Art & Creativity Quote by Mark Haddon

Mark Haddon’s advice sounds almost quaint in an era that treats “serious literature” like a permission slip to be difficult. He’s not making a plea for pandering; he’s laying out the basic ethical contract of narrative. Writing a book, for him, isn’t self-expression performed at the reader. It’s an act of designed experience, and design starts with empathy.

The line “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” borrows the language of moral imagination, then swivels it toward craft. The surprise is the target: not a character’s shoes, but “the reader’s shoes.” That’s intent disguised as humility. Haddon is arguing that point of view isn’t only inside the story; it’s also outside it, in the pacing, clarity, suspense, and the decisions about what to withhold or explain. The subtext is a quiet rebuke to writers who fetishize opacity or confuse difficulty with depth. If you’re not tracking the reader’s attention, you’re not being rigorous; you’re being negligent.

The final sentence is the provocation: “You’ve got to entertain them.” “Entertain” can sound commercial, even vulgar, but Haddon uses it as a litmus test. Entertainment here means momentum, texture, emotional charge - the felt sense that turning the page is rewarding. Context matters: Haddon built a career in books that are formally inventive yet widely read, especially The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which proves his point by marrying constraint and accessibility. His message isn’t anti-art; it’s anti-indifference. The reader is not a captive. They’re a collaborator you have to earn.