On Saturday afternoon, the Paper Towns and Fault in Our Stars author joined Margaret Lyons at the Vulture Festival to discuss writing, never making plans, and how America is like a teenager. He also shared some advice for dealing with the frustrations of the blank page and the industry: “Any time I complain about writing — and it ain’t easy — I always remember my dad saying to me, when I was complaining about something publishing-related early in my career, ‘Well, it ain’t coal mining.’ And it ain’t.†Perspective and more await in the video below.