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Matt Levine amazes me. I cannot imagine writing so much content on a daily basis. Let alone if that content is required to be entertaining, informative, deep on

Matt Levine amazes me. I cannot imagine writing so much content on a daily basis. Let alone if that content is required to be entertaining, informative, deep on industry knowledge, and useful to neophyte and seasoned investor alike. To me, the man is a marvel of knowledge and industriousness.

skippyboxedhero 5y ago
Finance is like this. Nothing happens most of the time but lots of people are writing about it furiously. Email lots of people, hope they read your email at a time they are going to do a trade, and then you make money? It is all quite pointless (but Levine's stuff is good because I don't think it pretends to have a purpose...UK brokers sometimes have research people like this, they don't really produce anything valuable but people read it because it is a bit of a laugh...dying breed unf).
- sleightofmind 5y ago
  "but Levine's stuff is good because I don't think it pretends to have a purpose..." Yep. Agreed. He's there to drive visits to Bloomberg, but I know what you mean, and that is indeed part of what makes him good. As a layman and small-time investor, I like his stuff simply because he makes me aware of things I would almost certainly never encounter were it not for him. He seems to like explaining things just to be explaining them, and I like reading or listening to folks who share their fascination and insight into how their field works. I have an almost physical revulsion for dismissive people who seem never to be intrigued or surprised by anything -- those folks to whom everything wonderful is simply to be dismissed with a halfhearted wave of the hand accompanied by a yawn, sneer, or a subtle roll of the eyes. Levine's content seems so different from the usual slop about how the economy is going to do this or that, and consequently, why you should buy this or that.
thrwyoilarticle 5y ago
A small respite: sometimes he writes on the same topic for consecutive days.
manquer 5y ago
Some people just find writing natural to them others have to struggle. Asimov was a famous natural writer and cranked out 430 plus books ! Not all of them are sci-fi or fiction either. That is basically averaging 10 books a year for 43 years to get to that kind numbers . He probably wrote more during his peak years He had to do it all of it on a typewriter, it takes more effort both physically and also mentally as there is no backspace you have think more carefully or you would have lot of corrections and retyping pages.
- ellyagg 5y ago
  He said that he pretty much just typed what he thought at full speed. He emitted lots of typos. I don't remember if he mentioned, but maybe someone else handled the retyping.
  - manquer 5y ago
    There is always proofreading and editors involved for grammar and style anyway. Some authors also keep a typist /editor formally or sometimes informally :friends/family /spouse . However all that apart typing without backspace is very different. Try it sometime , you have think ahead a bit form your sentence /block fully , it is harder , I think it will always be slower but maybe for someone used to that it is different.
    - sleightofmind 5y ago
      Yep. Grew up in an era when mechanical typewriters were the standard "tech" of the day for writing. And yep, it's far more difficult. Finger strength, key jamming, and the regular use of white out fluid, or pen ink markup to correct first drafts. Listening for the margin warning bell and deciding on the fly if you should reach for the carriage return lever or push your luck. Centering titles by counting the letters, dividing by two and adjusting the carriage to suit. Oh yeah. Funsies. Don't miss those days. In speed tests for clerical positions, e.g. secretary in a law office, etc, backspacing to fix something meant the loss of a word in your speed rating.
  - sleightofmind 5y ago
notahacker 5y ago
There's no shortage of content creators and real time news journalists churning out a dozen or more articles a day. The quantity part isn't the difficult bit. It's an incredibly rare skill to be able to inform and entertain both professionals and lay audiences with the same piece in a field as technical as Levine's in as much depth as he goes into though, and it takes a certain amount of flair and skill to be opinionated on contested stuff without alienating much of your potential audience too.
- sleightofmind 5y ago
  "It's an incredibly rare skill..." Well said.

skippyboxedhero 5y ago

Finance is like this. Nothing happens most of the time but lots of people are writing about it furiously. Email lots of people, hope they read your email at a time they are going to do a trade, and then you make money? It is all quite pointless (but Levine's stuff is good because I don't think it pretends to have a purpose...UK brokers sometimes have research people like this, they don't really produce anything valuable but people read it because it is a bit of a laugh...dying breed unf).

sleightofmind 5y ago
"but Levine's stuff is good because I don't think it pretends to have a purpose..." Yep. Agreed. He's there to drive visits to Bloomberg, but I know what you mean, and that is indeed part of what makes him good. As a layman and small-time investor, I like his stuff simply because he makes me aware of things I would almost certainly never encounter were it not for him. He seems to like explaining things just to be explaining them, and I like reading or listening to folks who share their fascination and insight into how their field works. I have an almost physical revulsion for dismissive people who seem never to be intrigued or surprised by anything -- those folks to whom everything wonderful is simply to be dismissed with a halfhearted wave of the hand accompanied by a yawn, sneer, or a subtle roll of the eyes. Levine's content seems so different from the usual slop about how the economy is going to do this or that, and consequently, why you should buy this or that.

thrwyoilarticle 5y ago

A small respite: sometimes he writes on the same topic for consecutive days.

manquer 5y ago

Some people just find writing natural to them others have to struggle. Asimov was a famous natural writer and cranked out 430 plus books ! Not all of them are sci-fi or fiction either. That is basically averaging 10 books a year for 43 years to get to that kind numbers . He probably wrote more during his peak years He had to do it all of it on a typewriter, it takes more effort both physically and also mentally as there is no backspace you have think more carefully or you would have lot of corrections and retyping pages.

ellyagg 5y ago
He said that he pretty much just typed what he thought at full speed. He emitted lots of typos. I don't remember if he mentioned, but maybe someone else handled the retyping.
- manquer 5y ago
  There is always proofreading and editors involved for grammar and style anyway. Some authors also keep a typist /editor formally or sometimes informally :friends/family /spouse . However all that apart typing without backspace is very different. Try it sometime , you have think ahead a bit form your sentence /block fully , it is harder , I think it will always be slower but maybe for someone used to that it is different.
  - sleightofmind 5y ago
    Yep. Grew up in an era when mechanical typewriters were the standard "tech" of the day for writing. And yep, it's far more difficult. Finger strength, key jamming, and the regular use of white out fluid, or pen ink markup to correct first drafts. Listening for the margin warning bell and deciding on the fly if you should reach for the carriage return lever or push your luck. Centering titles by counting the letters, dividing by two and adjusting the carriage to suit. Oh yeah. Funsies. Don't miss those days. In speed tests for clerical positions, e.g. secretary in a law office, etc, backspacing to fix something meant the loss of a word in your speed rating.
- sleightofmind 5y ago

notahacker 5y ago

There's no shortage of content creators and real time news journalists churning out a dozen or more articles a day. The quantity part isn't the difficult bit. It's an incredibly rare skill to be able to inform and entertain both professionals and lay audiences with the same piece in a field as technical as Levine's in as much depth as he goes into though, and it takes a certain amount of flair and skill to be opinionated on contested stuff without alienating much of your potential audience too.

sleightofmind 5y ago
"It's an incredibly rare skill..." Well said.