Kinney spent eight years writing the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Eight. Years. He thought it was a flop until a publisher at a kids’ book fair happened to see it. That publisher called it “the funniest thing I’ve ever read.”
But here’s the kicker: Kinney almost threw it away. He had a folder on his computer labeled “Bad Ideas.” The Wimpy Kid lived there for half a decade. He only finished it because his wife told him to stop being a procrastinating goofball. Good wife.
And the book’s layout? That was a total accident. Kinney wanted it to look like a real diary, so he added weird fonts and hand-drawn lines. Kids thought it was a secret tome from another dimension. Sales exploded.
The Man Who Refuses to Grow Up
Kinney writes in his basement. He has a special room with beanbags, action figures, and a whiteboard covered in stick-figure jokes. He goes to work in sweatpants. Every day. He claims he’s still mentally twelve years old.
He also admits to stealing real childhood memories for his books. His brother was a real-life Rodrick. His own middle school years were a “series of humiliations.” So, Jeff Kinney is basically a grown man charging kids to laugh at his own pain. Genius.
And his favorite joke? The “cheese touch.” He came up with it while eating a moldy sandwich. True story. He probably didn’t even wash his hands after.
'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' author Jeff Kinney coming to Fayetteville
