"I better make the plot good. I wanted to make it grip people on the first page and have a big turning point in the middle, as there is, and construct the whole thing like a roller coaster ride"
About this Quote
Craft isn’t a mystic gift here; it’s a piece of engineering. Haddon’s “I better make the plot good” lands with a self-checking bluntness, like an author catching himself before drifting into the prestige fog of “themes” and “literary merit.” The phrasing is almost sheepish, but the intent is ruthless: hook the reader instantly, keep them moving, and deliver a designed jolt at the midpoint. He’s naming plot as a contract, not an accident.
The roller coaster metaphor does quiet, revealing work. It signals speed, sensation, and control: the track is built in advance, the drops are calibrated, the rider’s fear is anticipated. That’s the subtext of “construct the whole thing” - narrative as choreography. You’re not wandering through a realist landscape; you’re being guided through timed escalations. “Grip people on the first page” also implies a modern attention economy in which the book competes with everything else in your pocket. The first page isn’t just an opening; it’s an audition.
Contextually, Haddon comes out of a moment when “page-turner” and “literary” were often treated as opposing tribes. He refuses the false binary. The turning point “in the middle” nods to classical structure, but the roller-coaster promise is contemporary: the pleasures of momentum, surprise, and emotional whiplash. It’s a reminder that readability isn’t a moral compromise; it’s a deliberate aesthetic choice, and often the one that lets the deeper material land at all.
The roller coaster metaphor does quiet, revealing work. It signals speed, sensation, and control: the track is built in advance, the drops are calibrated, the rider’s fear is anticipated. That’s the subtext of “construct the whole thing” - narrative as choreography. You’re not wandering through a realist landscape; you’re being guided through timed escalations. “Grip people on the first page” also implies a modern attention economy in which the book competes with everything else in your pocket. The first page isn’t just an opening; it’s an audition.
Contextually, Haddon comes out of a moment when “page-turner” and “literary” were often treated as opposing tribes. He refuses the false binary. The turning point “in the middle” nods to classical structure, but the roller-coaster promise is contemporary: the pleasures of momentum, surprise, and emotional whiplash. It’s a reminder that readability isn’t a moral compromise; it’s a deliberate aesthetic choice, and often the one that lets the deeper material land at all.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
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