Two More From Margaret Atwood

And there may be more. I don't know if it's because I'm really into this book (which I am, though I'm reading it in small, not-fully-awake chunks), or because I'm trying to get an early start on one of my New Year's resolutions, i.e., Resolution No. 435.2, paragragh a., which reads, "I will take interesting and conscientious notes from my vast and esoteric readings such that I will no longer have to rely solely on the vagaries of my duplicitous and sneaky memory to conjure up witty and relevant quotes in the course of conversation or for the purposes of promulgating said quotes in public forums such as Plausible Story."

See why I have trouble living up to my New Year's resolutions? (Resolution No. 232.6, paragraph b. has something to do with coming up with pithier, more realistic self-promises in the year to come. We shall see.)

What was I about to say?

Oh yes. Margaret Atwood. Another snippet:

Because none of my relatives were people I could actually see, my own grandmothers were no more and no less mythological than Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother and perhaps this has had something to do with my eventual writing life—the inability to distinguish between the real and the imagined, or rather the attitude that what we consider real is also imagined: every life lived is also an inner life, a life created.

And another:

It took me a long time to figure out that the youngest in a family of dragons is still a dragon from the point of view of those who find dragons alarming.

(Excerpts from Negotiating with the Dead by Margaret Atwood.)

Comments

[Michael J.]

You should check outthis post by Steven Johnson. He's writing non-fiction, but it seems to me the techniques could be just as useful for fiction:

http://www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/2005/01/tool_for_though.html#more

Read the NYTimes article first, then his detailed post.

[hilllady]

OMG. A whole new way to avoid writing. Sign me up! :)

[turboglacier]

Atwood snippet #2 reminds me of what we used to say back in the dark days: Question: What do you call the guy who finishes last in his med school class? Answer: Doctor!

[hilllady]

You're right, Dr. T. I think there's a whole genre of joke like that, the most famous of which comes out of sex ed. class. Question: What do you call a couple who uses the rhythm method? Answer: Parents!

There must be others.