Testimonials
Freeflow Testimonials - 2003 to 2010
Alan Hancock has been a regular presenter on the IPAA WA program. He’s
programs are always delivered in a professional manner and he receives
fantastic feedback from participants. If you’re looking for someone
to assist you, or your colleagues, with grammar and writing skills, Alan
has the knowledge and the skill to deliver.
Joanne Blayney | Program Development Manager
Institute of Public Administration Australia, Western Australia, Aug 2010
Whitfords Library, Perth, Freeflow Writing, May 14th 2010.
“Thank you so much for a most worthwhile and highly stimulating
course. I attended both workshops and they were all that I could ever
have hoped they could be. In fact, even more!
I must again say that I found the course content, and even more so the
way in which you presented the course, to be of the very highest value
to me. This is most certainly something for which you truly have a gift,
and I would like you to know how grateful I am to have had this shared.”
Andy.
“Very interesting”
“Best workshop on writing I’ve been to”
“Great.”
“I thought the workshops were excellent”
“It is one of the best writing workshops I’ve been to”
“I learnt a lot in a relatively short time”
“Very constructive”
“Alan was a fountain of knowledge”
“Excellent inspiration for getting started with writing”
“Really enjoyed both workshops.”
“Alan Hancock was brilliant, he is a great teacher. Learnt lots!”
“Very constructive – left you wanting more”
“Stimulating, interesting and 100% useable.”
“Answered all my queries, raised more and answered this larger list
as well.”
“Highly recommended. Thank you. Truly.”
“Great content”
“Very well presented”
Feedback from other participants
“I am delighted to provide a testimonial for your web page.
You have always been very professional to work with. You have delivered
your workshops in a calm, informed and authoritative manner. You have
held the attention of the participants throughout. Your vast knowledge
of the writing genre and experience as a lecturer has helped you hone
your delivery and content to produce maximum value for the workshops you
have run in our community. You are able to adapt your workshops to suit
a particular focus. We have had nothing but positive feedback from your
workshops and the repeat registration of the participants is testimony
to your work. I would have no hesitation in recommending you as a writing
workshop facilitator.”
Jane Tillson, Arts/Cultural Development Officer City of Mandurah,
2005
“Dr Alan Hancock is an entertaining and enjoyable speaker, providing
valuable and memorable tips to improve writing skills.
As a keynote speaker at the Australian Institute of Office Profesionals
(AIOP) 2005 State Seminar, Dr Alan Hancock presented an interactive session
“Freeing the writer within: making words work”. This session
discussed the issues of why writing is such hard work and allowed delegates
to try some simple writing exercises to develop their writing skills as
an introduction to the basics of Dr Alan Hancock’s Freeflow writing
technique.
Dr Alan Hancock’s informative interactive session was very well
received and encouraged delegates to worry less and write more.
The WA division of AIOP looks forward to Dr Alan Hancock presenting his
Freeflow writing technique to office professionals at future AIOP events.”
Marnie Wallace, Professional Development Convenor, Australian Institute
of Office Professional, WA Division, 2005
“I thoroughly enjoyed the Freeflow writing course and very much
looked forward to each Tuesday night. It freed up a creativity that I
didn't know I had. Freeflow has given me the inspiration to continue writing.”
Kerry, 2005
“Inspirational.”
Angela, 2005
“I would like to say how enjoyable and inspiring I found the Freeflow
course. I always wanted to write but could not see where the ideas were
going to come from. After the first lesson I found myself writing on subjects
that I never thought I would write about and the ideas just came to me.
I would not hesitate in recommending the course to anyone who has always
wanted to write but doesn't know how to start.”
Ashley, 2005
“Thanks for the very insightful workshop. It has really moved me
along. I now have a new attitude. Quite amazing really, and now I look
forward to the fun of it. You were dead right. The handbrake was getting
yanked on almost as soon as I'd get going.”
Valerie Preston, 2005
“Exercises were challenging and riveting. I felt the whole workshop
was an excellent package.”
“Alan’s pre-workshop presentation was excellent; his manner
warm, encouraging and non-judgemental.”
“The most positive thing for me was Alan’s positive and accepting
attitude.”
“Alan’s delight in exploration in the workshop.”
“Terrific. Enlightening, informative.”
“Wonderful – a great starting point.”
“Exciting.”
“A ‘must do’ for anyone thinking of taking up writing.”
“Fantastic introduction to writing.”
“Would help ‘free’ you up in written expression.”
“Would encourage you to ‘have a go’ in a non-critical
environment.”
“The value of Freeflow writing is to just let the words come and
tumble along with surprising results.”
From participants at the Melville Writers Freeflow workshop, Oct 2005
“The Society of Women Writers, WA were privileged to welcome Dr.
Alan Hancock as the guest speaker at their February meeting.
It was an interesting and most helpful interactive session and all Alan's
advice was received enthusiastically by the members.”
Anne Summers, President, SWWWA, 2005
“It has started the creative juices flowing. . . It was also great
fun.”
Georgie, 2003
“I got all I wanted.”
Roy, 2003
“What did I get out of it – pleasure, fun, interest, and
amazement at what came out and ‘up’ as I wrote.”
Mary, 2003
“Well, I would say that your creative writing sessions were a window
to the creative mind. Apart from being a very enjoyable, thoughtful and
stimulating way to improve one's creative writing and public reading skills,
they also loosened up the whole mind. They got the self-conscious, conscious
mind out of the way and freed up the imagination, to spill out all the
secrets it had locked away and hadn't been able to say till then. Freed
up things I didn't even know existed and let them out as a coherent stream
of thought and words. And as a person who spends half his life sweating
over stilted, dull, repetitive reports of facts and events that would
bore the average accountant into a coma, it was a breath of fresh air
to rediscover writing as a pleasure again. It really does work, your freeflow
writing course. It discovers creative writing skills where none existed
before, inspires confidence and ability, and is a most enjoyable workout
for the mind: a regular gym session for the creative muscles with which
one writes.”
Larry Kirk, 2003
“Freeflow Writing is an Adventure. Before I did the course I had
a long-standing desire to tell stories, it runs in my family. As I child
I enjoyed writing stories and my parents labelled me "the writer
of the family". But somewhere along the way my delight in writing
down my ideas was lost and I think it’s probably because the way
writing is taught makes it boring, hard, serious work, and that there’s
a wrong way to do it. I didn’t write anything for seventeen years,
though part of me still wanted to. I would write little things in my head
but never commit them to paper.
When I did the Freeflow course several things happened to me. I realised
the writing in this way, letting your ideas flow without controlling them,
without imposing a judgment, was a lot of fun. It opened me up creatively,
it produced some really gutsy work that I enjoyed, that I enjoyed sharing.
And strangely, most importantly, it has changed the way I see things.
Everything seems clearer, it’s like I needed glasses and didn’t
realise it. I know this wouldn‚t happen to everyone and I‚m
not sure many people would want it to. The creative spirit in each of
is a powerful thing, a transforming thing. When it is unleashed and you
start to write the fantastically interesting things that are going on
inside your head something really amazing will happen. The writing is
an adventure.”
Karen, 2004
“I would like to thank you heaps for the way you teach writing.
Over the years I’ve been to about half a dozen Creative Writing
courses . . . However, your method seems to have released something that
has been bottled up for years.”
Bernice, 2003
“I have got all I hoped for and had not dared to expect: this process
really works. What I have got in the course of this last six weeks is
the astounding knowledge that writing can be fast and furious –
and fun! I am grateful.”
Brian, 2003
“I had a wonderful time. You opened my eyes, and my mind.”
Tess, 2003
“This course has been a memorable experience full of pleasure and
learning.”
Rosalie, 2003
“An eye-opening experience.”
Kevin, 2003
“I’ve been excited and stimulated all week, and I know it
will continue.”
Kath, 2003
“A well thought out course which I found stimulating and which
pushed me in directions that I had not been before. Thank you.”
Ron, 2003