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We caught up with Matthew Quick, author of THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), on a cold January afternoon at Goddard College and he was gracious enough to grant us an interview. Here’s some of what he had to say:
At what point does one become a writer?
It’s funny; after you have published a book people say, ‘Okay, you’re a writer now.’ But really, having a book published means that you wrote something a year or so ago. I think it’s really the actual process of writing that makes you a writer and not publishing, which is something entirely different. Looking back to when I was unpublished, I remember feeling the pressure, being in the midst of writing and feeling like I was sort of lost, like I didn’t know which way to go and worrying that I would never see the end of it, meaning I didn’t know where the writing would take me, if anywhere. That’s always scary at the time. But in retrospect, after publishing, I can see that it was that uncertainty and nervous energy that created the need to write—I used those emotions to fuel my writing and I think that’s a large part of what I have learned to do as a writer. Maybe we simply let our passions, worries, and emotions drive us toward putting words down on the page—maybe that process ultimately makes us writers.
Can you talk about your growth into the writer you are today?
I know for me, becoming a published writer had a lot to do with learning structure. We had talked earlier (before you started recording) about books that seem to have more alternative structures than the ones we’re used to. But I think that, for me, I really needed to learn traditional structure before I grew. When I first started writing, I would just write anything intuitively just because it felt right, but I was never making the conscious decision to craft something in a particular way. I didn’t understand that stories—especially in the West—have been told a certain way for centuries because readers intuitively react to certain patterns. Trying to fully grasp the importance of story structure was the biggest part of my MFA experience.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in north Philadelphia, but I mostly grew up right across the river in a small blue-collar South Jersey town. The neighborhood was, in some ways, the typical American, lower-middle-class neighborhood. I didn’t have a first-rate education growing up, but I feel as though the upbringing I had instilled many good values in me.
How much of where you grew up is in the book?
THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is set in and around my hometown. The characters in the book are very reminiscent of the people with whom I grew up. Of course, it’s fiction, and my characters are not based on actual people. Growing up in a blue-collar neighborhood, I encountered many ideals that the rest of the world may have found outdated, and my protagonist, Pat Peoples, struggles with this too.
Because of mental issues, Pat is sort of knocked back into childhood. And since the book is set in my childhood town, writing TSLP forced me to revisit a lot of the emotions I felt as a teenager and what it means when your life is, to a large extent, out of your control.
At what point did u realize u were supposed to be a writer?
I think I knew that I was a writer when I was very young. As a teenager, I would fill notebooks with poetry and stories, which were all terrible, of course, but I would fill my notebooks nonetheless. They were very important to me, however, I come from a family of pragmatic bankers, so writing—and being creative in general—was not exactly encouraged.
I felt like I was a writer in the closet for a while. After college, I became a high school teacher because I was afraid to tell people I was a writer, that and I needed to make money. But there was always something inside of me that knew I should be writing, which—because I wasn’t writing—ate away at me over time. In my late 20’s, I just couldn’t take it anymore. It was like I was keeping a secret or something, and even though I was writing on the side, working very hard on my stories, I was almost afraid to tell people that I was a writer and wanted to write full-time. But I really needed to write. After realizing that, one day, I quit my tenured teaching job. It had gotten to the point where I felt as though I couldn’t handle pretending anymore. I felt like I was betraying myself. So I sold my house. I ended up moving into my in-laws’ basement, and then I started writing seriously. I really feel as though I had to write full-time, as dramatic as that may sound. So even though I knew I wanted to be a writer at an early age, it took me many years to give it a serious go.
Who influenced you?
When I was young and in college, I went through a Camus and Hemingway phase and I fell in love with deceptively simple prose. Mark Twain and Kurt Vonnegut are literary heroes of mine as well. I’ve always enjoyed dark, smart comedy that makes a big statement and gets people thinking and talking. I hope that people find THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK deceptively simple and funny, and I hope it makes readers think a little too. I’ve always been a fan of work that is accessible to many people—not just people with MFA’s and literary degrees.
Also, I was raised in a Protestant household, and I’m not an overly religious guy now, but I remember learning simple Biblical stories and parables when I was a child, most of which I can still tell you from memory thirty years later. These parables have definitely influenced how I write. They’ve stood the test of time, been passed down, and despite their simplicity, they still convey universal truths. For thousands of years people have been moved by these parables, and as a storyteller that fact interests me very much. Why do certain stories survive? Why do certain stories resonate more strongly with larger audiences?
What is your favorite scene from The Silver Linings Playbook?
Throughout the book Pat Peoples struggles with depression, but Pat also experiences these very simple moments when he feels joyful. There’s a scene when he wakes up in a parked bus full of the men he tailgates with at the Eagles games. Everyone is passed out from a night of drinking. Pat wakes up, looks around and sees all these men from very different walks of life sleeping with their heads on each other’s shoulders. Pat smiles and thinks, “Wow, I have so many friends, so many brothers,” and experiences a simple moment of joy; he truly feels happy. Things really aren’t going all that well for Pat. The reader gets the sense that Pat should probably be depressed about his life. But instead, on this morning, Pat decides to be content and hopeful. He takes the time to appreciate the fact that he is not alone. I think it’s really a beautiful moment in the book.
A hundred years from now if someone were to remember you based on what you’ve written or will write, what kind of writer would you want to be remembered as?
I think all writers are writing towards understanding. As corny as it sounds, we’re trying to make the world a better place, trying to make people understand the human condition. I hope that when people read my work, they’ll see somebody humbly trying to figure things out. A lot of my characters are simple people trying very hard to do the right thing. The importance of kindness is often a big theme in my work. As I mentioned before, I’m a big Kurt Vonnegut fan and I’ll paraphrase how his work was once summed up: Love may fail but courtesy will prevail. I love that about his books. I’d like to be remembered as a writer whose work was fueled by such a mantra.
Advice for up and coming authors, authors who have novels that haven’t yet been picked up, writers who are looking to start that first book, what advice would you like to say to them?
I think it’s important to love what you do. When you’re writing something, you’re in a relationship. And when you’re in a relationship, you need to support the relationship. You need to put the time in, learn about what you’re doing, read and study your craft, get to know your writing, and then once you’ve done that, believe in it. Make sacrifices and make your work a priority. It takes time, and the more you put in, the more you get out of any relationship. Writing is no different.
Be practical, be polite, be realistic, and be humble. I always tell people, “I just hope enough people will read my books so I can keep going.” I realize that this is a very hard business and I am thankful for every reader I get. I try to be thankful for whatever comes, focus on the positives, and try not to dwell on the negatives.
Anything else you’d like to say?
I’d like to say thank you for interviewing me. Much luck with the magazine, and I appreciate your sitting down with me. Whoever is reading right now, if you’re a writer, I’m rooting for you.
Thank You, Matthew. It’s been a pleasure.
(Interview by Shokry Eldaly)
For more on Matthew Quick you can check out his official website: www.matthewmquick.com