Chords, Lyrics and confidence
/
When I walked through the door of the Songwriting Workshop, I had what I wanted to write about in mind. My heart was pulling at it and I had no choice but to follow.
Read More
Two Kinds of Snaps and One Lyricist
/
By Rachel A., age 15
One morning, I sat at my desk, scrolling through old photographs. It was winter break, and I was in a poetry slump. I’d decided to switch gears, and try my hand at writing song lyrics. So, I turned to my reservoir of inspiration: my photo gallery.
The album’s title was: CLICK: Photos, created sometime in the summer of 2016. I scrolled through old snapshots with fresh eyes, as I usually did with my poems. However, unlike with poetry, I couldn't remember why I took the photos in the first place. The more I thought and stared, the more depth I discovered beyond the beautiful facade.
Read MoreNew Volunteers: Reflections from a Former Mentee
/
By Eve Mefferd, College Intern
It was standing (and occasionally running frantically) amongst over 65 volunteers in training, that my time at WriteGirl really came into focus. January 14th was the largest WriteGirl Volunteer Training to date, a packed room filled with men and women with an LA skyline to our backs and up at the front, a presentation miraculously condensing the essence of this organization into just six hours. I got to take part in and help plan this exciting event as a WriteGirl college intern. Helping to organize this training, and working with volunteer liaisons and staff to see that it ran smoothly, provided a different window on WriteGirl than the one I got as a mentee.
Read MoreGenHERation Discovery Days 2016
/
by WriterGirls Hannah H., Luna G., Leaf H., and Diana B.
GenHERation is a company that strives to empower young women to rise to positions in power and create their own futures. Their summer installment of Discovery Days strives to embrace this mission by taking high school and college students to visit successful companies around the country in five different cities. I had the chance to tour Los Angeles over the course of two days and learn how to make my dreams reality from some of the most dedicated female executives.
Read MoreFinding my Rhythm in Songwriting
/
By Arielle D., age 14
This is my first year at WriteGirl. I’ve gone to a few other workshops, so I’m getting into the rhythm of how things work there. Since it’s my first year, each workshop is new to me. It’s always something surprising and inventive. It feels nice to be surrounded by such creative people. You can feel the freedom in the air.
Read MoreCreating Poetry from Art
/
By Savannah H., Age 14
Over 100 WriteGirl mentees explored the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens as part of our annual Creative Nonfiction workshop. WriteGirl mentee Savannah House, age 14, was inspired by a marble statue in the American Art Gallery named Ruth from 1853.
Read More6 Things to Pack for NaNoWriMo
/
By, Addissyn H., age 16
It’s that time of year again. I’m talking about the holidays. Halloween haunts begin the best horror novels known to man, and family woes surrounding Thanksgiving give way to the next bestseller in the genre of realistic fiction. Christmas inspires a funny children’s tale about when Santa converted to Judaism, and New Year’s provides the perfect scene for a cheesy romance.
More specifically, though, I mean we’re racing toward November, which means National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is fast approaching.
This November marks my third year as a participant and – dare I jinx it – winner, which just means I was able to successfully write 50,000 words in 30 days, regardless of quality. Even being somewhat of an oldie at this, it’s terrifying. Somehow you have to pull 50,000 consecutive words out of a hat in such a short period of time, while not compromising your social life (however small it may be).
Read More
I Saw a Girl Change the World
/
By Amanda G., age 17
I saw a girl shout
When they used her gender as an insult
the smoke in her eye
puddled like the smoke above cities
Read More
Quiet Sort of Strength
/
By Sandra M., age 16
As a 16-year-old still in the throes of adolescence herself, I can say with complete and utter confidence that adolescence is not a fun time. The dictionary definition says adolescence begins with puberty and ends with adulthood, so I have four years under my belt and another two years to go. And as I go about my school-filled life, it’s always a little disconcerting when I hear of girls roughly my age accomplishing amazing things.
Read MoreUna Forastera, An Outsider
/
By Reina E. age 17
There are times when I’m not very conscious of things, that I don’t fully acknowledge my culture. Because I’m only thinking in a human sense. For I am a human.
But I realize that we are each beautifully different types of human, and the culture I belong to is enchantingly rich and vibrant.
Read MoreNothing but Support
/
By Noelle Cope, Age 18
As I was signing up for WriteGirl, it seemed like this would be a great way to find inspiration—and hopefully meet some girls my age who are into writing. There was something about this program that seemed worth a shot.
Read MoreTop Three Things I Learned At The WriteGirl SongWriting Workshop
/
By Reina E., age 17
One of the most important things I took from this workshop is that I need to write from my experience—and about the things I care about most. If I write about things that are close to my heart, I can share what I feel and think with people, and I can do this on a more personal level. And that is what I love about writing to begin with—using words to communicate what I feel, and touching others with those words. This is what is so beautiful about writing.
Read MoreLife-changing Women and Girls!
/
By Sneh C., age 13
The minute I stepped into my first Writegirl workshop, I was overwhelmed. I was speechless.
I can’t stress how amazing Writegirl really is, and I keep kicking myself for almost passing up the opportunity. I'm not going to lie, "shy" is not the first impression people get of me, but the truth is, I do stutter. I get nervous, self-conscious, and scared, and I get stuck in a shell I have to forget about. After just one workshop, Writegirl has begun to break me out...rescue me from that shell.
Read MoreWhy I’m Grateful for WriteGirl . . .
/
By Patrice G, age 17
WriteGirl helped me find myself. I’ve been a part of WriteGirl for five seasons. It was here that I discovered my gift for writing poetry. I didn’t know my talent until I wrote my first poem, “My Mask,” and a WriteGirl mentor told me I was very imaginative. I’ve taken the guidance and feedback and now I’m self-motivated and determined to continue writing poetry and exploring my talents.
Read More
Even the Most Open Minded Need to Loosen Up a Bit
/
By Alexa D, Age 15
Now, I am going to be completely honest. I wasn't at all excited to attend this past weekend’s journalism workshop, aside from being able to see my mentor again and visiting with a good friend. I’ve never had anything against journalism, just never paid much attention to it. But when I left Write Girl’s headquarters last Saturday, I left with a newfound respect and interest in journalism and all of the powerful women involved.
Read More
