Oct 5, 2014 / Inspiration

“A word after a word after a word is power.”

Margaret Atwood’s words will silence your inner critic and inspire you to write.

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/artdrauglis/4193261266">Blocks! Mixed set</a> by A. Drauglis <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(CC BY-SA 2.0)</a>

Canadian author Margaret Atwood, whose résumé boasts 14 novels, 17 volumes of poetry, and eight volumes of short fiction, knows a thing or two about being productive as a writer.

Silencing “monkey mind” — the defeatist voice in your head that screams, “I’ll never get it!” à la muppet composer “Don Music” — is a critical part of being productive.

Margaret Atwood by Oksana Zhelisko

Margaret Atwood by Oksana Zhelisko

For me, the following two Atwood quotes disabuse me of pretense around my writing and inspire me to keep building, word by word.

If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.

A word after a word after a word is power.

Reading these quotes, I feel empowered. As though, if I just keep working, I will (eventually) reach my goal.

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  2. I, too, love these quotes!

    I started writing just so that friends not on FB could know we were okay. (After the death of our adult son). And I never thought I would enjoy writing. But over the past year, putting one word after another word after another has become healing! I don’t even care if others read it! Oh, don’t get me wrong, I love “likes” and comments. But I write to get my thoughts down and out of my head. I am not trying for perfection.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I’m sorry for your loss.

      I too have first-hand experience about how healing the writing process can be. In the darkest time in my life, I wrote emails to myself. I hope I never read them, but getting all that stuff out of my head and on to an electronic page made all the difference for me. It helped me work through the pain and see light at the end of the tunnel.

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      1. Krista, friends and even my kids journal. But I never had. I never seems to need that. But now, this blogging seems to be vital for me! That others like what I write and find healing in it too is an added blessing. I think that part of why I never journaled was that I was afraid of imperfection! I am no longer afraid. I plan to keep writing, even if just God and I read it.

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  6. Silencing “monkey mind”—love it! And what a great example of a song lyric that has endured for generations despite making little sense. I’m inspired!

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  10. One thing that comes across in all her writing is her love for words and the power they have. Thanks for the quotes, too; grat!! 🙂

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  11. Being Canadian, I feel as though I grew up with Margaret Atwood. Her works accompanied me through the awkward teenage years, awkward 20’s, awkward 30’s and now semi-awkward 40’s. Her voice always rings authentic and true. A creative visionary, and an inspiration for all of us who are dancing with the written word. A word after a word after a word. And so it goes.

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