So You Think You’re a Writer?
Newsflash, that’s not a picture of me! That is in fact Margaret Atwood, she’s an author, best selling and award winning, incase you didn’t know. Honestly, I never knew who she was until today. That’s right ,I was this many years old (to use a phrase from social media) when I learned who Margaret Atwood was. Doesn’t mean I had not heard her name, because I had and I’ll explain that in a minute. But I literally had no idea who she was, what she had accomplished or what she even wrote until today, when I sat down to write this blog. True story! If you don’t believe me, read last week’s blog and you might begin to understand why I have no clue who really famous authors are!
Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author, poet, novelist, etc. etc who published her first work in 1961, that was before I was born, although not by much. She has a BA and an MA, along with 25 Honoray Degrees from institutions of higher learning all over the world. She has won 23 International Awards, and not just for her books. She was awarded Humanist of the Year in 1987. In 2019 she received the Companion of Honor Award and in 2012, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for Canada. Oh and she wrote the book The Handmaid’s Tale in 1972. Yes that one. No I have not read it.
But I didn’t know any of these things about Margaret Atwood until today, despite the fact that a quote attributed to her, has hung on my wall for nearly 20 years.
Found that quote in a Reader’s Digest probably back in the early 2000’s. One of two quotes out of Reader’s Digest that literally changed my life, but that’s a story for another day! This quote, as you can see, I tacked up on a bulletin board where I could see it often. For reference, my home office has changed locations four times since I cut this quote out. And it may have even lived on a bulletin board in one or more of the three work offices I have had since I first found it. I’m impressed that I always use the same original tack hole!
The reason why I was drawn to this quote by Margaret Atwood was very simple. I have always felt compelled to write. Have written in some form all of my life. But I grew up in a culture where we were taught that you had to have a college degree to accomplish anything in life. I do not have one of those. So for years and years I never imagined anything I wrote would be for general consumption, because clearly, lacking a college education, I wasn’t smart enough to claim to be a writer. So when I saw this quote in Reader’s Digest it spoke to me. Story telling is human nature and we all do it. This one quote gave me confidence, even if just for my own inner strength.
I meet a lot of people and recently had the opportunity to meet a young man, age 9, who had read my book and loved it. (Momentary pause here…..I will admit when he told me he was 9 my first thought was “Oh goodness did I write anything inappropriate?!” ) In our conversation this young fella told me he likes to write as well and when I spoke to him about my writing process his face lit up like a lightbulb. “Me too!” he shouted. He’s nine, he’s had all of what 4 years of formal education? And yet he writes. Because writing, the art of telling a story, is human nature, we all do it.
A few weeks ago I was at a book signing and a woman stopped by and chatted with me. She was here in Maine on a writer’s retreat (for the record I’ve never done one of those!) During our conversation she shared with me several pieces of her personal life that let me know she was going through some major life upheveal that was very disruptive for both her and her family. Added to this already volatile environment she then let me know that she had recently made the decision to go back to school so that she could become a writer. She admitted, that at her age, the course work was hard and the stress intense. As I sat there and listened to her I could just feel the stress she was under personally as well as with what she wanted to accomplish by going to school. My very first reaction was WHY? And immediately Margaret Atwood’s quote came to my mind. So I shared it with this woman, with the added caveat that I admired her for wanting to get an education but if she found herself at her breaking point, she didn’t need the degree to write. Because writing, the art of telling a story, is human nature, we all can do it.
Often times during my journey of getting my book published, and the past year of stepping out into the world as a Writer, I have felt like a true outsider. In some situations I know this feeling is probably rooted in my own insecurities about not having that coveted degree! But in other situations it is blatantly obvious that I am made to feel the outsider exactly because of that. It is at those times, in those rooms, with those people that Margaret’s words ring true in my heart. Her words buoy me up, help me to stand taller, lift my chin up and know that even though I may not have taken the same path, I have accomplished great things too and I am a Writer.
Whether you write stories out by hand, or bang away at a computer. If you find yourself describing worlds unknown or just setting down your childhood memories that you want to leave behind for your children and grandchildren. Whether you find comfort in using words to express your feelings in poetry or you just need the release of writing about past traumas. Whatever your form, trust me when I tell you…. you are a Writer. It’s human nature, we all do it.