--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Good writing takes place at…" description: "\"Good writing takes place at intersections, at what you might call knots, at places where the society is snarled or knotted up.\" — Margaret Atwood" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d26/margaret-atwood-40_good-writing_good-writing-takes-place-at-intersection_1539527.jpg" --- # Good writing takes place at intersections, at what you… ![“Good writing takes place at intersections, at what you might call knots, at places where the society is snarled or knotted up.” quote by Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d26/margaret-atwood-40_good-writing_good-writing-takes-place-at-intersection_1539527.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d26/margaret-atwood-40_good-writing_good-writing-takes-place-at-intersection_1539527.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d26/margaret-atwood-40_good-writing_good-writing-takes-place-at-intersection_1539527.jpg) > “Good writing takes place at intersections, at what you might call knots, at places where the society is snarled or knotted up.” [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great writing emerges where complex social issues intersect and become tangled. **In simple terms:** Stories thrive at tangled social intersections. Key Takeaway Explore tangled social knots in your writing. Themes writing society complexity intersections Mood analytical inspirational Type creative literary When to use this quote - novel writing - journalism - scriptwriting Key Concepts literary theory social critique Questions to Reflect On - How can you untangle social knots for clarity? - What intersections inspire your best ideas? A Different Perspective Complex topics can overwhelm readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-writing/) [Intersections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intersections/) [Intersections Knots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intersections-knots-5730596/) [Knots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knots/) [Knots Places](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knots-places-5730594/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Place Intersections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/place-intersections-5730595/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I wish you good writing and good luck. Even if you've already done the good writing, you'll still need the good luck. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-wish-you-good-writing-and-good-luck-even-if-you-ve-already-done-the/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [The drama of the essay is the way the public life intersects with my personal and private life. It's in that intersection that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/the-drama-of-the-essay-is-the-way-the-public-life-intersects-with-my/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [I feel like throughout history we've heard bullshit from politicians, but now we're at the perfect intersection of technology and entertainment where we can,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-spurlock/i-feel-like-throughout-history-we-ve-heard-bullshit-from-politicians/) [Morgan Spurlock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-spurlock/) > [As religion is now practiced and science is now practiced, there is no intersection between the two. That is for certain. And it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/as-religion-is-now-practiced-and-science-is-now-practiced-there-is-no/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Be the first to seize intersecting ground, that is ground which lies the intersections of borders or intersections of main thoroughfares of commerce and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/be-the-first-to-seize-intersecting-ground-that-is-ground-which-lies/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/cleopatra-stood-at-one-of-the-most-dangerous-intersections-in-history/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Our truth is the intersection of independent lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-levins/our-truth-is-the-intersection-of-independent-lies/) [Richard Levins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-levins/) > [To me, curiosity is married to optimism. And that's where a lot of my motivation comes from. A lot of my way out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/to-me-curiosity-is-married-to-optimism-and-that-s-where-a-lot-of-my/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [Common to the two geometries is only the general property of one-to-one correspondence, and the rule that this correspondence determines straight lines as shortest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-reichenbach/common-to-the-two-geometries-is-only-the-general-property-of-one-to/) [Hans Reichenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-reichenbach/) > [The compass represents spirituality, no end and no beginning…the ruler represents 'tangible evidence' ... a measurable event... both coming together shall represent a Human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-delonge/the-compass-represents-spirituality-no-end-and-no-beginning-the-ruler/) [Tom DeLonge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-delonge/) > [If only,’ Shiroyama dreams, ‘human beings were not masks behind masks behind masks. If only this world was a clean board of lines and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/if-only-shiroyama-dreams-human-beings-were-not-masks-behind-masks/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Whatever vocation you decide on, track down the best people in the world at doing it and surround yourself with them. Aim high and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-weiss/whatever-vocation-you-decide-on-track-down-the-best-people-in-the/) [Scott Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-weiss/) > [I wrote this poem called “The Calvinist” to capture a glimpse of God’s sovereign intersection with the life of a sinful man. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/i-wrote-this-poem-called-the-calvinist-to-capture-a-glimpse-of-god-s/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [The intersection of spiritual, dark music and radical ecology is quite natural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristoffer-rygg/the-intersection-of-spiritual-dark-music-and-radical-ecology-is-quite/) [Kristoffer Rygg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristoffer-rygg/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) ## More by Margaret Atwood > [“I'm fine," said Pilar, "for the moment. And the moment is the only time we can be fine in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-m-fine-said-pilar-for-the-moment-and-the-moment-is-the-only-time-we/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [And yet it disturbs me to learn I have hurt someone unintentionally. I want all my hurts to be intentional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-yet-it-disturbs-me-to-learn-i-have-hurt-someone-unintentionally-i/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Mary: Some call this "Eve's curse," but I think that is stupid because the real curse of Eve was having to put up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/mary-some-call-this-eve-s-curse-but-i-think-that-is-stupid-because/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The birds were singing around me, but I reflected that the very birds were strangers to me, for I did not even know their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-birds-were-singing-around-me-but-i-reflected-that-the-very-birds/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Strange how we decorate pain. These ribbons, for instance, and the small hard teardrops of blood. Who are they for? Do we think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/strange-how-we-decorate-pain-these-ribbons-for-instance-and-the-small/) [margaret atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I wanted to forget the past, but it refused to forget me; it waited for sleep, then cornered me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-wanted-to-forget-the-past-but-it-refused-to-forget-me-it-waited-for/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Back at home they drew the curtains and read, with disapproval, with relish, with avidity and glee - even the ones who'd never thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/back-at-home-they-drew-the-curtains-and-read-with-disapproval-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-fiction-is-about-people-unless-it-s-about-rabbits-pretending-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Simon walks back to the house alone. The night is clear and warm, with a moon, almost full, enclosed in a nimbus of mist;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/simon-walks-back-to-the-house-alone-the-night-is-clear-and-warm-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“There is indeed something delightful about being able to combine obedience and disobedience in the same act.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-is-indeed-something-delightful-about-being-able-to-combine/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Every time the women appear, Snowman is astonished all over again. They're every known colour from the deepest black to whitest white, they're various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/every-time-the-women-appear-snowman-is-astonished-all-over-again-they/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/once-you-publish-a-book-it-is-out-of-your-control-you-cannot-dictate/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The more difficult it was to love the particular man beside us, the more we believed in Love, abstract and total. We were waiting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-more-difficult-it-was-to-love-the-particular-man-beside-us-the/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) [Explore all 2,072 Margaret Atwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More Good writing quotes > [My only close-to-game-plan is to follow good writing. If the writing is in TV or if it's in theater or in film, that's it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-driver/my-only-close-to-game-plan-is-to-follow-good-writing-if-the-writing/) [Adam Driver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-driver/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I don't think that writing, real writing, has much to do with affirming belief--if anything it causes rifts and gaps in belief which make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/i-don-t-think-that-writing-real-writing-has-much-to-do-with-affirming/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [“But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every words that serves no function, every long word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-zinsser/but-the-secret-of-good-writing-is-to-strip-every-sentence-to-its/) [William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-zinsser/) > [There is sometimes a feeling in crime fiction that good writing gets in the way of story. I have never felt that way. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/there-is-sometimes-a-feeling-in-crime-fiction-that-good-writing-gets/) [John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/) > [There is no royal path to good writing; and such paths as exist do not lead through neat critical gardens, various as they are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessamyn-west/there-is-no-royal-path-to-good-writing-and-such-paths-as-exist-do-not/) [Jessamyn West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessamyn-west/) > [ David Mamet, Tim Kazurinsky, and Denise DeClue, who adapted \[ About Last Night\]. Between the three of them... I mean, it's always down to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/david-mamet-tim-kazurinsky-and-denise-declue-who-adapted-about-last/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [Agents and publishers only want one thing - good writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/agents-and-publishers-only-want-one-thing-good-writing/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [ Hypertext makes a virtue out of lack of organization, allowing ideas and thoughts to be juxtaposed at will. \[...\] The advent of hypertext is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-a-norman/hypertext-makes-a-virtue-out-of-lack-of-organization-allowing-ideas/) [Donald A. Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-a-norman/) > [The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/the-very-first-thing-i-tell-my-new-students-on-the-first-day-of-a/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [I think that's one of the maybe under-discussed aspects of process - the difference between a good writing day and a bad one is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-think-that-s-one-of-the-maybe-under-discussed-aspects-of-process/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [Good writing is lean and confident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/good-writing-is-lean-and-confident/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it. There are no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/our-tragedy-today-is-a-general-and-universal-physical-fear-so-long/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [We're not just writers; we're readers probably more than anything else. That's how you learn how to write and how you learn to appreciate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/we-re-not-just-writers-we-re-readers-probably-more-than-anything-else/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/almost-all-good-writing-begins-with-terrible-first-efforts-you-need/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) [Browse all 348 Good writing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-writing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Good writing takes place at intersections, at what you might call knots, at places where the society is snarled or knotted up.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Margaret Atwood" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/good-writing-takes-place-at-intersections-at-what-you-might-call/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Good writing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/good-writing-takes-place-at-intersections-at-what-you-might-call/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d26/margaret-atwood-40_good-writing_good-writing-takes-place-at-intersection_1539527.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d26/margaret-atwood-40_good-writing_good-writing-takes-place-at-intersection_1539527.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d26/margaret-atwood-40_good-writing_good-writing-takes-place-at-intersection_1539527.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Good writing takes place at intersections, at what you might call knots, at places where the society is…” — Margaret Atwood", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Margaret Atwood", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Good writing takes place at intersections,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/good-writing-takes-place-at-intersections-at-what-you-might-call/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/good-writing-takes-place-at-intersections-at-what-you-might-call/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```