Piers Torday: 5 Things I Can’t Write Without

Posted on 14 August 2015

I have written in libraries. I have written in cafes. I have written on busy trains, and lying in bed with flu. But really, I write best at home in the crowded spare room I share with my husband as a study.

I haven’t got a photo because it doesn’t photograph well, being very backlit. Imagine a huge LCD TV screen tottering on half a ream of photocopier paper, a pile of books, pens, half finished coffee cups, piles of receipts – you get the idea.

But it’s my office and I like it. I write best here in part because I treat writing as a full time job that starts the same time in the morning as lots of other jobs. It helps me focus.

However, it is also private and in my home. This means that I can indulge the strange rituals which I’ve evolved over the years to help me tease my sub consciousness into yielding some words for the page. There is no magic or mystique to this; it can be about as much fun as persuading a teenager to get up and come down for breakfast in the morning.

I’ve learned a few tricks over the years to make this process less torturous…and whilst the writing space itself doesn’t matter so much… I NEED MY THINGS!

1. MUSIC

I can’t write without music. Preferably movie soundtracks, sometimes classical, very occasionally musicals. But mainly movie soundtracks. I create playlists for each chapter, and for different atmospheres, from “dreamlike” to “escape scenes”. Music piped through headphones helps close the distractions of the outside world off. It encloses my wandering mind and lets the words flow, whilst the right music can help me find the right pace, tone and feeling on the page.

You can listen to my playlist for The Wild Beyond here.

2. A PARK

OK, I don’t have a park on my desk or in my home. (Just imagine having to clear up after all those barbecues for one thing.) But when the brain is blocked, it’s amazing how just a twenty minute stroll in a peaceful green space, near water, (with ideally a duck or deer or two) can clear your mind.

This is a photo of what is currently my nearest wandering spot, Clissold Park in North London.

3. MY CHAIR

I have to sit at this chair to write, because not only do I have an annoying long back, but about the worst posture since the Hunchback of Notre Dame did his neck in doing yoga. This chair cost more money than any item of furniture I own, but goodness it is worth it – supports the arms, lower back and hips. You can sit for hours without noticing…but apparently that’s just as bad for you as well!

4. A PHOTO OF MY DAD

My late father Paul was an author too, as well as being my dad. Although he didn’t start till late in life, and had huge success (beginning with a book called Salmon Fishing in the Yemen), he was always incredibly modest about his achievements. He was also very calm and methodical about his writing. When I stress out or feel tempted to get sucked in by social media (which he hated) I look at this picture and it helps me re-focus.

5. MEMORABILIA

One of the most lovely things about writing some books about animals is all the animals and animal related stuff I get sent. Here are just some of the stag based items I’ve been given since writing The Last Wild. They remind me that writing is fun, that some of the things I’ve written have had a positive effect on people, and that no matter how down I am or tired I am, it really is worth pushing on.

If you want to write, and find that a certain object or ritual helps you concentrate – a kind of drink, a view, a funny way to sit – my advice is follow your instinct, and surround yourself with things and sensations you love. Then you might learn to love the act of writing itself.

Piers Torday’s new book, The Wild Beyond, is out now!