After much discussion, we have decided not to present the Roanoke Writers Conference in 2025. There are a great number of factors going into this decision. Foremost, our budget is a lot tighter than in the past, and based on much of the feedback we received last year, we have determined that if we can’t…
Achieving Your Writing Goals
Many people want to write a novel, memoir or nonfiction book, but a lot of them never complete their writing projects. If you find yourself floundering, or in the middle of a creative dry spell, you are not alone. But you can achieve your writing goals, through planning and self-discipline. It takes time, energy and…
Apocalypse HOW?
EDITOR’S NOTE! This is a discussion about writing fictional stories. No one at NTWC (that we know of) actually has access to or has deliberately or inadvertently invented any sort of Doomsday device. All known supervillains, mad scientists, and related personnel are carefully discouraged from such activities. So, you want to destroy the world, or…
Writing the Fight
As with most topics in writing, you don’t need to know how to fight to write a fight. It helps if you have some knowledge of the subject matter, some familiarity with the practice, but that should always be the framework, not necessarily the focus. My four points that guide a fight scene: How does…
Creativity
A prized hallmark of the United States is its long tradition and practice of creativity. Many innovative inventions, paintings, books, and medical breakthroughs were created by Americans. One reason for the development of patent and copyright laws is to protect and encourage creative ventures. The US is subject to many international acts of pirating, stealing…