Working Methods

Working Methods

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Richard Hamming: Starve your subconscious
Commit to the current problem.
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Matt Ruby
John Steinbeck: Make them feel less alone
Get them saying, “Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it."
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Matt Ruby
David Bowie: Switch to a different medium
"All mediums are like painting."
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Matt Ruby
Jeff Bridges: Let it do you
"Ttry to get out of your own way."
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Matt Ruby
Martin McDonagh: Listen to people
"Write down exactly—to a word—how people speak."
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Matt Ruby
Maria Callas: Be essentially simple
"Soothe the ear and the heart and the senses."
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Matt Ruby
Jeff Bezos: Bet against conventional wisdom
"Failure and invention are inseparable twins."
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Matt Ruby
Jordan Peele: Follow the fun
"When you have fun writing, that’s the material that works."
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Matt Ruby

May 2025

Barry Diller: Let instinct reign
"Beware of certain kinds of sophistication and cynicism."
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Matt Ruby
Hermann Hesse: Find instead of seek
How to see things right under your nose.
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Matt Ruby
Miles Davis: Play what's not there
On how painting and music are alike, mistakes, and playing like yourself.
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Matt Ruby
C.S. Lewis: Use your ear, not your eye
"Hear every sentence you write as if it was being read aloud or spoken."
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Matt Ruby
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