Let's start the story a different way.

It was dark inside the wolf.

Human beings are creative storytelling beings.

They make art because that's what human beings do.

As a writer, your goal is to keep your reader believing

in your story even though both of you know it's fiction.

When I wrote The Handmaid's Tale,

nothing went into it that had not happened in real life

somewhere at sometime.

The reason I made that rule is that I didn't want anybody

saying you certainly have an evil imagination,

you made up all these bad things.

I didn't make them up.

If you really do want to write and you're

struggling to get started, you're afraid of something.

Remember, it's only you and the page.

The waste paper basket is your friend.

It was invented for you by God.

People are always coming up with new theories of the novel,

but the main rule is hold my attention.

Any form of human creativity is a process

of doing it and getting better at it.

You become a writer by writing.

There is no other way.

So do it, do it more.

Do it better.

Fail.

Fail better.

Somewhere out there, there are the readers for your book.

I'm Margaret Atwood, and this is my MasterClass.

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