"Eventually the bad stuff I'm writing turns into better stuff. Other times, I've just walked away from what I was working on, and figured I'd have a better perspective when I came back to it"
About this Quote
Haddix gives the most unromantic pep talk a working writer can offer: your drafts are supposed to be bad. The line refuses the myth of inspiration as a lightning bolt and swaps in something sturdier - process as compost. "Bad stuff" isn t a confession so much as a permission slip, especially coming from a prolific children s and YA novelist whose job is to deliver clear, propulsive stories on deadline. In that world, perfectionism isn t a virtue; it s a production bottleneck.
The intent is quietly tactical. She s describing two survival skills: drafting through the cringe, and stepping away before self-criticism turns into self-sabotage. Notice the phrasing "eventually" and "other times" - this isn t a single magic method but a menu of workable responses to getting stuck. That matters because it frames creativity as decision-making, not temperament.
The subtext is about time as an editor. "Better perspective" isn t mystical distance; it s cognitive reset. Walking away lets the story stop feeling like an extension of the writer s ego and start looking like an object that can be shaped. It also hints at a professional s faith that the work will still be there when you return - an attitude that undercuts the romantic panic that every stalled paragraph is a career emergency.
Contextually, Haddix writes high-concept narratives built on tight causality. Those books don t arrive fully formed; they re engineered. Her quote normalizes that engineering, making failure not an identity, but a stage in the build.
The intent is quietly tactical. She s describing two survival skills: drafting through the cringe, and stepping away before self-criticism turns into self-sabotage. Notice the phrasing "eventually" and "other times" - this isn t a single magic method but a menu of workable responses to getting stuck. That matters because it frames creativity as decision-making, not temperament.
The subtext is about time as an editor. "Better perspective" isn t mystical distance; it s cognitive reset. Walking away lets the story stop feeling like an extension of the writer s ego and start looking like an object that can be shaped. It also hints at a professional s faith that the work will still be there when you return - an attitude that undercuts the romantic panic that every stalled paragraph is a career emergency.
Contextually, Haddix writes high-concept narratives built on tight causality. Those books don t arrive fully formed; they re engineered. Her quote normalizes that engineering, making failure not an identity, but a stage in the build.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|
More Quotes by Margaret
Add to List
