For those who do not know him yet, Greg Heffley is a three-haired stick figure, high school student, second of three brothers, tadpole, cunning, junk, lazy, bad student, imaginative and, although with self-esteem above the neck, he is ignored constantly at school despite his failed attempts to be cool. He runs away from duties and responsibilities.
His best friend is Rowley and he was born from the pen of the American Jeff Kinney (Fort Washington, 1971). Since he raised his head in Diario de Greg, a total pringao , the first paper book in the series, back in 2007 – before, in 2004, he did it in an online version, reaping not a few successes – he has not stopped getting under the skin of readers who faithfully follow their philosophical pranks.
Seventeen books later, four films and another scheduled for this December, and 275 million copies sold in 65 languages, Greg is already a millionaire worldwide franchise and its creator, one of the 100 most influential people in the world according to Time magazine. In 2016, he managed to sneak into second place among the authors with the highest sales income in the Guiness Record, behind J. K. Rowling.
Now he delivers to his fans the 17th book in the series, Pitch Perfect, where the most universal Greg notifies the adventures of his brother Rodrick's rock group, the Twisted Celebrities. It is without a doubt the most different book in the series, in which Greg is not the active element, but becomes a kind of journalist who, moved by the admiration he feels for his brother, will keep a diary of his attempt to become on a famous musician. However, he maintains that humorous and thug tone that has elevated him, the everyday seen through the lens of the absurd and the combination of texts and vignettes with which Kinney has managed to create a school and hook millions of preteens to reading.
In the small town of Plainville, Massachusetts, the writer has his place of residence. There he has also created An Unlikely Story, a bookstore-cafeteria and pilgrimage center where multitudes of followers come every week to see the creation center of his favorite character. Culture/s has also traveled this summer to get to know this kind of mecca in Greg's world and to sit down and talk with Jeff Kinney about music, fame, adolescence, the internet and Greg's future, which everything indicates will be long and productive.
“Greg has always said that one day he would like to be rich and famous. In this book he reflects on how bad fame is for him and realizes it's not worth it. He finds out that whoever is famous has no right to privacy, he cannot go anywhere without being recognized... The book is an exploration of the pros and cons of fame."
Is it your own reflection on fame?
Very slightly because my fame is low voltage. I can go anywhere and no one recognizes me. Being famous is more like being trapped in your own skin.
Do you know Wattpad?
No.
It is a digital platform where many people write their books and it is causing a whole publishing phenomenon. The writers write by chapters and have followers who write comments to them.
That's how I got started, posting my work online 18 years ago. Within a year he had 20 million followers.
What do you think has changed since 2004, when you started online?
A book like Diary of a Wimpy Kid started digitally and ended up being a phenomenon, but I don't know if publishing has changed that much. I think books are becoming more graphic, even novels. There is more legitimacy, so the reflection on whether graphic novels count as real or not, I think it has already been resolved and the answer is yes.
Now there is more interaction between the reader and the writer, do you think this is beneficial for the writer?
When I started online, I published excerpts from my book every day and people commented on my work. That sharpened my talent and helped me better understand what I liked best, and in real time. However, I can understand that there is a negative effect if the answers are not what one would like. Criticism is difficult for a writer.
Can you change the way you approach stories?
I think so. I try to think of an author like Paulo Coelho. Imagine if he had published a chapter every week and received feedback; this would have had an effect on his work, for sure. However, I do believe that sometimes the work has to be complete and presented to the public finished.
Do you think that this phenomenon of social networks, of writing on the internet, etc., shows that reading is not incompatible with new technologies?
Yes. I have been lucky, because my books started as digital work and now they are printed. The complicated thing is that the internet makes it much easier to create content and then share it online. There is a temptation to think of something and release it to the public. Today there are fewer mechanisms for someone to work carefully, quietly, think it through, and present it once it's finished. A person willing to do the work quietly has a huge advantage because they are not looking for immediate feedback. I would now like to have a ten-year project; something to keep to myself until I was ready to show it off.
And do you have one?
No, but I worked on Greg's Diary for 20 years before showing it.
You have referred to the act of writing, but do you think that new technologies are also compatible with reading?
A book is a special object and its format is very important for the little ones. I think that when you are growing up you connect with objects: you touch them and analyze how they feel. As one gets older or grows older one can absorb information in many ways. I can read the news on my phone or listen to an audio book but I think for a guy or a girl the connection has to be made much earlier. I dare you to think of the books you had on your shelves as a young man. If you had them now in your hand they would surely make you feel something special, while if you had read them on an iPad you would not feel the same.
What does it mean to you to be a Guinness World Record writer?
All of this has been fun and crazy. I live in Plainville, a very small town, and my life is ordinary in almost every way. When I am working I forget that there is an audience and then I am surprised when I go out into the world and meet my fans. My ideas travel and are liked and that makes me feel privileged.
Did he really write Diary of a Wimpy Kid with adults in mind?
Yes. While I was writing it I thought it was going to be a nostalgic book, for people who had forgotten what it was like to be a child. My father introduced me to the world of comics as a child. He liked Carl Barks, Scrooge, Donald Duck, so my reference for people who read comics were adults. When I wrote Diary of a Wimpy Kid he was thinking of people like my father.
Has the success of your books among children led you to some kind of conclusion?
That we should not write for children. By habit, when an adult writes for the little ones he is thinking about the moral lesson he wants to give. I try to write with the humor that adults would like and that is where children find me. I think the mistake most children's book writers make is that they establish a teacher-student relationship with their audience. I try to approach it as a relationship between peers.
What do you think then of the publishing boom that there is currently in the LiJ?
I think that is very encouraging. The children's section in the bookstore is what usually makes the most money and I think this should give us hope.
Given this huge number of children's books, the figure of the bookseller is more necessary than ever. Are you a good bookseller?
Good question. I don't often get a chance to interact with fans so I don't even work in my bookstore, however I'm a good interviewer. I interview many children's book authors here at the bookstore, where writers like Dav Pilkey, Rick Riordan and even Hillary Clinton have passed.
Something that always repeats?
I like to ask them what they had on their shelves when they were kids.
And you, what did you have?
Books by Piers Anthony, Terry Brooks, J.R.R. Tolkien, Judy Blume... My mother was an educator so she had a lot of picture books.
And right now, what do you have on your nightstand?
I hardly read. The only ones I actually read are about how destructive the Trump regime has been. In fact, the last eleven I've read have been about that.
This is not very funny. Where does he get the humor he spends with Greg?
of daily events. I think my brain has a kind of filter that tends towards humor, so I look at everyday events in a different way. I use a technique that helps me generate new ideas, it is called “systematic inventive thinking”.
At some point you mentioned that twenty books would be good to close the series, do you see yourself capable of leaving Greg?
Well, the truth is that I'm not sure, and that figure seems very early. Although when you get older, retirement becomes more and more attractive. But I hope I don't lose the spark.
Does he ever consider taking Greg on a trip?
It's a good question because I like that Greg doesn't feel like he's part of a particular place, and if I make him travel to a foreign country that already defines where he's from. I like that the children in Spain think that Greg is Spanish and I think that when he travels to China, Turkey, Beijing, the children think that Greg is from the same place as them. In the first books I made some references to the United States and I would have liked not to, I like that Greg is neutral.
Do you think that neutrality and simplicity is what has made Greg successful?
In part yes. If you look at Greg he doesn't have very strong characteristics and people can project on this. It is the most basic set of lines to create a human being.
You have been an inspiration to many writers who have used your bullet and writing system, what does it feel like to be a pioneer?
It's exciting and it also humbles me.
How did you feel when Greg came to life in the cinema?
I had mixed feelings. There is a big difference between how I imagined it and how it turned out. But there are things you can do on film that you can't do on paper, and I really liked that.
