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Margaret Atwood complex in writing and in conversation
Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Mar 28, 2004 by Susan Whitney Deseret Morning News
Margaret Atwood's assistant called Margaret Atwood's publicist, who called the reporter at the Deseret Morning News and left a message: "You were supposed to interview Margaret Atwood at noon."
At 12:20, when the reporter returned from lunch and got the message, she was horrified. Atwood is, after all, one of North America's premier authors, and she was about to do a reading in Salt Lake City.
Atwood, a Canadian, has written poems, short stories, children's books, history and criticism, but is most famous for her novels, including "Cat's Eye," "The Handmaid's Tale," "The Robber Bride," "Alias Grace" and the Booker Award-winning "Blind Assassin."
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Her work has been translated into dozens of languages, including Farsi. Of all the authors who will visit Utah this year, she is, to any thinking person, one of the least forgettable. So the reporter quickly dialed and apologized, adding, "If we have time, after the interview, I'll explain why I forgot."
Atwood would have none of it. She insisted on hearing the reporter's excuse immediately, saying this stuff of real life is where she gets her ideas for fiction. For instance, Atwood said, only the day before, some other reporter from some other newspaper had offered an amazing excuse for being distracted: On the street outside, three men had just been struck by a car, two of them pinned against a building.
"Yes, well, that's my excuse, too," said the Deseret Morning News reporter. "The person you spoke to yesterday must live in Salt Lake City. Those men are my co-workers, so that's why I couldn't concentrate yesterday, and that's why I spent this morning finishing yesterday's work and forgot to look at today's calendar."
There followed an interview with Atwood about writing, during which, simultaneously, Atwood interviewed the reporter about the horrible accident.
As with her fiction -- her gorgeous fiction -- Margaret Atwood's conversation is complex. She can sustain multiple storylines and moods. On the phone, she was forthcoming and dismissive and eager, by turns. She was curious (about the accident, the driver, the scene) and joyful (to learn the injured would live). She told a joke, a long, involved joke about writing, and she told it with painstaking care. Most of all, she was engaging.
Like most writers who do the pre-book-tour interviews, Atwood seemed happy enough to talk about her characters and describe her writing routine. But she can grow impatient, even testy, if she thinks that you think a routine has anything to do with good writing. There is no formula, her tone implies.
Still, she was willing to describe a normal working day. "When I'm working, the phone rings. I can't turn it off. My mum's almost 95. I suppose I could turn it off and be cold about it. . . . But I grew up subject to interruptions." In her family, she said, "I'm the person with the sign on the door, 'Do not disturb,' to which nobody pays the least bit of attention."
Atwood has written most of her novels with a cat on her lap. Sometimes the cat would even try to sit on her hands while she typed. "They know where the attention is focused."
She can't describe the process of writing. "When you are writing, you are not actually thinking, 'How am I doing this?' " It's like skiing, she said. If you think about it, you'll fall down. "When you are writing you are either in a state of flow or you are not in a state of flow."
When the flow goes away, you think it will never return, she said. When that happens, "I redirect myself." She stands up and does something else.
Another example of redirected energy might be found in the way she has alternated books of poetry and fiction and nonfiction. Within the genre of the novel, she has also taken every imaginable direction -- science fiction, historical fiction, crime fiction.
Is she at work on her next novel? "Well, I haven't actually set pen to paper, but I am thinking. Does that count?" If her past patterns are any indication, she will have trouble when she does start writing, she said. She will start to write but soon decide "this is a terrible idea, it will never work."
Then she'll put the book aside and start over on something that seems acceptable. "But that turns out not to be anything I'm interested in, and I go back to the really terrible idea." No matter how many books you write, you never feel confident that you can do it again, Atwood said.
The reporter tells her that "Oryx and Crake," her most recent book, is one of her best. But "Cat's Eye," is still the reporter's favorite. Atwood says she got more mail about "Cat's Eye" than any other book.
Atwood wrote that book in 1989, long before the current fascination with mean girls. "Cat's Eye" features a plot within a plot. A grown woman lives her life, all the while reflecting back on the evil Cordelia who was her "friend" when they were both 10.
If you loved the book, you must have known a Cordelia, Atwood said. She heard from lots of readers who knew a Cordelia. Some of the most terrify tales came from people who were in boarding schools. She also heard from readers who admitted to being Cordelia when they were young.
