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  • Hooked on Fiction: Crafting Your First Chapter (Fall 2025)

Fall 2025

Hooked on Fiction: Crafting Your First Chapter

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. Whether starting fresh or revising a draft, writers will gain tools to craft impactful, memorable openings.

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This Journey Is Closed, but You Can Pre-Enroll in a Summer 2026 Journey Now!

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Learning Objectives

Master the Key Elements of a Strong Opening

Learn how to craft a compelling hook, introduce characters, set the scene, and raise the stakes—all within your first chapter.

Develop Rich, Motivated Characters

Explore techniques to establish character depth and motivation early in your story.

Build Strong Settings and Stakes

Use limited space to create a vivid world and high-stakes tension that draws readers in.

Choose the Right Starting Point

Identify where your story should begin to immediately capture interest and momentum.

Balance Exposition and Tension

Revise your opening pages to keep readers engaged without overwhelming them.

Hooked on Fiction: Crafting Your First Chapter Community Experiences

Mentees and mentors in this Journey are required to attend the monthly Journey Meetings and one Journey Workshop listed below.

  • Saturday, November 15, 2025, 1 pm ET
  • Saturday, December 13, 2025, 1 pm ET
  • Saturday, January 24, 2026, 1 pm ET

Query Letter Workshop:

  • Tuesday January 27, 2026, 4:30 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 Community Studios and Salon Experiences.

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Journey Circle: Community

Hooked on Fiction: Crafting Your First Chapter Courses

First Pages That Grip: Writing the Opening Chapter
This course is designed to guide you through the essential elements of a powerful opening chapter. Through short lessons, writing prompts, and examples from published works, you’ll explore how to develop complex characters, set up stakes, establish a vivid setting, and create a strong hook—all within the first few pages. Whether you’re drafting something new or revising existing work, this course will help you gain confidence and clarity in your storytelling.

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Writing

Hooked on Fiction: Crafting Your First Chapter Mentoring

Mentees and mentors in this Journey will be matched for one cycle. Pairs will meet for at least two hour-long sessions each month. This journey is open to both Mentor/Mentee pairs and Peer-to-Peer pairs.

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Journey Teaching Artist

Jennifer L. Brown

(she/her) Alum, Mentor

Jennifer L. Brown is an author of middle grade and young adult novels. She spent many years as a performer, working in theatres across the country in plays ranging from contemporary musicals to Shakespeare. When not writing, she tutors standardized tests, English, and essay writing. Her novel won a space in an intensive mentoring program called Pitch Wars in the fall of 2017. She has served as a mentor in that same program for the last four years. Her writing is represented by Alyssa Jennette at Stonesong Literary.

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Chiamaka Okafor

Mentee

Chiamaka Okafor is an undergraduate university student who considers herself a multi-passionate creative, with a strong passion for reading and writing. She enjoys a lot of fantasy, sci-fi, and nonfiction. She has been a part of GWN as a mentee for over three years. Chiamaka loves writing stories at any chance she gets, and when she is not reading, watching TV, or studying (of course 😉 ), she also enjoys drawing, researching, and learning languages.

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Journeys in the Multigenre 360 Adventure focus on writing in a particular genre. It is perfect for mentees and mentors who want to focus on a specific kind of creative writing.

Hooked on Fiction: Crafting Your First Chapter is a Journey in the Multigenre 360 Adventure.

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Perspectives on Publishing & Marketing (Spring 2025)

Learn about the different ways to publish creative work and the fundamentals of marketing yourself and your creations. This Journey will take mentees and mentors through the process of publishing from beginning to end.  This is a great opportunity to learn about the publishing industry from employees who work in in the field. Perfect for mentees who would like to be published or work in publishing. With the information gained in this Journey, you will be ready to enter the publishing industry as employees and writers. You will have the knowledge you need to create change in an industry that needs your fresh perspectives.

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Investigative Podcasts (Fall 2024-Spring 2025)

In this journey, you’ll collaborate as a production team to produce a podcast series about the Cop City project that includes research, pitching episodes, outlining episodes, hosting the podcast, and editing. We’ll try to understand why these cop cities are popping up, why people are resisting their construction, and different ideas around what makes a community “safe.” Great for mentees who are interested in social justice, journalism, and podcasting.

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The Power of Punchlines: Stand-Up Comedy for Change (Spring-Summer 2025)

In this 2-cycle journey, participants 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, you'll learn how to write and perform material that blends humor with meaningful social critique. Through workshops and performance coaching, you’ll develop your own comedic voice. Discover how satire and personal storytelling can raise awareness, inspire dialogue, and challenge the status quo— all while keeping your audience laughing. By the end of the journey, you'll have developed a 5 -10-minute stand-up routine that not only entertains but sparks meaningful conversations about the world around us. Comedy is a form of intelligence, whether you’re new to comedy or a seasoned performer, this journey will help you use humor as a force for social impact.

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Careers for Creatives: Unexpected Opportunities (Spring 2025)

The Careers for Creatives: Unexpected Opportunities Journey is perfect for mentees and mentors who are looking to turn their passion for storytelling, content creation, or journalism into a career. Through a dynamic online course, mentoring sessions, and live networking events, you will explore various career paths available to writers today, learn practical skills to help you succeed, and discover how to build a sustainable career that aligns with your interests and strengths. Discover career paths in finance, technology, corporate communications, publishing and more!

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