4 Week Unlocking Creativity Course – Online
Places are only guaranteed when full payment is received. A full refund will apply for cancellations up to 7 days before course commencement less any credit card merchant fees incurred plus registration app. fee of $10.00 to be deducted. No refunds apply seven days from course commencement however you may defer to another Unlocking Creativity Online Course at no extra charge. Deferment requests received 48 hours or less before course commencement and after course commencement will incur a $255 Deferral fee. There are no refunds after course commencement. We cannot accept responsibility for changes in personal circumstances or work commitments. We reserve the right to change course dates if necessary.
4 Week Unlocking Creativity Course – Live in Studio
Places only guaranteed when full payment is received. A full refund will apply for cancellations up to 7 days before course commencement less any credit card merchant fees incurred plus registration app. fee of $10.00 to be deducted. A $50 cancellation fee will apply up to 7 days before course commencement. No refunds will apply 7 days from course commencement, however you may defer to another Unlocking Creativity Course at no extra charge. Deferment requests received 48 hours or less before course commencement and after course commencement will incur a $275 Deferral fee. There are no refunds after course commencement. We cannot accept responsibility for any changes in personal circumstances or work commitments. We reserve the right to cancel or change class dates if necessary.
6 Week Character Development, Genre Short Story and Writers’ Gym Courses – Online
Places are only guaranteed when full payment is received. A full refund will apply for cancellations up until 7 days before course commencement less any credit card merchant fees incurred plus registration app. fee of $10.00 to be deducted. No refunds apply seven days from course commencement, however you may defer to another Six Week Course at no extra charge. Deferment requests received 48 hours or less before course commencement and after course commencement will incur a $290 Deferral fee. There are no refunds after course commencement. We cannot accept responsibility for changes in personal circumstances or work commitments. We reserve the right to change course dates if necessary.
10 Month Novel and Script First Draft Course – Online
After completing the pre-requisite 4-Week Unlocking Creativity course (either as a complimentary course or as a stand-alone course) and we feel that you are not ready or suitable for the longer course, we will recommend that you either repeat Unlocking Creativity (and go into the next First Draft Online course if required), or we will provide you with a refund for the First Draft Online course less the value of your complimentary Unlocking Creativity course (as per conditions below) if you have already undertaken Unlocking Creativity as part of your First Draft Online course registration.
Up to 30 days before course commencement, a full refund will apply less any credit card merchant fees incurred plus a registration app. fee of $10 and if you received a complimentary Unlocking Creativity course upon registering, the value of your Unlocking Creativity course will also be deducted. From 30 days to course commencement a Cancellation Fee of $150 will apply to all cancellations and if you received a complimentary Unlocking Creativity course upon registering, the value of your Unlocking Creativity course will be deducted and the cancellation fee will also apply. You may defer to another First Draft Online course without fee for up to 14 days before course commencement. From 14 days to 48 hours before commencement a $150 Deferral Fee will apply. Deferment requests received 48 hours or less before course commencement will incur a $255 Deferral fee.
After course commencement, there are no refunds nor deferments. We cannot accept responsibility for any changes in your personal circumstances or work commitments. Your course fee entitles you to one place in one course only. Please note that if you have chosen to pay the course fee by instalments you are signing on for a 10 month course and all course fee instalments will continue to be deducted whether you discontinue the course for whatever reason. If your instalments are not up to date and we do not hear from you, all course fee instalments owed will become immediately due for payment. Please note discount offers can not be used in conjunction with the complimentary Unlocking Creativity course offer. We reserve the right to cancel or change course dates if necessary.
10 Month Novel and Script First Draft Course – Live in Studio
After completing the pre-requisite 4-Week Unlocking Creativity course (either as a complimentary course or as a stand-alone course), we feel that you are not ready or suitable for the longer course, we will recommend you either repeat Unlocking Creativity, (and go into the next First Draft course if required) or we will provide you with a refund for the First Draft Live course less the value of your complimentary Unlocking Creativity course (as per conditions below) if you have undertaken Unlocking Creativity as part of your First Draft Live registration.
For cancellations 60 days or more before course commencement, a full refund will be provided less any credit card merchant fees incurred plus a registration app. fee of $10 and if you received a complimentary Unlocking Creativity Course upon registering, the value of your Unlocking Creativity course will also be deducted. From 60 days to 30 days before course commencement, a $150 Cancellation Fee will apply and and if you received a complimentary Unlocking Creativity course upon registering, the value of your Unlocking Creativity course will also be deducted. From 30 days to course commencement there are no refunds unless there is someone to take your place in the course. If someone can take your place in the course before course commencement, a Cancellation Fee of $150 will then apply and if you received a complimentary Unlocking Creativity Course upon registering, the value of your Unlocking Creativity Course will also be deducted.
You may defer to another First Draft Live course without fee up until 30 days before course commencement. From 30 days to 14 days before course commencement a $150 Deferral Fee will apply. From 14 days to course commencement a $275 Deferral Fee will apply. After course commencement, there are no refunds nor deferments. Unfortunately, we cannot accept responsibility for any changes in your personal circumstances or work commitments. Your course fee entitles you a place in one course only.
If you have chosen to pay the course fee by instalments you have signed on for a 10 month course and all course fee instalments will continue to be deducted whether you discontinue the course for whatever reason. If your instalments are not up to date and we do not hear from you, all course fee instalments owed will become immediately due for payment. Please note discount offers can not be used in conjunction with the complimentary Unlocking Creativity course offer. We reserve the right to cancel or change course dates if necessary.
2nd Draft Live in Studio & Online
A full refund will apply for cancellations up until 14 days before course commencement less any credit card merchant fees incurred plus registration app. fee of $10.00 will also be deducted. No refunds apply from 14 days to course commencement. From 14 days to 48 hours before course commencement you may defer to the next course and a $150 Deferral Fee will apply. Deferment requests received 48 hours or less before course commencement will incur a $275 Deferral fee. Once your course commences there are no deferments or refunds. Please note that if you have chosen to pay by instalments, your instalments will continue to be deducted if you discontinue the course for whatever reason. We cannot accept responsibility for any changes in personal circumstances or work commitments. If your instalments are not up to date and we do not hear from you, all course fee instalments owed will become immediately due for payment. We reserve the right to cancel or change course dates if necessary.
3rd Draft Part 1, Part 2 & Extension – Online
Please carefully note that once you register for a Third Draft Online course no refunds will apply. You will be sent a course login immediately to start pre-course work prior to the course commencement date. Up until 30 days before course commencement date you can defer to the next Third Draft Online course. From 30 days to 48 hours before course commencement you may defer to the next Third Draft Online course and a $150 Deferral Fee will apply. A deferment request received 48 hours or less before course commencement will incur a $275 Deferral Fee. Once your course commences there are no deferments. We cannot take responsibility for any changes in your personal circumstances. Please note that if you have chosen to pay by instalments, your instalments will continue to be deducted if you discontinue the course for whatever reason. If your instalments are not up to date and we do not hear from you, all course fee instalments owed will become immediately due for payment. We reserve the right to cancel or change course dates if necessary.
3rd Draft Part 1, Part 2 & Extension – Live in Studio
Please carefully note that once you register for a Third Draft Live course no refunds apply. You will be sent a course login soon after registering to start your pre-course work prior to the course commencement date. Up to 30 days before course commencement you can defer to the next Third Draft Live course without fee. From 30 days to 48 hours before course commencement you may defer to the next Third Draft Live course and a $150 Deferral Fee will apply. A deferment request received 48 hours or less before course commencement will incur a $275 Deferral Fee. Once your course commences there are no deferments. We cannot take responsibility for any changes in your personal circumstances. Please note that if you have chosen to pay by instalments, your instalments will continue to be deducted if you discontinue the course for whatever reason. If your instalments are not up to date and we do not hear from you, all course fee instalments owed will become immediately due for payment. We reserve the right to cancel or change course dates if necessary.
Workshops
Places are only guaranteed when full payment is received. A refund will apply for cancellations up to 7 days before Workshop commencement less any credit card merchant fees incurred plus registration app. fee of $10.00 to be deducted. No refunds apply 7 days from Workshop commencement. We cannot accept responsibility for changes in personal circumstances nor work commitments.
Manuscript Assessments
There are no refunds once your Manuscript Assessment commences. For up to 30 days before your Assessment commences a full refund will apply less a $10 app fee and merchant fee charges. From 30 days to 7 days before commencement a Cancellation Fee of $300 will apply. From 7 days to commencement a $500 Cancellation Fee will apply.
General Terms & Conditions
Our Website
All materials on our website are protected by copyright unless stated otherwise. You need our written permission to reproduce any materials on our site.
We accept no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions on the site. All information on our site is subject to change without notice.
We make no statement or representation or warranty in regards to the accuracy or completeness of information on our website.
We disclaim all responsibility and all liability whatsoever (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages and costs you might incur as a result of the information on our website being inaccurate or incomplete in any way, and for any reason.
We are not liable for any damages you suffer when you use our website, in particular, including direct, incidental, or indirect damages arising out of your use of our website.
We endeavour to keep our website free from any viruses or malware, however we are not responsible for any damage to your computer system which may arise in connection with your use of our website or any linked website.
Links to other sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement of the information contained at those sites. We accept no responsibility for material contained in any site that is linked to our website.
We will automatically update and upgrade the website from time to time. Updates are designed to improve our site and may take the form of enhanced functions or new modules.
In return for an entitlement to use the site you expressly agree that you will not rely on any representation of any nature whatsoever said to be contained on the site for any purpose whatsoever.
Privacy
The only personal information collected by the Writers’ Studio is what you provide when you register for a course for the purposes of course registration and when undertaking a course.
We do not sell or share any private information with any other third-party for the purposes of selling their products or for the purposes of trading your private information and we never will knowingly do so, except where it is necessary to deliver the services you have requested.
Posting on our site
You must not post any threatening, libelous, defamatory, or pornographic materials to our site or contrary to the law. Nor any materials with direct and specific threats of violence against others.
Nevertheless, we take no responsibility and assume no liability for the content of posts submitted in regards to defamation, libel, slander, omissions, falsehoods, obscenity, pornography, or profanity that you might encounter on our site.
We will endeavour to remove any offensive material from our site as soon as we become aware of it.
Intellectual Property Rights
We claim no intellectual property rights over materials that you submit or post to our website, our writing forums and boards.
You acknowledge that you are responsible for the content of material that you post to our website, our forums and our boards including its compliance with all relevant laws, its originality and its copyright.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI):
Participants must not submit AI-generated writing or AI-generated feedback in any part of their coursework, including peer feedback, group work, or written assignments, unless explicitly permitted by their tutor for a specific exercise.
Participants must not input another participant’s writing into any AI system without that participant’s explicit written consent.
Privacy, Copyright, and Data Protection from AI:
Participants must not upload any part of another participant’s writing, tutor feedback, or course materials into an AI tool (including free versions of ChatGPT and other AI services).
Many AI tools use submitted content to train their models and uploading another person’s writing, or our materials, or tutor feedback constitutes unauthorised publication and/or disclosure of personal data.
Participants are responsible for obtaining written consent before sharing any third-party creative content with an external service.
Monitoring and Verification:
The Writers’ Studio may review submissions or feedback where AI-generated content is suspected. AI-detection tools may be used as part of a broader assessment, though they are not solely determinative. Where concerns arise, participants may be asked to clarify their process or resubmit work.
Limited Permitted Use of AI:
In certain courses (e.g., the Second Draft program), tutors may provide guidance on optional, transparent, and ethically appropriate ways for participants to use AI for their own planning or structural exploration. Any permitted AI use will be clearly outlined within that specific course module.
Updates to AI Policy:
The Writers’ Studio may develop additional AI-supported tools or processes in the future. Any such use will be clearly described and will only be introduced in ways that protect each writer’s privacy, authorship, and creative development. The Writers’ Studio may update this AI Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, industry standards, or legal requirements.
Saving copies of your work
We take no responsibility and assume no liability for retaining copies of your work. Please ensure that you keep copies of all work that you post to our forums and writing boards.
Creative Well-being and Learning Boundaries
Creative writing can be deeply therapeutic, however, our courses are not a substitute for therapy.
Our tutors are trained to offer guidance on story craft and storytelling. They are not counsellors or mental-health professionals and are not equipped to provide emotional support.
In our courses, you will be invited to explore diverse and sometimes challenging stories in a supportive, non-judgemental environment.
If your writing brings up difficult memories or unresolved personal issues, we encourage you to seek the support of a qualified therapist or counsellor outside the course. You might also wish to discuss participation in the course with your healthcare provider to ensure it complements your wellbeing and current treatment plan.
If you are currently experiencing significant emotional distress or instability, we recommend consulting your healthcare professional before enrolling to confirm that the course environment will be right for you at this time. This helps ensure that both you and your tutor can engage with the material safely and productively.
We aim to foster a safe, respectful, and inclusive creative environment that encourages freedom of expression, curiosity, and growth. In a space where people explore stories from many worldviews and experiences, you may encounter material or values different from your own. This is part of the creative process and the nature of storytelling.
Our online boards include an option for mature-content warnings, but each participant is responsible for maintaining their own emotional boundaries and wellbeing. If a topic or piece of writing feels challenging, we invite you to step back, reflect, and engage in a way that feels right for you.
Jurisdiction
Our terms and conditions are in accordance with the laws of NSW (New South Wales) and any claim which arise out of our terms and conditions will be heard in NSW and you agree to this.
