWC courses I have done and I have done a lot.
Returned to the first draft of my MG novel. Oh, God! So much telling. Needs more show. After completing other courses that attempted to explain the process, I came away more confused -- particularly by the feeling they were prescribing, 'Show, never tell'. I knew Pamela was an excellent communicator and that she would, in a clear and concise manner, help me understand showing and how to balance it with appropriate ways (and times) to tell. I was not disappointed.
Thanks, Pamela. The clarity and efficiency of your insightful 'Focus on Show, Don't Tell' presentation has helped me enormously. Your enthusiasm is infectious. This is the first time I've understood the nuts and bolts of show, don't tell. You're inspiring.
Pamela is a great presenter - a warm personality sharing what was, for me, the perfect mix of theory and practical examples.
I'm feeling a sense of confidence about my writing. The Focus session brought home to me that, like anything else, there are very practical techniques to being a great author and I've found a place where I can now access those resources thanks to the quality of your presenters.
It was my first seminar with AWC and I finished the workshop really feeling like I'd made a great choice committing to educating myself through the Centre.
Pamela gave so much useful information in a really easy to digest and friendly way. Within the seminar, specific examples were given that could be put into use immediately, plus the handouts can be kept and referred to in the future. I also found Pamela inspiring and encouraging.
Pamela is a wonderfully knowledgeable, generous and encouraging presenter.
Every AWC course I do further fuels my enthusiasm and belief in my ability to be a crime fiction novelist.
Pamela is a fantastic speaker and author. She explained everything I was hoping to understand about 'show don't tell'. The examples were extremely helpful and I learnt so much that I can implement into my second draft. I really appreciated a copy of the slides and the handout so I could focus on the seminar.
I'm stoked POV was touched on as well (felt like a cheeky bonus!)
I always feel motivated to get back to writing after a seminar. They're like little boosts of rocket fuel.
It was invigorating and empowering. So many brilliant reminders and explanations through examples. So helpful to explore the understanding of first and second drafts as a writer and editor, and the subtleties of when telling is an appropriate vehicle to move the story forward while still capturing the reader. I could listen to Pamela for hours!
Helped me to refocus and increase awareness in my own writing and also in my work as an editor. I will be able to bring this to my clients in a better way and, hopefully, teach/show them why it's important in their own writing. Pamela's examples made her explanations super clear! The time simply flew by.
I have completed numerous AWC courses over the years. They have given me confidence as a writer and editor, led me into some cool freelance writing opportunities, helped me to create a successful copywriting business, and now are really helping me explore and refine some of the more detailed parts of writing and creating. Incredibly valuable!
While I feel like I'm a confident business writer, the refresher on grammar and punctuation alone was amazing. All of the tools in this course are so practical and I printed out cheat sheets to have near my desk. The Business Style Guide is also amazing and such a great resource. I knew I needed to write at a certain level for my audience, but I wasn't aware of the Gunning Fog Index so that was great to hear about also.
This is a course that should be done by absolutely everyone who spends any time at a desk, sending emails, writing documents etc. It's so worthwhile. I wish more people in my organisation would do this course!
It's given me more skills and knowledge to make sure I write better business documents.
Detailed feedback, clear industry knowledge, and a great community of learners. It was amazing to listen to Vivienne's feedback for all of us. So much knowledge shared.
The weekly modular nature of the course pushed me to have a more regular writing practise. Having a Sunday deadline helped me plan out my time and assignments.
My natural tendency is to write and research in far too much detail. I would create a three-tiered cake with royal icing, piping and fondant flowers, but learnt how to serve up a simple, manageable slice! This course reminded me to edit ruthlessly and keep ideas crystal clear so that readers can pick up my work, sip their coffee, and read with ease. Never make your readers work to understand what you mean! Clarity is key!
The personal feedback I received was worth its weight in gold. Vivienne's detailed comments weren't always what I wanted to hear but were always what I needed to know! Thank you!
Thoroughly enjoyed the content and structure of this course. Logical and informative.
I wanted to explore if this was something that would interest me as I knew nothing about copywriting.
I enjoyed all of the course. Mark was terrific and gave a lot of great insights.
I never thought I could be a copywriter. Now it is all I want to do! I have tried so many things in my life... I can't tell you how happy I am - I know in every part of my being that this is the path for me. Why did I never come across copywriting sooner! It's what I am meant to do.
I was impressed with the feedback. The tutor gave a lot of thought to what she said and it made a lot of sense. She was thorough and I learned a lot from her.
I had done some other online courses about freelance writing a few years ago and can barely remember what they had to say and they didn't give me the confidence to begin. That point of actually beginning and taking the first step still seemed overwhelming. After doing this course, however, I feel that I know exactly what to do now. How to proceed and take that first step. And the fact that this is stage one. So I have promised myself that if I take the next step and get one article published I will do the next course in the confidence that there will be more learning and support there as I go forward.
I certainly would recommend the AWC. You have a course for just about anything.
I was attracted to this course because it was designed for authors.
Michelle was very thorough and covered a multitude of relevant topics. The course has given me technical knowledge about, and tips for, my author website, i.e. what to do and what not to do. If a professional designs my website, I know what questions to ask them, what to request be added and what can be omitted.
Do this course and learn tips from an expert.