Working Methods

Home
Archive
About
Lin-Manuel Miranda: Figure out what is the thing that only you can write
But you have to get there through trial and error.
 • 
Matt Ruby
Marcus Aurelius: Do less, better
Ask yourself at every moment, “Is this necessary?”
 • 
Matt Ruby
George Carlin: Cross the line yet make them happy you did
"I deliberately cross it. And I try to bring them with me across the line and enjoy the experience."
 • 
Matt Ruby
Sylvia Plath: Turn away all the peripherals
Go far and fast in a small space. Trim away all excess.
 • 
Matt Ruby
2
Henry Miller: Think, feel and see in an uneducated way
"The whole logic of the universe is contained in daring."
 • 
Matt Ruby
Leonard Bernstein: Make your audience ask questions
"[Art's] essential meaning is the tension between the answers."
 • 
Matt Ruby
George Saunders: Cause an intense reaction in your audience (anything but “meh")
"If I take a thing and obsessively work with it, it always ends up having 'me' in it."
 • 
Matt Ruby
Jim Henson: Embrace nonsense and absurdity
Take something seriously as craft that no one else takes seriously.
 • 
Matt Ruby
James Baldwin: Find out what you don’t want to know
"You have to strip yourself of all your disguises."
 • 
Matt Ruby

October 2024

© 2024 Matt Ruby
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture