Margaret Atwood’s Writing Routine

"All writers feel struck by the limitations of language. All serious writers."

When speaking at a 2015 Guardian Live Members’ event, Margaret Atwood was asked whether she considers herself prolific. The Canadian author and poet scoffed at the notion and said “Joyce Carol Oates is prolific; I’m just old.”

However, taking into consideration her 18 poetry books, 18 novels, 11 non-fiction books, nine collections of short fiction, eight children’s books, and two graphic novels published since 1961; it’s a little hard to agree with the writer.

A characteristic that has helped her work output over the years is that, unlike many other writers who have set rituals and working conditions, Atwood can write anywhere.

“I’m not often in a set writing space,” she told The Daily Beast. “I don’t think there’s anything too unusual about it, except that it’s full of books and has two desks. On one desk there’s a computer that is not connected to the internet. On the other desk is a computer that is connected to the internet. You can see the point of that!”

A frequent traveller her who…