Spring 2025
Audio Storytelling
The Audio Storytelling Journey is for mentees and mentors who want to learn about the ways publishing companies create audio books and other audible content for publication.
Girls Write Now Collaboratory
This Journey is Closed, but You Can Apply for a Fall 2026 Journey Now!
Learning Objectives
Apply to Join
Deadline: January 15, 2025
As a mentee or mentor in the Audio Storytelling Journey, you’ll have access to an online course designed to help you learn about audiobook production and audio storytelling. You’ll be paired with a mentee or mentor for one full cycle, and you’ll meet with them at least once each month. You’ll attend at least one community engagement experience a month.
- Cycle(s) Spring 2025
- Time 3 hours per month
- Areas of Focus Audio, Fiction, Nonfiction
- Requirement Submit 1 audio story
- Available Spots Per Cycle 20
Audio Storytelling Course
Learn about the process of creating and marketing audio stories – whether they are audiobooks, podcasts, or online stories. Discover how to transform your writing into audio to hear your work come to life.
Audio Storytelling Mentoring
As a mentee or mentor in the Audio Storytelling Journey, you’ll be paired with a mentee or mentor for one full cycle, and you’ll meet with them at least once each month.
Audio Storytelling Community Experiences
As a mentee or mentor in the Audio Storytelling Journey, you’ll attend at least one community engagement experience of your choice each month. It is strongly recommended that you attend the following Audiobook Journey meetings:
- March 15, 2025: 2-3 pm ET
- April 12, 2025: 2-3 pm ET
- May 3, 2025: 2-3 pm ET
Multimedia 360 Adventure
The Audiobook Journey is a part of the Multimedia 360 Adventure.
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. Learn more about the other Adventures offered at Girls Write Now below.
Find Your Journey
Find Your Journey
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.
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.
