Girls Write Now Collaboratory
Journeys
Each Journey in the Girls Write Now Collaboratory is a package of Writing Course Content, Mentorship, and Community Experiences for mentors and mentees. Our team of teachers, artists, and content experts have thoughtfully curated each Journey to be a dynamic, multifaceted experience. Journeys can be light touch or intensive, short or long-term, asynchronous or in real time.
What Does a Journey Look Like?
3 Hours per Month for 3 Months! Open to Mentors & Mentees of All Backgrounds and Levels of Experience.
- Journeys are 3 month cycles: Cycles are: Spring: March 1 – May 31; Summer: July 1 -September 30; Fall: November 1-January 31
- Each Journey is 3 months long, requiring approximately 3 hours per month.
- Journeys include one-to-one, cross-generational mentorship and collaboration (1-2 sessions per month)
- Plus live community workshops, salons, or chats, virtual or in-person (at least 1 per month)
- Pair and group experiences are bolstered by a dynamic curriculum covering a diverse range of genres, media, and topics.
- Each Journey is a 3-month arc with a meaningful, creative outcome that meets your unique goals.
Journey Mentors
Journey Mentees
Journey Cycles
A Journey cycle is a three-month time period. Every month for three months of the Journey, mentors and mentees spend three hours or more together in pair sessions and community experiences, bolstered by our dynamic curriculum. You can sign up for one, two, or three cycles to meet your schedule and goals.
- Summer: July 1 – September 30
- Fall: November 1 – January 31
- Spring: March 1 – May 31
1. Apply
Select the Journey below you'd like to join and complete an application to become a mentor or mentee.
2. Meet Your Match
Be matched one-to-one with a mentor or mentee for a three-month Journey (summer, fall, and/or winter) for three hours per month.
3. Attend Monthly
At least one pair session and one community experience is required each month, with timing and format determined by each pair.
Girls Write Now
Select the Journey you want to go on this cycle! You can refine your search using the filters on the lefthand sidebar. Once you're accepted, you'll be matched with a mentor or mentee who shares your interests.
Select the Journey you want to go on this cycle! You can refine your search using the filters on the lefthand sidebar. Once you're accepted, you'll be matched with a mentor or mentee who shares your interests.
Independent Study (Summer 2026)
Create your own experience with our Independent Study Journey. Meet as a pair, attend events of interest, and use coursework to help you plan creative projects and meet your goals.
Career Exploration: From Searching to Securing the Position (Summer 2026)
This Journey provides a strategic roadmap for navigating the modern workforce, moving from self-discovery to landing the position.
Explore Tour (Summer 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-on-one pair sessions. Discover new skills and build on existing ones with offerings that range from fiction to journalism to publishing, and dive into formats like video, podcasting, visual storytelling, and more. Ideal for mentees who enjoy working across multiple genres and media or are focused on specific projects, this Journey offers the flexibility to tailor your learning experience to your individual needs.
Writing Our Way to Wellness: A Podcast Journey, Pt. II (Summer 2026)
This Journey invites mentees to explore the intersection of storytelling and wellness through the art of podcasting.
Stories of Becoming: Crafting Young Adult Romance (Summer 2026)
This Journey invites participants to dive into the world of young adult romance, exploring the joys, challenges, and complexities of love in adolescence and young adulthood. Through creative writing exercises, character development, and plot crafting, mentees will learn how to create authentic, relatable stories that resonate with YA readers. Participants will explore themes of identity, friendship, and emotional growth while honing their craft in storytelling that captures the heart and imagination.
Teach GWN (Summer 2026)
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.
Fresh Mouth: Confidence Through Comedy (Summer 2026)
This Journey transforms your unique observations and "wild and wacky" thoughts into a structured comedy set. Through bi-weekly Journey Meetings and personalized coaching, you will explore the mechanics of humor, moving from a raw premise to a polished delivery. You will learn to find the funny in the everyday while building the stage presence and confidence necessary to share your voice. The experience concludes in a live showcase alongside peers and professional comedians, where you will debut your original material and celebrate the power of humor as a tool for connection and self-expression.
College Ready: Drafting Your Narrative (Summer 2026)
This Journey offers a streamlined path to college readiness through interactive workshops, mentoring, and peer exchange. You will move from drafting a compelling personal statement to building a strategic school list and navigating financial planning, all while receiving personalized feedback on your work. By the end of the program, you’ve gained the skills to create a polished application and the insider knowledge needed to present your most authentic self to admissions committees.
Zine Makers: Crafting A Peer Poetry Zine (Summer 2026)
This Journey invites you to step into the role of editor and designer to transform poetry from the spring Poetry Rising Journey into a compelling, collaborative zine. You will move through the specialized stages of the publishing world, beginning with a deep editorial dive to refine existing verses inspired by heritage and created by your peers. As you master visual composition and multimedia design, you will learn to pair these powerful voices with a cohesive aesthetic, ultimately gaining the technical skills and creative vision needed to produce and share a high-impact, independent publication.
Book Club: Fantasy (Summer 2026)
This Journey offers an immersive dive into contemporary literature, shifting from passive reading to a strategic analysis of a writer’s craft.
Collaboratory Access for Mentors, Mentees & Members
Enjoy a la carte or as part of a Journey
All mentors, mentees & members also have access to our Resources, including jobs, internships, scholarships, writing contests, enrichment opportunities, and more.
Writing
Build skills though courses that focus on any genre, media, leadership, activism, college, career, and more.
Mentoring
Connect one-to-one across generations and establish a supportive relationship that lasts a lifetime.
Community
Collaborate and share with other inspiring minds at countless engaging events and experiences.
Join Our Community
Journey Mentorship
Make a commitment as a mentor or mentee for at least one Journey and get full access to our writing, mentoring, and community experiences and resources.
Membership
Be a part of our community without committing to a Journey, and receive select access to our writing, mentoring, and community experiences and resources.
