All language subtitles for Masterclass Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing - 09.Writing Through Roadblocks

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You become a
writer by writing.

There is no other way.

So do it.

Do it more.

Do it again.

Do it better.

Fail.

Fail better.

I think it's a good
idea, especially when

you're-- you're younger, you
keep your hand in by writing

you're-- you're younger, you
keep your hand in by writing

something every day.

So I recommend it.

But it's another of
those recommendations

that I myself have
been unable to follow.

I think it's a-- it's
a question of being

able to improvise your time.

You come across
these descriptions

of how people in the
golden age, all of them

were men, managed their time.

So they got up in the morning.

They had this lovely breakfast
prepared by somebody else.

They had this lovely breakfast
prepared by somebody else.

And then, they went into
their oak bookshelved study

and sat at a large mahogany
desk and they did some writing.

And then, someone would come
in with a silver tea service

and they would have
some tea or something.

And then, do a bit more writing.

And then, they would
have a lovely lunch,

prepared by somebody else.

And that would be cleared away.

And then, they would go back
and do a bit more writing.

And then, they would
have a lovely stroll

around the gardens,
maintained by their gardener.

around the gardens,
maintained by their gardener.

And then they would
have some choice friends

in for the evening to another
lovely dinner prepared

by somebody else.

So that's not my life.

And it's probably not the life
of many people that you know.

So for that reason, you have to
be prepared to be interrupted.

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A lot of things that--
that-- that interest me

involve problem solving.

I still paint
myself into a corner

and then try to figure
out how to get out of it.

So a lot of it is
a bit like that.

But it's also, I think, just--

just the process, which has
always made me quite happy

and involved me quite deeply.

I know that it's
fashionable in some circles

I know that it's
fashionable in some circles

to talk about how much
you suffer as a writer.

And you do suffer
in-- in some ways,

particularly if you're
delving deep into material

that you find painful or
that is objectively painful.

But I probably wouldn't
do it if it was--

if the suffering was
greater than the reward.

If you're encountering
a blockage--

I won't say a block,
but a blockage--

I won't say a block,
but a blockage--

there are two things you can do.

One of them is go for a walk.

This is a well-known,
ancient remedy.

And the next one is go to sleep.

So tell yourself the problem.

Go to sleep.

When you wake up, you may
well have the solution.

And another good
thing is ironing.

Ironing-wise, it's a
repetitive manual activity.

It's quite conducive
to thoughts coming

It's quite conducive
to thoughts coming

in from the-- the
sides, which is what you

need when you've hit a block.

Discipline, sticking
to it, fortitude, grit,

get back on the horse that threw
you, all those types of things.

They are all very well to say,
but if the person's problem

is that they don't
have those qualities.

How do you foster them?

How do you-- how do you defeat
the devils themself, doubt,

that are usually the--

the things that are
stopping people?

the things that are
stopping people?

It's always better to
actually do something.

You sit down at the
keyboard, pick up the pen,

rather than to brood about the
fact that you're not doing it.

Do it.

However, crummy you may
think the result may be,

at least you're moving.

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I did write a book
about writing,

I did write a book
about writing,

not how to write
and not my writing,

but just what is writing.

How does it differ from, say,
opera singing or ballet dancing

or even painting as an art form?

And I started out
with motivation.

And I went to ancient
writers, more recent writers,

writers I knew.

And the question was,
why do you write?

And the question was,
why do you write?

But the answers were
so many and varied.

So they ranged all
the way from to just--

justify the ways
of God to man, to--

to show up those
horrible people who

made fun of me in high school,
to get back at my enemies,

or to improve the
lot of mankind,

or to make a lot
of money, or to--

to create a little boudoir, so
that the reader can go into it

to create a little boudoir, so
that the reader can go into it

and have fun.

So a huge range of-- of motives.

We weren't really going
to get anywhere that way.

So I switched the question.

And the question I
then asked was, what

is it like going into a book?

And every answer had
something to do with darkness.

And even the answers from
people like Virginia Woolf,

who were-- who were
dead, said, it's

who were-- who were
dead, said, it's

like going into a dark
room and holding up

a lamp, which illuminates the
things that were there already.

And one person said it's like
going through a tunnel that's

dark, but at the very end of
it, you can see some light.

And so all of the
answers had to do

with going into something that
was dark, you couldn't see,

you didn't know what was
there, and then bringing

some form of illumination.

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I think if you're writing, it's
important to write something,

to keep your hand in,
or just to continue

the process of writing.

And a lot of it may be stuff
you don't use or throw out,

but the mere fact that you are--

that your mind is
engaged with it

and that you're
working on something.

Now, some of it is--

is like spinning your
wheels, which you

is like spinning your
wheels, which you

can do in either snow or mud.

And you don't always
know that that's

what it is, until you step
back and look at this and say,

where is this going?

You know, what is the story?

What is the story the
person is telling?

Any form of human
creativity is a process

of doing it and
getting better at it.

If you look at the juvenilia
of a lot of famous writers,

it's usually pretty bad.

it's usually pretty bad.

It shows, quotes, "promise."

But they don't get good
at it, until they've

done it for a while.

Once in awhile, you
get a screaming genius,

who's good at it early on, but
those tend to be math geniuses.

Writing people-- and it's
a lucky thing about--

about writing, they don't
usually peak in their 20s.

It's usually quite
a lot later on.

It's usually quite
a lot later on.

Why is that?

Because writing is about people
and stories about people.

And you know more about
people and their stories

as you get older.

You just learn more.

You hear more stories.

You see more and
you experience more.

So a writer who is,
say, 65 can remember

what it was like to be 25.

But a writer who is 25
is gonna really have

But a writer who is 25
is gonna really have

to work pretty hard to
even get any idea of what

it's like to be 65.

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OK.

Practicalities.

Keyboarding can give you
an awful pain in the neck.

And it can also be
quite bad for your eyes.

So take some breaks.

Walk around.

Take some-- take some posture
lessons before it's too late

and you get all
scrunched over, like me.

and you get all
scrunched over, like me.

Yeah.

So it can-- it can be--

it's not the healthiest
way to spend the day,

crouched over the
keyboard, quite frankly.

Take a walk.

You also may find that ideas
come to you when you're walking

that don't come when you're--
when you're straining

and struggling.

And so be kind to yourself.

Take some time off.

Have a break.

Do some stretching.

Do some stretching.

This is good advice.

You'll thank me later.