In 3 words: “We all do.” In 3 more words: “Get over it.” In 2 more: “Read this:”
Cheryl Strayed: On “Binge Writing,” Doling Out Advice & Finding Clarity
by Jenn GodboutCheryl Strayed believes she was put on this earth to do one thing: write like a motherf*cker. She wrote through her mother’s death, through a divorce, and through a grueling, 1100-mile hike up the Pacific Crest Trail. Yet, when her 30th birthday arrived before her first book, she felt like a failure. Creation for creation’s sake wasn’t enough. She needed to share her art with the world. She needed to publish.
Today, Strayed is the author of the bestselling memoir Wild and a new book called Tiny Beautiful Things, which collects the best work of her alter ego, advice columnist “Dear Sugar.” I chatted with Strayed about how she finally birthed her first book, what she learned by being “Sugar,” and how we can all use writing as a tool for self-discovery.