This past summer, Girls Write Now (GWN) was the recipient of a Hive Learning Network NYC research and planning grant focused on integrating digital technology into their place-based, analog mentoring program in order to mentor the next generation of women to write creatively and skillfully for the digital era. With guidance from digital media consultants, GWN is now rolling out a year of "digital immersion," where everything from the annual curriculum theme ("Remix") to workshop exercises to editing process is infused with digital innovation and learning.

In one example, Program Coordinator Anusha Mehar led a genre-based workshop focused on Fiction: Crime Writing. She showed mentees how to extend their writing in the workshop through the Girls Write Now group on Figment.com , an online teen writing community. Figment sent a videographer to film a craft talk with Robin Wasserman, author of the Seven Deadly Sins series of young adult novels. The film was then featured on Figment.com, along with writing exercises adapted from GWN's Crime Writing workshop and mentee blog posts reflecting upon what they learned, and wrote, in the workshop. This partnership exposes GWN to Figment.com's diverse community of young writers through videos, blog posts, and exercises, while GWN makes use of Figment's slick platform and group functionality to create a space where members can effectively write, share, edit, and document their process, either as a secure community or privately between each mentor-mentee pair. 

Screenshot featuring original writing from a Girls Write Now writer on Figment, including comments and reviews from community members.