Just for Girls*
*The word "girl" is meant to include gender-expansive youth which includes trans girls, non-binary youth, gender non-conforming youth, gender queer youth and any girl-identified youth. Everyone who wants to write with us is warmly welcome!
Welcome
to your
own space!
Dear You,
In the same way that the world has been biased toward cis men (over women and non-binary people), it's also biased toward adults (over young people). I am here to help counter both biases. It has been my experience that girls and gender-expansive youth are the most intelligent, insightful, intuitive, creative, courageous, spiritually conscious, and visionary people on the planet—and I have dedicated my life to making sure your voices are heard and supported. But first, we have to learn to listen to and love ourselves. As you will see below, this page offers book recs and writing prompts for you to connect to your own wisdom. I hope they help you to see what I see, that you are a Magic-maker—and the author and hero/ine of your own life story.
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With love and sisterhood,
Elizabeth
Book recs from our writers
(listed by author's last name)
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
A Manuel For Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
Where the Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantú
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
A Visit From the Goon Squad + The Candy House by Jennifer Eagan
Heroes, Mythos + Troy by Stephen Fry
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Fully
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
The poetry by bell hooks
Voice of the Fish by Lars Horn
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas
The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi
The Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire
Every Heart A Doorway by Sean Mcgryer
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Midnight Circus + The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The poetry by Mary Oliver
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Go As A River by Shelley Read
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
Little Weirds by Jenny Slade
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Books on Creativity + Writing
BOOKS ABOUT WRITING + STORYTELLING
(listed by author's last name)
The Plot Whisperer by Martha Alderson
Storycatcher by Christina Baldwin
Women Writing for (a) Change by Mary Pierce Brosmer
Writing As A Way of Healing by Louise DeSalvo
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Writing a Woman’s Life by Carol G. Heilbrun
On Writing by Stephen King
Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott
Cassandra Speaks by Elizabeth Lesser
Story Sense by Paul Lucy
Story by Robert McKee
The Heroine’s Journey by Maureen Murdock
Write from the Heart by Leslea Newman
The Hero Within by Carol S. Pearson
Writing to Change the World by Mary Piper
Letters to A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Writing Alone and With Others by Pat Schneider
Save The Cat by Blake Snyder
The Heroine with 1,001 Faces by Maria Tatar
If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
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BOOKS ABOUT CREATIVE EXPRESSION
(listed by author's last name)
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Art and Fear by Bayles and Orland
The Artist’s Way + Walking in this World by Julia Cameron
Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson
Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
Free Play by Stephen Nachmanovitch
Blessed Are The Weird: A Manifesto for Creatives by Jacob Nordby
Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions by Dr. James W. Pennebaker
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
Spilling Open by Samantha Ward Harrison
The Power of a Writing Prompt
"If I’ve learned nothing else, I’ve learned this: a question is a powerful thing, a mighty use of words."
— Krista Tippett
I believe that writing is self-empowering, that writing connects us to our own wisdom and helps us find our own answers. But sometimes life is so overwhelming, it's hard to know where to start. That's when we need a writing prompt.
A writing prompt is like a question you ask yourself. When you write, your intuition/soul/higher-self answers you. It's amazing and mysterious but it happens. Writing is how we remember the things we didn't know we knew.
If you email me a question you're grappling with, something you're stuck on or trying to figure out, I will send you (and post here) a writing prompt so you can use it (and everyone can use it, because we're more alike than we're different) to connect to your own power and solve your own problem.
Even if you doubt it's possible, try it anyway. The Magic is inside of you—and you will find it when you write
Questions + Prompts
(Writing to find your own answers!)
Letter to a Young Woman*
(This letter was inspired by the book Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. I wrote this in 2012, back when I was still creating this program and full of fear—and needing courage.)
I remember how hard it was. I remember the pressure and the fear and the way I lost myself. It is because of you that I’ve launched The Intuitive Writing Project. It belongs to you. It belongs to all young women. It is for you to write and to speak and to express the things that have been building inside you for a million years.
I want you to know how important you are, the indescribable importance of everything you think and feel and write and say. Now, more than ever, the world needs the wisdom of women, young and old together, all women together, declaring what we know to be true.
I also want you to know what it’s taken me a lifetime to learn, to know that you are brilliant and brave and can always trust yourself. I want you to know that everything you need is already inside you. I want you to know that your intuition is wisdom. And the next time you’re talking with friends about a decision, I hope you will remind each other of this, that you will ask: what’s your intuition say?
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Most of all, I want you to know that your intuition will always tell the truth and that you will always be able to hear it—through your heart and your body and the words you write on paper.
With unconditional love,
Additional Resources
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If you'd like to try one of our free intro classes, contact me here. If you're struggling and need someone to talk to NOW, consider reaching out to one of these amazing orgs:
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YouthLine: A teen crisis helpline with teen-to-teen support
Lines for Life: Crisis hotline + mental health services, available 24/7
The Trevor Project: A crisis line for LGBTQ+ youth