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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.

Girls Write Now Collaboratory

This Journey is Closed, but You Can Pre-Enroll in a Spring 2027 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.

Apply to Journeys Explore Community Experiences
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.

Apply to Journeys Explore Mentorship Opportunities

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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Author Page Photo

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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Teleplays: Writing for TV (Summer 2025)

The Teleplays: Writing for TV Journey is designed to help develop the skills and understanding needed to work as a writer in today’s TV industry. This Journey provides insight into the work of a scriptwriter – a deep understanding of TV storytelling and professional scripts, drama vs comedy scripts, professional working practices, and employment strategies. Specific topics range from story structure and formatting scripts to actually seeing a script to fruition.

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Teach GWN (Summer 2025)

In this journey, members of the GWN community will develop curriculum and facilitate a community studio for one or more cycles within GWN’s Collaboratory structure. Each cycle involves facilitating three community studios, one per month. Participants will gain valuable skills in leadership, teaching, and community building. Mentees and mentors can facilitate a community studio either solo (if they are 18 or older) or together as a pair.

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Civil Discourse: Connection & Persuasion (Summer 2025)

Our words can change minds and the world. Discover what you can do with yours… Mentees will learn how to persuade audiences on issues that matter to them. By the end of the journey, they will not only gain confidence in self-expression and analytical thinking but also develop and deliver a final speech that showcases their growth in civil discourse and persuasive communication.

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Multimedia Tour (Summer 2025)

Explore all of the topics that Girls Write Now has to offer with mini courses, exploratory studios, and one-on-one pair sessions. Discover new skills and build on existing ones with courses and experiences that touch on a range of topics from horror writing to journalism to publishing and much more! Ideal for mentees who enjoy working across multiple genres or are focused on specific projects, this journey offers the flexibility to tailor your learning experience to your individual needs. With a focus on adaptability, this program allows you to balance exploration with dedicated time for your independent projects, providing a comprehensive yet customizable Journey. Great for mentees who are not committed to one medium or who enjoy working in multiple mediums at once.

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Lead Community Change (Fall 2024-Spring 2025)

Lead Community Change is a dynamic two-cycle journey that harnesses the transformative power of storytelling to drive social impact. Mentees in this initiative will unleash their creativity to develop innovative projects that make a meaningful difference in their local communities, all while being supported by Girls Write Now’s rich storytelling resources. This journey is designed for aspiring young leaders and activists who are eager to create and implement impactful community-based social activism projects. With a personalized approach, we tailor our support to meet the unique needs of each initiative, empowering participants to bring their visions to life and inspire change in their communities.

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