We are excited to announce our June IMWA Member of the Month: Shelby Stanger
- How did you first discover IMWA?
The folks at TEDx San Diego connected me to the amazing Jeniffer Thompson of The Premise Podcast, and she told me how awesome you all are.
- Have you always been a writer?
I started writing as a kid, first just diary entries, then as a journalist. Writing was always a way to sort out my thoughts—when something moved me. Then as a way to tell other people’s amazing stories. Will to Wild is my first book. I have a lot of respect for anyone who writes a book.
- What impacts do you think writing classes and workshops have made on your writing?
I took journalism and writing classes all through college at Emory University and had some extraordinary teachers that taught me how to write well and how to be brave, honest, and bold. My first assignment, my freshman year, was to stay overnight at a homeless shelter and write about it. It was a big assignment for an 18-year-old. I had an adventure column in four San Diego Community newspapers that summer. The summer after, I worked for a newspaper in South Africa and then interned at CNN.
When I lived in Laguna Beach later in life, in my early twenties, I took my first memoir writing workshop from an amazing woman named Martha Fuller, who taught me how to write what I knew and to be as raw and honest on the page as possible. I took another class by Al Watts in Los Angeles, who helped me craft a novel in 90 days, which I never published, but which was great practice. Then I took a class by one of my favorite writers, Pam Houston, who helped me craft adventure stories and told me this is the genre I should stick with. I haven’t thought about any of these people for years, but they made a big impact on my work.
- We’d love to hear about your writing projects.
I just finished Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life. It was a beast to write a book. Many things were harder than I imagined. I am a former newspaper and magazine journalist, so I found the deadlines to be both long and slow in book writing. But it’s done, so the only thing I am focused on writing now are articles, blog posts, and funny Instagram stories. I’ll get back into it in a month or two and want to explore humor writing more deeply.
- Who are your favorite authors? Favorite memoirs?
I love Steven Pressfield, who wrote The War of Art, Jon Krakauer, Pam Houston, Cheryl Strayed, and Tim Winton, who wrote one of my favorite memoirs ever, Breath. I also love humor books—Chelsea Handler’s first book had a big impact on me when I was in my young twenties, and I like the self-help author Jen Sincero. I also love fellow adventure authors—people like Steph Jagger, Liz Clark, Jaimal Yogis, Sylvia Vasquez-Lavado, Florence Williams, James Nestor, and Chris McDougall, who all endorsed my book and have shown me a lot of kindness over the years.
- What advice do you have for new writers?
Just show up and write. Don’t wait for inspiration to write. You have to show up, and sometimes all you will write is garbage. But it’s like surfing or rock climbing. If you try and fail enough times, the trying gets easier, and you eventually succeed.
- Shelby, please tell us about the writing you’re working on and some of the challenges you’ve overcome.
In finishing a book, and now publishing it to the world, I think, like all writers, I’ve had to face fear, imposter syndrome, and just rewriting and rewriting, even though, at times, looking at my work was the last thing I wanted to do. You write a little every day. It’s not linear. Like life, there are ups and downs, but with writing, if you keep at it, like me, a few years later—or in my case, 40-plus years later—you will finally have a book. A spine on a shelf feels pretty good.
- What was the path to get there?
Like many wild ideas, my path wasn’t linear. I always thought I’d write a book but avoided it for years. Then, I tried to write a memoir and did, but I never published it. Ultimately I let go of what I thought a book should be and started a podcast. That gave me courage a few years later to finally write a book that was part memoir, part a series of stories, and part actual tips to help people go after their own wild ideas. There is humor, some dark moments, and practical tips. It’s easy to read and everything I wanted in a book. But it’s not like someone called me and said, “Hey, we love you, Shelby. We’re gonna pay you to write a book.” I am the kind of person that likes to make my own seat at the table, so it took pitching an agent, then pitching publishers, then ultimately pitching a book. I had pitched and sold a podcast and pitched thousands of journalism articles before that. So from the outside, it might look easy. But it took me until age forty-two to publish my first book.
- Please let us know how we can reach you. Website? Social channels?
I am on Instagram @ShelbyStanger, or you can find me on my website, www.shelbystanger.com. I am doing quite a few book signings and readings this month, and I am a people person, so I love connecting with people in real life. You can usually find me surfing or at a coffee shop in San Diego when I am not working.
I also host a podcast I sold to REI Co-op called “Wild Ideas Worth Living” and have a new podcast called “Vitamin Joy” about mental health and humor. It’s been on hold until the book launch is over, but I hope to bring it back this winter. You can find both of my shows anywhere you get podcasts. You can buy Will to Wild anywhere books are sold.