The Power of the Blank Page with Margaret Atwood
The Chase Jarvis LIVE Show
Chase Jarvis
4.8 • 641 Ratings
🗓️ 10 January 2022
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Nothing intimidates a writer more than a blank page. Yet, the tranquillity in the white space is what stimulates thinking. As a communicator and storyteller, isn't creativity all about contemplating filling up those white spaces with words?
Margaret Atwood is an award-winning author whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries in multiple forms of creative expression, including graphic novels, TV series and films. Her latest novel, The Testaments, sequel to her award-winning bestseller The Handmaid's Tale, won the 2019 Booker Prize. She is the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kadka International Literary Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Los Angeles Times Innovator's Award.
In this discussion, Margaret answers questions about how to unleash the potential of the blank page, turn the idea of a character or a theme into a novel, and retell your story through a different creative medium. Margaret also explores storytelling in exquisite detail, drawing from her love for history to explain its origination and historical significance.
A novel is not a box you get to store things into; it's an art you sculpt. You decide what to make out of it. And as Margaret explains, it doesn't always turn right. It could take several misspellings and failures before landing the perfect draft.
Enjoy!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, what's up? It's Chase. Welcome to another episode of the show. This is the Chase Jarvis Live show here on Creative Live. Remember the show where there's awesome people and they help you live your dreams and career hobby and life? Today's show features the legendary novelist and poet Margaret Atwood. |
| 0:29.1 | Now, to say Margaret is prolific would be one of the, just to say Margaret is prolific would be a massive understatement. |
| 0:31.1 | She's published across 50 some countries, 45 countries or something. |
| 0:36.0 | Since 1961, she's done more than 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, |
| 0:44.0 | nine collections of short fiction, eight children's book, two graphic novels, a number of small |
| 0:49.8 | presiditions. |
| 0:50.9 | So many movies have been made of her stuff, like the handmade's tale. I mean, |
| 0:56.7 | the show, that's an incredible show, by the way. The list goes on and on. Margaret Atwood is an |
| 1:03.2 | absolute powerhouse. I'll tell you a little story about Margaret Atwood before we get into the show. |
| 1:06.8 | I photographed her once. After shooting 10 or 20 shots, I leaned in. |
| 1:12.2 | I showed her a couple of these things. |
| 1:13.3 | And I said, this looks great. |
| 1:14.4 | Man, what's your secret? |
| 1:16.3 | And she looked at me out of the side eye and said, I drink blood. |
| 1:21.9 | And I mean, I don't know what to do with that answer. |
| 1:25.1 | But she isn't. |
| 1:26.4 | And then she winked and smiled, of course, and we went on with the photo shoot. |
| 1:29.4 | But to this day, that has perplexed me to, again, to say she is a legend is a massive understatement. |
| 1:37.2 | This conversation is a part of creative lives between the lines interview series where our dear friend Kelly Corrigan interviews legendary authors |
| 1:45.0 | to get the stories behind the stories, you know, tapping into the author's wealth of knowledge |
| 1:51.6 | and experience and give you insights how to improve your craft. What I think is special about this |
| 1:57.9 | episode is that we get to look into the mind and one of the most prolific and renowned authors of all time. |
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