Working Methods

Working Methods

Home
Archive
About

author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Forget about likability
"If you start thinking about being likable you are not going to tell your story honestly."
 • 
Matt Ruby
George Orwell: Reveal something disgraceful
Orwell's secret to autobiography.
 • 
Matt Ruby
Craig Mod: Make known the unknown
"A book is always greatest before it’s written."
 • 
Matt Ruby
Elizabeth Gilbert: Stories over explanations
"We hate having stuff explained to us."
 • 
Matt Ruby
Jennifer Egan: Prime the pump
Be willing to write badly.
 • 
Matt Ruby
Robert Plunket: Write to one person
"Everything I write is a letter to Liz."
 • 
Matt Ruby
Sarah Ruhl: Make what changes you
"The measure of the art is how much it changes the artist."
 • 
Matt Ruby
Elmore Leonard: If it sounds like writing, rewrite it
"If proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go."
 • 
Matt Ruby
Claire-Louise Bennett: Do more of what's weird about you
"You have to do it more, because if you do it more then it becomes something."
 • 
Matt Ruby
1
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."
 • 
Matt Ruby
1
Hermann Hesse: Find instead of seek
How to see things right under your nose.
 • 
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."
 • 
Matt Ruby
© 2025 Matt Ruby
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture