BuzzFeed: When you started all these years ago, did you think you would ever be at book 20?

Jeff: I remember that my publisher wanted to sign me up for three books, and even then, three felt like a lot to me. I remember when I started to think about five, and that felt like a real leap. What’s happened over the years is that the goal posts keep moving. Eventually, when I got to books six and seven, I thought, “Well, I have to get to book 10!” Then 10 became 20.

Where I am right now is looking out over the horizon and asking, “What is this thing that I’m doing, and what is the goal?” What I’ve come to realize is that a cartoon character is like a promise, especially in the age that kids are growing up in right now. They need something to depend on. Wimpy Kid is going to be one of those things that they can depend on.

As long as I can keep writing good books, I will. I think there are certain things in our lives that are constants, and I like the idea that Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been a constant in a lot of kids’ lives. They grow into it, and then they grow out of it, and that’s fine — but hopefully one day they’ll look back and have fond memories of a time when they were looking forward to a new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.