WritersDigest.com I 17
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n preparationforWD’s 100 th
anniversaryissue,WDstaffhas
beendiggingthroughnearlya
centuryofarticlestopickout
theverybestwritingadviceWD
hasgleanedovertheyears.Asa
sneakpeekofwhatawaitsinthe
trove,hereis anexcerptfromformer
editor-in-chiefKristinD.Godsey’s
interviewwithMargaretAtwoodin
theApril 2004 issue.The Testaments,
Atwood’ssequeltoThe Handmaid’s
Ta l e, releasesfromPenguinRandom
HouseinSeptember.
You’vebeena poet,novelist,
shortstorywriter,andessayist,
andalwayshavebeensinceyou
announcedbackin highschool
thatyouweregoingtobea
writer.Doyouhavea softspot
foronegenreovertheothers?
I dowhenI’mwritingit.WhenI’m
ina poetryphase,I thinkthisis the
greatestthingandhowcouldI write
anythingelse?WhenI’mwritinga
novel,I’mveryfocusedonthat,and
I canbarelyreadpoetry.There’sno
secret.I’vebeena multitaskerinall
areasoflife.
Let’stalkaboutyourwritingpro-
cess.Doyouwriteeveryday?
Noteveryday.I’dliketo,butI never
did.I’vealwayshadeithera jobora
verybusylife.I can’tdescribemypro-
cess.It’schaosaroundhereallthetime.
Doyousufferfromwriter’s
block?
I neverhave,althoughI’vehadbooks
thatdidn’tworkout.I hadtostop
writingthem.It wasdepressing,but
it wasn’ttheendoftheworld.When
it reallyisn’tworkingandyou’vebeen
bashingyourselfagainsta wall,it’s
kindofa relief.Sometimesyoubash
yourselfagainstthewallandyouget
throughit.Butsometimesthewallis
justa wall.There’snothingtobedone
butgosomewhereelse.
Sohowdoesa Margaret
Atwoodnovelcometobe?
I usuallystartwithsomevoices.Or
animageora place.The Handmaid’s
Ta l estartedwiththesceneofthe
bodieshangingfromthewall.Inthe
writing,thatscenemigratedquitefar
backintothebook.Butthatwasthe
firstarrestingimagethatmademe
feelI reallyhadtogoforwardwith
thebook.
Doyououtline?
No.I didthatonce.It wasa terrible
mistake.
Soyoustartwithanimage—
Yes.It’slikeoverhearingsomeone
talkinginthenextroom.It’slike
seeinga villagea longwayoffand
thinkingyouhavetogothere.It’slike
seeinganobjectfraughtwithsignifi-
cance.Youwonderwhythat’sthere.
Whatis thatblood-stainedcleaver
doinginthemiddleofthelivingroom
floor?I thinkwe’ dbetterlookinto
100 Years of Writer’s Digest
In celebration of our 100th anniversary in 2020, WD is selecting the best past
articles to showcase again.
BY KRISTIN D. GODSEY
Kristin D. Godsey was editor-in-chief of
WD from 2003 to 2006.
this! I’m compelled by something to
go and fi nd out more about it. And
I’ve been wrong.
And do you just know when
you’re wrong?
You know eventually. It may take you
200 pages. Th at’s unpleasant. But you
know when you lose interest. We all
have those “this is drivel” moments.
But it would be a “this is drivel”
moment that lasts for quite a long
time. It’s not only drivel on Monday
but also on Tuesday, Wednesday,
Th ursday, Friday, and Saturday, too.
What am I to make of this? Why did
I write that?
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