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.
Journey Mentors
Journey Mentees
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 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 Cycle Dates: July 1 – September 30
Enrollment Period: March 15 – May 15 - Fall Cycle Dates: November 1 – January 31
Enrollment Period: July 15 – September 15 - Spring Cycle Dates: March 1 – May 31
Enrollment Period: November 15 – January 15
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.
Explore Tour (Spring 2027)
Explore Girls Write Now’s creative and storytelling pathways through a multimedia, multi-genre experience featuring mini courses, exploratory studios, and one-to-one pair sessions. Develop skills across fiction, journalism, publishing, video, podcasting, visual storytelling, and more.
Independent Study (Spring 2027)
Create your own experience with our Independent Study Journey. Mentees and mentors meet as a pair, attend events of interest, and use coursework to support creative projects and personal goals. Along the way, you can connect with others during a mid-cycle mixer designed to spark inspiration, share ideas, and build community. The Journey culminates in a showcase where participants present the work they have developed throughout the cycle and celebrate their accomplishments together. Mentees and mentors will benefit by gaining greater independence in their learning, deepening their creative practice, and building meaningful connections while pursuing self-directed goals.
Teach GWN (Spring 2027)
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. Mentees and mentors will gain valuable skills in leadership, teaching, and community building. Mentees and mentors can facilitate a Community Studio either independently (if they are 18 or older) or together as a pair.
From Manuscript to Published Book with Gatekeeper Press (Spring 2027)
In this Journey, mentees and mentors will take the next step in their publishing experience by helping transform the creative nonfiction writing developed in the Fall 2026 Everything Is a Story: Nonfiction That Reads Like Fiction Journey into a professionally published anthology through our partnership with Gatekeeper Press.
Screenwriting: Crafting Short Film Stories (Spring 2027)
This two-cycle Journey guides participants from crafting a short film script to bringing it to life on screen. In the first cycle, mentors and mentees focus on developing compelling stories, dynamic characters, and engaging dialogue, learning the essentials of screenwriting for short films. In the second cycle, participants move from script to screen, exploring the practical aspects of video production, including planning, collaboration, and bringing their creative vision to life. By the end of the journey, mentees will have both a polished script and hands-on experience in producing their own short film.
Lead Community Change (Part 2) (Spring 2027)
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 GWN’s rich storytelling resources.
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.
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.
