Q: What was the inspiration for the novel Pay It Forward?
A: About twenty-five years ago, I was driving alone in a rough area of Los Angeles late at night. My poor old car was not in great condition. When I braked at the end of a freeway off-ramp, the engine suddenly died. All the lights went out--headlights, dash lights--and then the passenger compartment started to fill with smoke.
I jumped out of the car to see two men running toward me, one holding a blanket. I had no idea that this would turn out to be “the good news.” One of the men popped the hood of my car. My engine was on fire, the flames burning along the throttle line. The other stranger then proceeded to smother the blaze with his blanket. It wasn’t until the fire department arrived that I learned the car could have exploded. We could have been killed or terribly injured. These two men had saved my car, saved me--my livelihood, possibly my life--all the time putting their own lives at risk for a stranger. In the confusion of dealing with the fire department, I looked up to thank them, but they were gone. They had packed up their car and driven away without my noticing.
In the wake of that incident, I had to try to figure out what to do with a favor of that magnitude, if it can’t be repaid. Over the following months, I started keeping an eye out for someone who needed help. If I couldn’t pay the favor back to the men who helped me, I figured I would have to “Pay It Forward” to somebody else. That’s how I learned that this brand of caring can be contagious.

Q: Did you have any creative input or control over the movie?
A: No, none. And, at the time, I thought everyone understood that the author usually plays no role in the adaptation. But I guess I was wrong. People are continually shocked to be told that, say, they could cast Kevin Spacey in the role of my African-American character without my “permission.” But, in fact, I only visited the set once, and didn’t even read the screenplay until quite late in the game—and even then it was only because the screenwriter, Leslie Dixon, chose to share it with me. I say this with no bitterness. Hollywood studios pay good money for film rights, and most authors are more than anxious to sign their contracts. With a production budget of millions of dollars on the line (none of it mine) I did not expect to be consulted.

Q: Wasn’t that hard for you?
A: Not really. I decided, early on, to honor the dividing line between my book and their movie. They are entirely separate entities, in both a business and creative sense. The advantages that the movie brought to the book were tremendous, and far outweigh any complaints I might have about the faithfulness of the adaptation. Yet people ask me all the time if that isn’t just the most awful problem, having your work changed like that. I always say the same thing. I say that, even though I’ve never had to do it, I think going to sleep on the street with no food in your stomach is the most awful problem a person can have. Watching your story hit the big screen, however changed, has got to be one of the best. Early in the film’s development, someone sent me an article about Jacqueline Mitchard, in which she was quoted as saying, “Where I come from, you can either take the money or you can moan about the process, but not both.” I decided that would be my philosophy.

Q: What did you think of the movie? Were you happy with it?
A: I thought the book was better. But then, I would, wouldn’t I?
Seriously, though, I wish the movie had an ending that people found more uplifting. I think the end of the book leaves people in a better place. If you’ve only seen the film, and didn’t understand the ending, I hope you’ll give the book a try. You’ll feel better. I’m not just saying that to sell books—you can check it out of the library if you like.
I do think, though, on the positive side, that the Pay It Forward concept came through very well in the film. Since that is the core message, and the movie reached millions of people that the book did not, I feel grateful.

Q: Are there any questions you don’t like to be asked?
A: I really dislike it when people who have not read the book ask me to justify the ending of the film. I didn’t write the film, and most people who read the book understand why it ended the way it did. Some don’t, but I don’t mind their questions. They are my readers. I never mind taking time to answer a question for someone who has taken the time to read my work.

Q: Why did Pay It Forward have to end the way it did?
A: Because, in my experience, people don’t make sweeping changes when everything is fine. People change on a deep level when the roof falls in. In the darkest hours, in the greatest disasters, a very encouraging side of human nature emerges. I think of this when I watch the news and see a man trying to recover from a hurricane--standing besides the bare foundation of what was once his house, and everything he owned--saying, “I’m so lucky. My family is all okay.” At those bottom-line moments, we remember what matters. For the whole world to wake up and change, something would have to shake people to their core. Or so I felt.

Q: Do you think the Pay It Forward concept could really change the world?
A: Yes and no. Do I think it will bring the kind of world change we saw in the book? No. That’s fiction, the best-case scenario. Do I think Pay It Forward could make an impression, a mild positive change, enough that people all over the world knew it was out there, helping? It already has. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the Pay It Forward site www.payitforwardmovement.org. You’ll see what I mean.
People are funny. They seem to only be interested in change if it’s so sweeping, so complete, that nothing is left unchanged. Then, since they know that’s not possible, they do nothing at all. What’s wrong with a small-to-medium world change? The bottom line is that Pay It Forward will not make the world worse. It can only improve things. How much of an improvement remains to be seen.

Q: When did you decide to become a writer?
A: In my sophomore year of high school. I had a great English and creative writing teacher. His name was Lenny Horowitz. He got us reading great stuff, the kind of fiction that reminded me why people read for pleasure, when no one is holding guns to their heads. I had loved to read as a child, but as I got deeper into school it became a chore, homework. And I’ve always hated “the classics,” so the books that were thrust at me were nothing like my style. After reawakening my love of reading, he told me I had a talent for writing. I had written a little essay for Creative Writing, and he read it out loud to the class, and told them it was clever. Then, later, I learned that he had gone back to the staff lounge and told all my other teachers that I could write. As the student always picked last for basketball, it was a new experience for me. I wasn’t used to being called talented. It made an impression. I didn’t actually become a serious writer for nearly twenty years, though, because it’s so difficult to make a living in the field. It took a huge leap of faith to quit my day job, which I didn’t do until 1991.

Q: What advice do you have for someone who wants to become a writer?
A: Learn to deal with rejection and criticism early on, because your work will be rejected and criticized, no matter how successful it eventually becomes.
Don’t write in a vacuum. Join a good critique group, or otherwise seek the feedback of others.
Listen to others, but don’t necessarily believe everything they say. This is just as true when you are being praised and it is during criticism. Never change your work just because somebody else tells you to. Instead, try to develop an inner voice that will tell you if you agree with their points or not.
Learn your market and be realistic. Really get in and find out how hard a business it is. How badly do you want to be a writer? Because, if there’s something else you might want to do, you would probably be happier doing that, almost no matter what it is. There’s only one good reason I can think of for being a writer, and that’s if you know you’ll never be happy doing anything else. If that’s your situation, then forget everything you’ve learned about how hard it is. It’s what you’re going to do, and the odds mean nothing to you. Proceed in spite of the odds and never give up.