Margaret Atwood says: For sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” she did not have the ability to write a continuation in the voice of Offred. Why not?

“What they were begging for was a continuation in the voice of Offred, which I would not have been able to do…That voice was there. She said her thing.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/books/handmaids-tale-sequel-testaments-margaret-atwood.html

If Margaret Atwood had created the character of Offred in the way that most readers and literary critics assume, of course she would have been able to write a continuation in the voice of Offred. Why not?

But a great writer like Atwood does not create her major characters. She wouldn’t know how and doesn’t try. What she does know how to do, and actually does, is listen for voices in her head, voices of characters with great stories to tell.

To write The Handmaid’s Tale, she had listened. She had heard the voice of Offred. And Offred had evidently said all she had to say. "That voice was there. She said her thing."

Search “Lady Oracle” and “Margaret Atwood.”