Spring 2025
Love Well
The Love Well Journey focuses on building self-esteem and confidence through increased self-awareness and empowerment within the Girls Write Now community. Using guided prompts to elicit metacognitive writing, journal entries to encourage self-reflection, and specially tailored courses to promote further learning, this journey will guide you to explore your feelings in a structured and safe way.
Girls Write Now Collaboratory
This Journey is Closed, but You Can Apply for a Fall 2026 Journey Now!
Learning Objectives
Apply Here
Deadline: January 15, 2025
As a mentee or mentor in the Love Well Journey, you’ll have access to a collection of online courses designed to help you learn about the psychological, social, and physical factors that make up your self concept. You’ll be paired with a mentee or mentor for one full cycle, and you’ll meet with them at least twice 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 Mental Health & Wellness, Journaling, Creative Nonfiction
- Available Spots Per Cycle 20
Love Well Courses
The courses offered in the Love Well Journey focus on the psychological, social, and physical factors that make up your self concept.
Example Courses:
- Reproductive Health
This course is designed to empower participants with knowledge to make safe and informed decisions regarding sexual health and their bodies. Reproductive Health provides insight into modern policy issues regarding reproductive issues and rights to bodily autonomy. - Self-Concept: Understanding the Dimensions of the Self
From self-esteem and identity to self-efficacy and self-perception, uncover how each dimension contributes to forming our overall self-concept. Gain insights into the psychological and social factors influencing self-concept development, and learn practical strategies for nurturing a positive self-image.
Love Well Mentoring
Mentors and mentees in the Love Well Journey will be paired one full cycle. Each pair will meet for at least 2 hour-long pair session each month.
Love Well Community Experiences
Mentees and mentors in the Love Well Journey must attend at least one Community Experience per month. It is strongly recommended that you attend the following Love Well Journey meetings:
- March 22, 11-12pm ET
- April 22, 4:45-6pm ET
- April 26, 11-12 pm ET
- May 20, 4:45-6pm ET
- May 24, 11-12pm ET
Wellness 360 Adventure
The Love Well Journey is a part of the Wellness 360 Adventure.
Journeys in the Wellness 360 Adventure focus on using writing and creating as a tool to help support your mental heath and general well-being. It is designed for mentees and mentors who want to embrace self-love and healing in their work. 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.
