Summer 2025
Aloud: Songwriting & Spoken Word (Summer 2025)
Enhance the power of your words by speaking or singing them aloud. In this journey, we’ll examine a variety of ways to share creative work using our voices and audio techniques with open mic events, podcasts, and songwriting.
Girls Write Now Collaboratory
This Journey is Closed, but You Can Apply for a Fall 2026 Journey Now!
Requirements
- Active Participation: Attend and actively engage in class activities, including open mic events, group discussions, and feedback sessions.
- Completion of Assignments: Submit required assignments, such as a recorded podcast episode, a written song, or a personal statement, by the specified deadlines.
- Practice and Rehearsal: Dedicate time each week to practicing vocal techniques, preparing for performances, and refining your audio skills outside of class.
Aloud: Songwriting & Spoken Word Courses
In the Aloud: Songwriting & Spoken Word course, you’ll discover how to bring your creative work to life by speaking or singing it aloud. You’ll learn techniques for open mic events, podcasts, and songwriting that will help you amplify your voice and share your stories with confidence.
Aloud: Songwriting & Spoken Word Mentoring
Mentees and mentors in the Aloud: Songwriting & Spoken Word Journey will be matched for one cycle. Pairs will meet for at least two hour-long sessions each month.
Aloud: Songwriting & Spoken Word Community Experiences
Mentees and mentors in the Aloud: Songwriting & Spoken Word Journey must attend at least one Community Experience per month. They are expected to attend meetings that are specifically required for Aloud: Songwriting & Spoken Word. It is strongly recommended that they attend Exploratory Community Studios, College & Career Chats, and Salon Experiences.
Performance 360 Adventure
The Aloud: Songwriting & Spoken Word Journey is a part of the Performance 360 Adventure.
Journeys in the Performance 360 Adventure focus on building public speaking and presenting skills. It is perfect for mentees and mentors who want to build confidence in performing their work and sharing their ideas.
Learn more about the other Adventures offered at Girls Write Now below.
Find Your Journey
Find Your Journey
Everything Is 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)
This Journey explores how social media—especially TikTok’s BookTok community—has transformed the publishing industry.
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.
Explore Tour (Fall 2026)
Explore all of the creative and storytelling pathways Girls Write Now has to offer through a multimedia, multi-genre experience that includes mini courses, exploratory studios, and one-to-one pair sessions.
