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.
Civil Discourse: Connection & Persuasion (Spring 2026)
In this Journey, mentors and mentees will develop essential skills in public speaking, argumentation, and critical thinking. Through engaging activities and interactive discussions, participants will learn to craft persuasive speeches, construct well-reasoned arguments, and present their ideas with confidence. They will explore techniques for effective communication, refine their ability to think critically under pressure, and practice responding to diverse perspectives in a structured setting.
STARS: Crafting White Papers for Change (Spring 2026)
In this Journey, Fellows from STARS CGI partner organizations engage in a youth-led writing and advocacy experience that empowers them to turn their experiences into policy-focused narratives. Through in-person and virtual sessions, participants learn to research, write, and collaborate on a White Paper that amplifies youth voices across New York City and advocates for increased support, funding, and policy improvements for youth programs. The Journey builds communication, leadership, and advocacy skills, culminating in a youth-authored White Paper presented to a City Council Member as a public call to action.
Inimitable Voices in the Age of AI (Spring 2026)
AI can replicate form, but not the glorious quirks of you. Together, we’ll explore the tenets of human inimitability—Play, Empathy, Friction, Serendipity, Physicality—and explore AI tools that amplify (not blur) your unique voice. That wonderful, specific, spiky point of view that each of us has—and that the world needs now more than ever.
Thousand Voices Book Club (Spring 2026)
In partnership with the Thousand Voices imprint, this Journey invites mentors and mentees to explore contemporary literature. Participants will close-read three books and discuss them at monthly Journey Meetings. We’ll focus, in particular, on reading as writers and taking note of the ways each author crafts their story.
Sharpening Your Inimitable Voice in the Age of AI (Fall 2025)
AI can replicate form, but not the glorious quirks of you. Together, we’ll explore the tenets of human inimitability—Play, Empathy, Friction, Serendipity, Physicality—and explore AI tools that amplify (not blur) your unique voice. That wonderful, specific, spiky point of view that each of us has—and that the world needs now more than ever.
Storytelling Across Languages and Cultures (Fall 2025)
This Journey invites multilingual storytellers—and those curious about language, identity, and culture—to explore how the languages we speak and the communities we come from shape our stories. Through writing, discussion, and creative expression, participants will examine the connections between language, culture, and self. The Journey celebrates multilingual voices and empowers participants to honor their perspectives and grow as confident storytellers across cultures.
Perspectives on Media (Fall 2025)
The Perspectives on Media Journey is designed to help develop the skills and understanding needed to work in today’s media ecosystem. It provides insight from media professionals in a variety of fields such as sports journalism, broadcast journalism, true crime podcasting, and more! Participants will also learn how to develop a pitch for a media project of their choice.
Hooked on Fiction: Crafting Your First Chapter (Fall 2025)
In this fiction Journey, our curriculum will focus on opening chapters. The first pages of a novel are some of the most daunting for many writers. There's so much to establish in very few pages—the ones your future readers will flip through to decide if they should keep reading. In this journey, we'll deep dive into the varied ingredients that make a compelling first chapter. We'll examine how to use your limited space to build motivated well-rounded characters, craft palpable stakes, establish a fully-realized setting, create a killer hook, and so much more. We'll tackle big questions, like how to know if you are starting in the right place and how to get all this information onto the page without overwhelming your readers. Whether you're starting a story from scratch or already editing a draft of your novel, join us to develop some impactful opening pages.
Wicked Stagewriting: From Plays to Musicals (Fall 2025)
The Writing for the Stage: From Plays to Musicals Journey is designed to help develop the skills and understanding needed to work as a writer in today’s theatre industry. This Journey provides insight into the work of a playwright – a deep understanding of live storytelling and professional scripts, plays vs musicals, professional working practices, and employment strategies. We will look to popular musicals such as Wicked for inspiration in creating original pieces. Specific topics range from story structure and formatting scripts to actually seeing a script to fruition.
Civil Discourse: Connection & Persuasion (Fall 2025)
In this one-Cycle Journey, Mentees will develop essential skills in public speaking, argumentation, and critical thinking. Through engaging activities and interactive discussions, participants will learn to craft persuasive speeches, construct well-reasoned arguments, and present their ideas with confidence. They will explore techniques for effective communication, refine their ability to think critically under pressure, and practice responding to diverse perspectives in a structured setting.
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.
