when was the handmaid's tale written

The Handmaid's Tale was written by Margaret Atwood starting in the spring of 1984. She began writing it while living in West Berlin. The book was initially titled Offred but was renamed The Handmaid's Tale on January 3, 1985, after about 150 pages had been written. Atwood finished the book in early 1985 while in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The novel was first published later that same year, in 1985.