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by Ethan Gilsdorf

"Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life," the screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan once said. 

Sometimes being a writer feels like that. It can be hard to stay on track, and keep doing that homework so you can get your writing projects done, when you're up against life's challenges, scheduling difficulties, and other distractions.

By Ethan Gilsdorf

What follows is Part II of Ethan Gilsdorf’s conversation with Cheryl Strayed, author of the memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. Her book has been adapted into the recently-released film Wild. Read Part I of this interview here.
Ethan Gilsdorf: The journey you describe in your book Wild is an external journey: You go somewhere physically

By Ethan Gilsdorf

If you’re interested in memoir, then you’ve heard of Cheryl Strayed and her book Wild.

Strayed’s memoir --- its full title is Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail --- is the 2012 account of her 1,100-mile trek from the Mojave Desert into California and Oregon, and as far as the border of Washington State, to recover her life. The mega-selling book moved a zillion copies, and inspired millions of readers, many of them female, to take risks of their own.

Editor's Note: Put Gilsdorf's advice into practice in his upcoming class, "Writing Great Scenes for Your Personal Essays"!

Another entry in the monthly column, The Freelance Life, by Ethan Gilsdorf, about the trials, tribulations, triumphs—and tips to share—along the path to becoming a freelance writer.