Chase Hoffman
asked
Matt Ruff:
Matt, I've loved your work since Sewer, Gas, and Electric. With that said, what are your thoughts on the intersection of Objectivism, Modern Monetary Theory, and the Second Nicene Council? Alternately, what's your writing routine?
Matt Ruff
I generally get up around five in the morning, and what I choose to do with my first couple hours of wakefulness pretty much sets the tone for the day. If I start writing immediately after I’ve had my coffee, I can usually count on getting something significant done. But if I check email, or Twitter, or go down an internet rabbit hole after Googling “Second Nicene Council,” then the next thing I know it’s time for breakfast, and even though I’ve still technically got the whole day ahead of me it becomes much more likely that I’ll continue to procrastinate and get little or nothing accomplished.
On those days when I do start off on the right foot, I’m generally good for three or four hours of focused work, taking occasional breaks along the way. That’s when I’m writing the first draft. For revision I’ll often work longer – it’s easier, since the heaviest lifting is already done – and once I reach the copy editing stage, where I’m making my last few passes through the manuscript before publication, my perfectionist side takes over and I work pretty much nonstop, to make sure I haven’t missed anything.
So discipline is important, and deadlines are very useful for instilling discipline. One of the nice things about where I’m at in my career is that I can sell my novels before I’ve finished writing them – which means there’s a date by which the book *has* to be done, no matter what. Knowing that helps me make the right choice at 5 AM, even if Twitter is calling to me.
On those days when I do start off on the right foot, I’m generally good for three or four hours of focused work, taking occasional breaks along the way. That’s when I’m writing the first draft. For revision I’ll often work longer – it’s easier, since the heaviest lifting is already done – and once I reach the copy editing stage, where I’m making my last few passes through the manuscript before publication, my perfectionist side takes over and I work pretty much nonstop, to make sure I haven’t missed anything.
So discipline is important, and deadlines are very useful for instilling discipline. One of the nice things about where I’m at in my career is that I can sell my novels before I’ve finished writing them – which means there’s a date by which the book *has* to be done, no matter what. Knowing that helps me make the right choice at 5 AM, even if Twitter is calling to me.
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