Margaret Atwood, on writing:

A word after a word after a word is power.

- Margaret Atwood.

Margaret Atwood, on writing:

Writing is alone, but I don't think it's lonely.

Ask any writer if they feel lonely when they're writing their book, and I think they'll say no.

– Margaret Atwood.

Margaret Atwood, on reading:

I read for pleasure and that is the moment I learn the most.

– Margaret Atwood.

Margaret Atwood, on books and reading:

Books are frozen voices,

in the same way that musical scores are frozen music.

The score is a way of transmitting the music to someone who can play it,

releasing it into the air where it can once more be heard.

And the black alphabet marks on the page represent words that were once spoken,

if only in the writer's head.

They lie there inert until a reader comes along and transforms the letters into living sounds.

The reader is the musician of the book:

each reader may read the same text,

just as each violinist plays the same piece,

but each interpretation is different.

– Margaret Atwood.

Margaret Atwood, on reading:

More of your brain is involved when reading than it is when you watch television...

because you are supplying just about everything...

you're a creator.

- Margaret Atwood.