"I've written 16 children's books and five unpublished novels. Some of the latter were breathtakingly bad"
About this Quote
A lot of writers brag about volume; Mark Haddon brag-jokes about waste. The line has the crisp, self-deprecating snap of someone refusing the cult of the effortless genius. By pairing "16 children's books" with "five unpublished novels", he collapses the prestige hierarchy: the visible work and the drawer work sit side by side, equally real, equally earned. Then he twists the knife with "breathtakingly bad" a phrase that borrows the language of awe to describe failure, turning embarrassment into a kind of dark accomplishment.
The intent is partly comic, but it also performs credibility. Haddon is signaling that craft is built on the bodies of failed drafts, and that the professional identity ("novelist") includes the humiliations the public never sees. It's an antidote to the myth that talent is a straight line from first attempt to acclaim, a myth that still shapes how audiences consume books and how emerging writers judge themselves. The subtext is almost protective: if even a celebrated author has work so bad it takes your breath away, your own bad pages are not proof you don't belong; they're proof you're working.
Context matters, too. Haddon came up through children's fiction before wider adult recognition, and children's publishing is often treated as apprenticeship rather than destination. He resists that condescension while also puncturing adult-literary solemnity. The quote works because it demystifies the pipeline: behind every "overnight success" is a private archive of disasters, and a writer confident enough to laugh at them.
The intent is partly comic, but it also performs credibility. Haddon is signaling that craft is built on the bodies of failed drafts, and that the professional identity ("novelist") includes the humiliations the public never sees. It's an antidote to the myth that talent is a straight line from first attempt to acclaim, a myth that still shapes how audiences consume books and how emerging writers judge themselves. The subtext is almost protective: if even a celebrated author has work so bad it takes your breath away, your own bad pages are not proof you don't belong; they're proof you're working.
Context matters, too. Haddon came up through children's fiction before wider adult recognition, and children's publishing is often treated as apprenticeship rather than destination. He resists that condescension while also puncturing adult-literary solemnity. The quote works because it demystifies the pipeline: behind every "overnight success" is a private archive of disasters, and a writer confident enough to laugh at them.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
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