Viet Thanh Nguyen

We can only make our readers feel when we ourselves feel something.

So it's really hard to be a writer when you're emotionally numb.

Well, I think, like I said, joy is complicated, right?

So people expect joy to be 100% joyful.

They're looking for the pill.

But human life is not like that.

So let's say being a parent is joyful.

Well, I think a lot of parents will say, yeah, being a parent is joyful.

Then they'll also say, it's also really boring.

You know, I've spent time with my kids.

I'm like, ah, I can't believe I'm going to be watching this stupid TV show or watching them build blocks or whatever.

And then, you know, I can't believe I'm going to spend 18 years doing this.

That can be very painful.

But it's also joyful.

And the thing is, you can't have the joy without the pain.

And that maybe some people don't recognize that.

That's the complicated version of joy that we have as human beings that we're all capable of, that the pill cannot do.

The pill is a shortcut to something that we as human beings have to actually struggle for.

So fatherhood and children do represent all of that complexity of boredom and pain and terror and joy that is a part of human nature and human experience.

Now, with the writing, it is painful, like you said.