Margaret Atwood MasterClass Review: Is It Worth It

Numerous classes are currently available on MasterClass, with writing being a popular subject available there. Many writers can get more experience from bestselling authors with the help of MasterClass.

One fiction writer who teaches creative writing on MasterClass is Margaret Atwood, who has written numerous works, the most famous being The Handmaid’s Tale.

Keep on reading this Margaret Atwood MasterClass review and explore Margaret’s creative process in this creative writing course.

Who is Margaret Atwood?

Margaret Atwood is a successful author who has been writing since the 1960s.

Born in 1939, Atwood has written many books, including poetry, novels, essays, short fiction, short stories, and children’s fiction, and graphic novels.

While she has more public recognition from her 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale, she has written other successful books such as Oryx and Crake and Cat’s Eye.

Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing

In this Margaret Atwood Masterclass, she will teach you how she crafts her vivid prose and continues to hook readers through her writing career.

As one of the most influential writers of this generation, Margaret Atwood knows how to craft compelling stories. With the help of this course, you should learn more about her process. 

Lessons from Margaret Atwood

There are 23 video lessons from Margaret Atwood, with the entire course being roughly four hours long. The shortest lesson is approximately a minute and a half, and the longest is nearly 16 minutes long. 

Story and Plot

To help you understand how to make a strong plot, Margaret Atwood advises her viewers to study myths, fairy tales, and other historical pieces of literature.

She explains how building blocks in a story may differ from other cultures but that all kinds of plots have different threats that may interest the reader. 

Structuring Your Novel

In this lesson, Margaret Atwood takes a look at some classic tales and her own story, The Blind Assassin, to show how you can create a multi-layered narrative.

She explains how the narrative differs from the plot because while the narrative may change, the plot stays the same. 

Who Tells the Story

Margaret Atwood goes into more detail about narrative points of view and how choosing the right one results from trial and error.

She explains how the perspective can impact your story and even provides an exercise to help you find out how the change in attitude affects your story.

To help you understand, she talks about the different perspectives and how they can impact what your characters know. 

Narrative Point of View Case Studies

To help you understand perspective, Margaret Atwood looks at her works: Alias Grace and The Handmaid’s Tale, and how she wrote them.

She explains why she wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in first-person, while Alias Grace has multiple points of view. 

Bringing Characters to Life Through Detail

This lesson allows you to reveal more about your character through actions and reactions. She talks about the tools she uses to create well-developed characters.

However, it’s not about the characters themselves, but their actions and reactions to the events around them and how this impacts them. 

Creating Compelling Characters

In this lesson, Margaret Atwood explains how not all compelling characters have to be likable and how the gender of a character can impact the reader’s expectations.

You’ll find that compelling characters need to inhabit the world you create and that gender itself isn’t as black and white as it would have appeared in books of a different period.

Writing Through Roadblocks

Writing is filled with challenges, and in this section, Margaret Atwood gives advice on how you can overcome challenges like constant interruptions and writer’s pathblock.

Even if you’re faced with narrative problems, she offers advice to help you identify what you can do to beat these issues. If you can’t write, she tells you the best way to focus, pick up your pen, and write.

Crafting Dialogue

Dialogue is a way to move the story forward and reveal more about the character. In this lesson, Margaret Atwood will teach you how you can create authentic dialogue that fits the time and place of your narrative.

She explains the tone of voice and how they speak to others in different social classes. 

Revealing the World Through Sensory Imagery

The Handmaid’s Tale uses imagery to evoke the reader’s senses.

Margaret Atwood explains how she uses imagery to engage with her audience. She talks about the scenery, such as the fabrics and furniture around her characters.

She also discusses how you can block off some senses to expand on what your characters would focus on. 

Prose Style and Texture

Find out about two styles to tell the difference between style and description. Margaret Atwood talks about baroque and plainsong techniques.

She explains how these styles are used in novel writing fiction and how you can identify which one to use. 

Working With Time in Fiction

Time is a fickle thing, and in this lesson, Margaret Atwood explains how significant time is when used in fiction.

She offers advice on how you can keep your audience oriented without ruining the story structure of your own story. 

The Importance of the First Five Pages

In this lesson, Margaret Atwood will discuss her favorite opening lines in literature and explain why the first five pages are vital to any reader.

She describes how the first five pages are pre-door to get your readers hooked on the story and continue reading. 

Writing the Middle and Ending

Most writers worry about the beginning of their book that they get stuck towards the middle and struggle with the ending.

Margaret Atwood reveals her techniques to keep her readers engaged through the middle of the book and whether a closed or open end is suitable for your story. 

Revision

In this lesson, Margaret Atwood explains how you can revise your novel and how you can take a fresh look at it.

She explains how you can get feedback from readers and how important it is to have a decent line editor. 

The Novel and the Shifting Sands of Genre

To help you write your book, Margaret Atwood explains how the genre is constantly changing and that you should focus on storytelling despite what the genre is.

Essentially, it is about how the genre of the story doesn’t matter immediately. 

Speculative Fiction

In this lesson, Margaret Atwood reveals her approach to creative writing courses and speculative fiction and how you can successfully generate developing ideas to build your world. She discusses what speculative fiction is and how you can use it.

Then, in the next lesson, she delves into more detail by discussing her speculative novel: The Handmaid’s Tale.

Research and Historical Accuracy

If you’re writing historical fiction, Margaret Atwood explains how essential it is to get the research correct. However, she also advises how not to get lost in your research.

What Writing Masterclass Should You Take Next

Malcolm Gladwell Masterclass
Billy Collins Masterclass
Salman Rushdie Masterclass
James Patterson MasterClass

Final Thoughts

These are some of the main lessons taught by Margaret Atwood, but she also delves into more detail about how to break into publishing and gain attention from agents.

Margaret Atwood’s success is essential to help you break into the writing industry.

Also, Margaret Atwood’s Masterclass cost is not more than $10 a month, so you can check out this course right away!

If you take her advice, you should be able to focus on your writing and get the essential information you need through her MasterClass.