Fall 2025
Perspectives on Media
This Journey is designed to help you build the skills and confidence needed to thrive in today’s ever-evolving media landscape. We’ll explore how stories are created, shared, and consumed across different platforms, and you’ll hear directly from media professionals about their experiences working in the field. Along the way, you’ll strengthen your ability to think critically about the role media plays in shaping our world, while also experimenting with your own creative voice. By the end of the Journey, you’ll develop and present a pitch for a media project of your choice.
Girls Write Now Collaboratory
This Journey is Closed, but You Can Pre-Enroll in a Spring 2027 Journey Now!
Learning Objectives
Perspectives on Media Community Experiences
Mentees and mentors in this Journey must attend the monthly 90-minute Journey Meetings and the Pitchfest.
Journey Meeting Dates:
- Monday, November 10, 2025, 4:30 pm ET
- Monday, December 1, 2025, 4:30 pm ET
- Monday, January 12, 2026, 4:30 pm ET
Pitchfest:
- Saturday, January 24, 2026, 12 pm ET
If you’re unable to attend a Journey Meeting, you must notify your Staff Lead in advance and attend a community event to make up for it—strongly recommended options include Exploratory Community Studios, College & Career Chats, and Salon Experiences.
Perspectives on Media Courses
Perspectives on Media
This course is designed to help develop the skills and understanding needed to successfully pitch a media project. Specific topics range from elevator pitches to pitch decks.
Perspectives on Media Mentoring
Mentees and Mentors in the Perspectives on Media Journey will be matched for one cycle. Pairs will meet for at least two hour-long sessions each month. Mentees will work on a pitch for a media project, while mentors will offer support and guidance throughout the process. This Journey is open to both Mentor-Mentee pairs and Peer-to-Peer pairs.
Journey Teaching Artist
What Past Participants Have to Say
Journeys in the Multimedia 360 Adventure focus on creating in particular medium. It is designed for mentees and mentors who want to express ideas with digital and audio techniques. Journeys in the Journalism 360 Adventure focus on building skills to investigate, analyze, and write about world events. It is recommended for mentees and mentors who want to embrace journalistic integrity.
Perspectives on Media is a Journey in the Multimedia 360 & Journalism 360 Adventures.
Explore All Journeys
Explore All Journeys
From Manuscript to Published Book with Gatekeeper Press (Spring 2027)
In this Journey, mentees and mentors will take the next step in their publishing experience by helping transform the creative nonfiction writing developed in the Fall 2026 Everything Is a Story: Nonfiction That Reads Like Fiction Journey into a professionally published anthology through our partnership with Gatekeeper Press.
Everything’s a Story: Nonfiction that Reads like Fiction (Fall 2026)
In this Journey, mentees and mentors will explore the ways in which creative storytelling techniques can be applied to nonfiction writing of all kinds, from memoir and personal essay to op-ed and how-to articles. We will dive into what makes a story—from structural archetypes to writing that flows—and learn how to harness the power of story to make nonfiction compelling and transformative.
Wild Ideas: Nature, Science & Creativity (Fall 2026)
Created in honor of Helen Ghiradella, the biologist who uncovered the hidden architecture of butterfly wings, this Journey invites you, mentor and mentee, to explore the natural world through the complementary lenses of scientific inquiry and creative expression. Through close observation, research, and reflection, you'll investigate the forms, patterns, and processes found in nature, then build an original project—writing, visual art, media, performance, music, or a form of your own choosing—that celebrates where these disciplines meet. Along the way, you'll sharpen your powers of observation, stretch your interdisciplinary thinking, and develop the ability to translate scientific understanding into meaningful art.
Hooked on Fiction: Story Structures for Plotters, Pantsers, & Plantsers (Fall 2026)
In this Journey, we’ll tackle one of the most daunting parts of novel writing: the opening chapter. Participants will explore how to hook readers while establishing character, setting, and stakes—asking big questions like where to begin and how to share key details without overload.
Building Buzz: Publicity in the Publishing Industry (Fall 2026)
In this Journey, mentors and mentees explore how books are marketed, discovered, and reach bestseller lists in the digital age.
The Power of Punchlines: Stand-Up Comedy for Change (Fall 2026)
In this Journey, mentors and mentees will explore the power of comedy as a tool for social change, with a special focus on stand-up comedy. From climate change and economic inequality to LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, and mental health, participants will learn how to write and perform material that blends humor with meaningful social critique.
Civil Discourse: Connection & Persuasion (Fall 2026)
In this Journey, you—mentor and mentee—will build essential skills in public speaking, argumentation, and critical thinking. Through hands-on activities and lively discussion, you'll learn to craft persuasive speeches, construct well-reasoned arguments, and present your ideas with confidence. You'll explore what makes communication land, sharpen your thinking under pressure, and practice responding to perspectives unlike your own in a structured setting. By the end, you'll be able to make your case clearly, engage in dialogue that goes somewhere, and carry these skills into academic, professional, and civic life.
Independent Study (Fall 2026)
Create your own experience with our Independent Study Journey. Mentors and mentees meet as a pair, attend events of interest, and use coursework to help plan creative projects and meet your goals.
Lead Community Change (Fall 2026)
Lead Community Change is a dynamic two-cycle Journey that harnesses the transformative power of storytelling to drive social impact. Aspiring young leaders and activists will unleash their creativity to develop and implement innovative community-based social activism projects, supported by Girls Write Now’s rich storytelling resources.
Dark Tales: A Horror Book Club (Fall 2026)
Step into the shadows of horror and discover what makes a story truly unsettling. Across three monthly book club meetings, you—mentor and mentee—will dig into close readings and lively discussion of selected works, examining how authors build suspense, conjure atmosphere, evoke fear, and use the genre to probe deeper social, psychological, and cultural questions. Together you'll unpack narrative technique, character development, and the many shapes the genre can take. By summer's end, you'll have a richer appreciation for horror, sharper critical instincts as readers, and a store of inspiration and craft to carry into your own writing. Required books this cycle: Dark Is When the Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce, The Body by Bethany C. Morrow, and I'll Watch Your Baby by Neena Viel.
