What’s it like to learn with AWC?

Great feedback, very constructive.

It has made me cry several times haha! Amazing feedback and hearing people have an emotional response to my writing and believe in my story was life changing.

I learned that I am an over-writer! Was such a great piece of feedback which I can now recognise in my work.

I have already recommended the course! I said it gave me some amazing motivation, encouragement, and perspective! Great theory mixed in also!

I didn't think I would enjoy the writing community as much as I did. It was so much better than doing it alone. I have formed some writing relationships that will extend well beyond the course.

Pamela is genuine, personal, knowledgeable, interested and invested. The perfect writing tutor.

I enjoyed the discussions, feedback and being part of a community.

It has shaped my writing journey to be one of community and connection, rather than isolation.

After receiving feedback on my conclusion from Pamela, I realised that my writing can have an impact and that my first draft style and structure seems to be working.

AWC know what they are doing. Enrol, now!

I enjoyed the course. I especially love that Bernadette explains each aspect with real life examples. Also the templates and cheat sheets provided are incredibly useful and helpful.

I found Bernadette's assignment feedback extremely useful and constructive.

It has given me the confidence to offer email marketing and copywriting as yet another service to my clients.

For me there were two 'aha' moments. Firstly, I found the story telling technique through the 'power of one' extremely insightful and powerful. Secondly, I enjoyed learning about lead magnets and how powerful they can be when written well.

Just do it!

I think I received more information than I was expecting! And I learnt a lot more about giving feedback. And it's helped figure out how to tackle problems I was having with my story.

Pamela's feedback was fabulous! So, so encouraging! Because of her I feel inspired to keep going with this story. She understood what I was trying to do, when so many others didn't.

I found the teaching satisfying. Actually, I was encouraged because so I often I learnt I wasn't completely off-track! I enjoyed getting to know some of the other writers better. (I hope we can keep in touch.) The most enjoyable, of course, was Pamela's feedback.

I managed a mangled first draft!!!! Which was better than where I'd been before.

One of the things I've loved most about AWC is that you give a very structured outline. I have never wanted to be a pantser. I love the idea of knowing what is happening in each chapter before I write, even if I don't stick to it. (Even my friends, who claim to be pantsers, are beginning to talk about the benefits of plotting!) It's going to take some practise figuring out how to do that, but AWC has given me a lot of clues and I will always appreciate that.

The courses I have done with AWC have been really fun. I have enjoyed getting to know other students, and reading their stories. And now I have a plan to finish my story. (Although I might do another couple of AWC courses before committing this one to the rest if the world...)

I am really excited to take what I have learned and create something with it. My goal is to upload 2-3 books to Amazon Kindle this year.

Why did I wait so bloody long to do this?

If you want to learn to do more for yourself and your work - this is the place to do it.

Really enjoyed the feedback (both giving and receiving) as well as the chat. It was so exciting to read what other people thought of my work!

The tutor was experienced and realistic, but very encouraging.

I feel like it's been a step in the right direction. I would definitely like to continue with the editing course.

A great, encouraging course and community with the added effectiveness of clear deadlines.

Very much enjoyed it, thanks!

I learned as much from analysing the writing of my colleagues (fellow writers) and trying to make my comments as insightful as possible, as I did from the course materials. It was, however, vital to have engaged with the course materials to be able to do this. I felt the course materials gave me the metalanguage and conceptual framework to do this as well as to apply it all to my own work objectively and metacognitively.

I enjoyed the accountability---having to get those words off the handwritten page, typed in and submitted. I found by the end that I didn't need to handwrite everything first. There was joy in that.

I feel like a real writer. I have confidence.

I wanted to kickstart my writing and felt that this 5-week course was a good way to start without overcommitting myself.

I was delighted with the course. For such a short course the amount of information and learning was quite extraordinary. The course exposed to me many of the traps, tools and techniques of writing that I hadn't been aware of.

I found Bernadette's feedback incredibly helpful. It was instructive and delivered in a really thoughtful manner.

It got me writing! the weekly assignments gave me a purpose and a deadline!

I have so much more awareness of what I need to be considering in my writing. I have a better understanding of POV, structure, character development etc.

This course is a great way to both kickstart your writing and learn more about the craft of writing.

A big thank you.

I've already thanked Bernadette Foley for her generosity and gentleness. I found myself eagerly looking forward to getting feedback from her. It felt personable and caring and was unfailingly spot-on.

I enjoyed the pacing, delivery and feedback. I suppose, for me, that all comes back to my tutor.

Any concerns I had were prior to enrolling for the course. Willingly exposing myself, my thoughts, and my creations to another's critical assessment was a bit challenging for the ego. However, I quickly discovered that I was in expert and very capable hands. Once I'd begun the course, all of those concerns disappeared. That's a testament to the design and delivery of your course.

The experience of being in the company of someone who so clearly cares about words. Hallelujah! I guess you can call that a profound experience? When you find just the right word, that's an 'aha!' moment. And when someone pin-points the word or sentence that you knew should have been written differently but were too lazy to change, that's also an 'aha!' moment. So, two 'aha!' moments for the price of one.

I enjoyed receiving feedback from other members. The group chat. Being able to work at home, on my own schedule. The support materials (audio tutorials especially - excellent).

It kept me accountable not just in quantity of writing, but quality. I didn't want others to think I couldn't write. It was actually fun.

Most incredible was how much I looked forward to logging on every day, reading chat and responses, workshopping, and getting down to writing. I loved how motivated I became.

I'd say go for it.

Margaret loves her work! She is very positive, and when she critiques both on loom and in writing, her deep experience as an editor shows. She was caring yet professional.

I enjoyed reading the varied responses to my own work, as well as to particular students whose work I believed was of a high standard. I enjoyed the camaraderie of our group. I think everyone was respectful and many were absolutely friendly and supportive.

Just as past graduates say, the critiquing really does help you by providing a thoughtful distance from the work (in any genre), using the structure and resources provided by AWC. This more dispassionate approach in turn you can then hopefully apply to your own work.

The advice to "just keep writing your first draft, and finish it" rather than keep editing! Once that is done, then go back and start the re-edit. You cannot publish a book if it's not written. Also I listen to Valerie Khoo's pod, as well as many others. This constantly broadens my knowledge, and a more realistic approach to the industry.

I was very buoyed by many positive comments about my 3000 words. This encouragement was part of why I enrolled in the Write Your Novel 2025. I'm almost halfway in my book now, and hope to be further by Feb 2025 for the course.

Tremendous and experienced facilitators, excellent resources, constant updates to keep abreast of developments in publishing/ the writing world. The resources were both written and audio, and in plain English, which really engages many types of learners. I find Nicole in the AWC office very helpful as well.

Bernadette has been very generous with her feedback and her encouragements. With the kindness in her tone of voice I reckon you'd still love her and respect her even with the harshest of criticism! She also was very much to the point, brief and clear, which makes her feedback sound very professional and easy to grasp. I'm very grateful to have had Bernadette as a tutor.

It definitely has had some impact. I'll always remember doing this course, and I'm pretty sure I won't forget some of the tips and feedback I have received. Also it's boosted my confidence. I feel like it's helping me in giving myself permission to write. I just hope I don't lose momentum and manage to commit to keep writing.

It's a very informative, friendly, professional course and I reckon that most people would find something to their liking, it's a good use of your time and although the commitment isn't huge (3-4h a week, a reasonable price), it feels like it gives somewhat of a base (more like a trampoline, because I feel one could probably take off from here) to any type of writing. I recommend! I hope I keep writing. If I do, I'm pretty sure I will revisit some materials from the course. If I don't, I think I may sign up for another course to get another injection of motivation!

I learnt a lot of technical skills which I really needed but, most importantly, I now feel confident about starting to write. I had zero confidence about starting to write and I have not really tried to learn anything new for a very long time so it was a big step for me.

I thought Bernadette knew what she was talking about. While being kind she was also constructive with her feedback.

I enjoyed writing the assignments and getting feedback.

I have started writing a book! I never thought I would do that. I am really enjoying being creative. My goal is to enjoy the process not necessarily to publish.

It is enjoyable. If you have no idea how to start creative writing this is just the thing.

Very comprehensive and easy to follow, even take a break and come back.

Made me look at things with a much broader aspect. There are many layers that need to be covered when writing a scene.

The courses are great and you can take your time with them and go back over things.

My online tutor was extremely helpful and thoughtful when giving feedback on my assignments and was engaged with us all during the course

I enjoyed all of it, to be honest.

It has empowered me to be able to continue with writing my novel

AWC courses are amazing, collaborative and supportive of all new writers.

Bernadette is clearly highly knowledgeable and experienced in this field. Her insights and ease with the content made the course enjoyable whilst always focused on the outcomes.

I appreciated the self-directed pace and learning aspect of this that is nevertheless married to a version of group interaction. It mattered that I could see myself in a class full of people.

I'm confident to progress my own copywriting work with a framework behind it. I can explain what I'm doing which, in turn, gives my clients comfort and confidence in what I offer.

Sign up! If you want to understand the secrets of writing anything, this is the place to find them. The courses are well-paced and backed by industry experience and knowledge and you can apply all of it immediately to your own work.

Thank you, Bernadette, for generously sharing the accumulated knowledge of a brilliant career. I greatly appreciate the skill you demonstrate in being able to translate what are, at times, complex concepts into bite-sized pieces of copywriting wisdom. I'll be referring to my notes for the rest of my writing life!

I felt quite comfortable knowing that my tutor was helping and wasn't trying to sugar coat explanations and was straightforward in what wasn't done well and how I could fix it. It gave me another view and helped me work on my writing.

It made me more confident in my writing and gave me something other than my friends, family and reading to look forward to.

When we went over the different perspectives used to write, it helped me to understand what perspective I use and how to formulate my writing with it. The information given to me that helped me understand writing isn't something that one style fits all and that we make our own styles.

It's a great place to learn more about writing and how to write. You can do it after you have experience writing or when you're just starting and still learn a lot from it.

I have loved every minute of this course! I have been fuelled with so many useful resources to be able to start my journey as a writer. I can't wait to enrol in the next one!

I loved that it was online, relatively short, and self paced. I loved the opportunity to get feedback from the tutors and interact with other students.

Bernadette was great - really responsive to questions and helpful with her feedback.

I loved how each week's assignment instructions were different and we got to flex different writing muscles. It felt very structured, but there was also a lot of room for us to write what we wanted. I also loved the option to do Words at Dawn with Nat. Whilst I wasn't able to jump on as frequently as I would have liked, the times when I did join the session I absolutely loved it and benefitted a lot from it.

It has truly been drummed in that the number 1 reason I won't be published is because I haven't written my book. I know that if I'm disciplined and put in the work I CAN write a book and I CAN get published. A lot here is in my control, and I have this course to thank for showing me that!

This course is a lot of fun and you should do it regardless of your goals and simply for your love of writing!

I wanted to take the next step in my writing. I want to finish this book, and then another 😄

A great community has formed with some of my fellow classmates and I am so grateful to have the support of others on similar journeys. I learned a lot from the audio lessons and handouts.

The feedback from Margaret was helpful to watch and learn for how a professional editor would go through my work. It was eye opening.

I enjoyed the student interaction. Giving feedback and reading all the different stories. Getting feedback and how much that helped.

I think kicking off with the synopsis really made me think about the structure of my story and the way I could write it. This helped me plan a bit better. I think I'd like to be a pantser writer, but that was never going to work for me.

Thanks for all the support from AWC. All the extra things that happen with AWC people during the course really helped. I joined in with Nat a couple of times at the ungodly hour of 6:30am when I was unnaturally awake, and know the next step I take in Write Your Novel will be supportive as well.

I've done lots of courses for novel writing with AWC but, in amongst the emotional rollercoaster of writing a novel, I had a seed of an idea for a picture book. Then the seeds grew to many! So on a whim, I put the novel on the backburner and did the course. I'm very proud of the 2 picture books I've written in this course.

I loved hearing Margaret read my manuscript. It was so helpful in hearing the rhythm and word choice from her voice. She gave me great feedback and was really encouraging.

Now I'd like to pursue publication of picture books!

Really easy and accessible way to do a course. It's always enjoyable.