News of the Month – December 2025

If you did not get to join us for our NCWN fall conference recap last month, you can find a recording here.

Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 1:00pm – Writers Discuss Writing

Please join us to share you accomplishments, questions, anecdotes, and comments as we discuss the craft of writing. Think of this as a writers’ support group.

Saturday, December 20, 2025 at 1:00pm – Open Mic

Let’s finish off 2025 by sharing and enjoying each other’s writing! Each participant will have FIVE MINUTES for their introduction and reading. This is your chance to shine and practice the art of reading your work in front of an audience. Please RSVP by December 18th if you plan to read so that I can make sure we have enough time for everyone.

Holiday season is upon us! Writers Discuss Craft will resume in the new year.

News from the North Carolina Writers’ Network

Is it time to renew your NCWN membership?

Check the top of the NCWN newsletter to see when your membership needs renewal.

Not a member?

You’re missing out on discounts on Network-sponsored programs and events.

What are you waiting for? Membership is open to writers of all experience levels and genres, across the state and beyond. Join now at https://www.ncwriters.org/

Register for the network’s next online class, “Romance Plotting and the Healing Journey” with Diana Biller.

Spend any time among readers of romance and you will hear something like this:

“Romance novels helped me process my trauma.”
“Romance novels got me through a hospital stay.”
“Romance novels comfort me when life seems too dark.”

Romance novels are about more than love—they are about healing. So what happens if we apply this idea back to the writing process itself? Deeper characters, tighter plots, and more satisfying happy-ever-afters.

Learn how to explore your characters’ past trauma, and how they will learn to heal themselves (no magical healing penises allowed here). How will the romance help them do so? What will they learn by falling in love? What does healing even look like for them? And what does all this mean for their love interest’s character development?

We will work together to answer these questions using a model romance novel synopsis, and then build a plot using our findings. Finally, we will discuss how to use this idea as a guide for times when you’ve hit a writing wall.

Registration is $45 for NCWN members, $65 for nonmembers. The class will begin at 7 PM Eastern on Thursday, December 11.

Diana Biller is the author of The Widow of Rose House, The Brightest Star in Paris, and Hotel of Secrets. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their beloved pets.

Click here to register.

Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition

Submissions accepted November 15 – January 15

The Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition, sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network, encourages the creation of lasting nonfiction that is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians. Subjects may include traditional categories such as reviews, travel articles, profiles or interviews, place/history pieces, or culture criticism. The first-, second-, and third-place winners will receive $1,000, $300, and $200 respectively. The winning entry will be considered for publication by Ecotone.

Eligibility and Guidelines

• The competition is open to any writer who is a legal resident of North Carolina or a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
• The deadline is January 15. All entries, online or in print, must reach the NCWN by then.
• The entry fee is $10 for NCWN members, $12 for nonmembers.
• Entries can be submitted in one of two ways:
  1. Send two printed copies through the U.S. Postal Service (see guidelines and address below), along with a check for the appropriate fee, made payable to the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
  2. Submit an electronic copy online at ncwriters.submittable.com, and pay by VISA or MasterCard.
• Simultaneous submissions ok, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• Please read the Network’s statement on “A.I.” in contests and other Network-administered programs.
• Each entry must be an original and previously unpublished manuscript of no more than 3,500 words, typed in a 12-point standard font (i.e., Times New Roman) and double-spaced.
• Author’s name should not appear on manuscripts. Instead, include a separate cover sheet with name, address, phone number, e-mail address, word count, and manuscript title. (If submitting online, do not include a cover sheet with your document; Submittable will collect and record your name and contact information.)
• An entry fee must accompany the manuscript. Multiple submissions are accepted, one manuscript per entry fee: $10 for NCWN members, $12 for nonmembers.
• You may pay the member entry fee if you join NCWN with your submission. Checks should be made payable to the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
• Entries will not be returned. Winners will be announced by March.
• When you submit online at ncwriters.submittable.com/submit, Submittable will collect your entry fee via credit card ($10 NCWN members / $12 non-members). (If submitting online, do not include a cover sheet with your document; Submittable will collect and record your name and contact information. For more information about Submittable, click here.)
  • To submit as a Member of NCWN ($10), click here.
  • To submit as a Non-Member of NCWN ($12), click here.
• If submitting by mail, send submission to:

North Carolina Writers’ Network
ATTN: Rose Post
PO Box 21591
Winston-Salem, NC 27120

Entries must arrive by January 15.

**[To access links, click here.]

Postscript:

WMO’s programs and meetings are a collaborative effort with Penny Cottrell, Tracy Crow, Tom Dow, Catherine Duncan, George Kauffman, Carol Phillips, and Judith Stanton—plus our ex-officio member and IT wizard, Josh Cottrell—all contributing.

Wishing you all the best in your writing endeavors!

Penny Cottrell, NCWN Regional Rep, Central Piedmont