William Boyd

About ten years ago or so my metabolism changed: I used to write in the morning, but I started working in the afternoons, so my working days starts at about 2.30 and continues on through to half past six or seven o’clock, when I stop because I’m knackered.

I write in longhand, and the safest place in the house to keep a manuscript is your fridge, apparently: your house can burn down, but the contents of your fridge will still be intact, so it’s a very good place to store precious things.

I’ve worked in this room here for about eighteen years now; it’s probably the biggest room I’ve ever worked in. I live in Chelsea, so wherever I go, I’m surrounded by memories of other dead writers: within a hundred yards of this house, you’ve got John Betjeman’s house; George Eliot’s house; Mark Twain’s house, so the vibes are quite good I think in Chelsea for a writer...

I like this room because I’m surrounded by books here; mini libraries of all the books I read whilst researching my own books – I look around the shelves here and they’re all here, like geographical strata.

I like to physically write my first draft. I think there’s something about the link between head, hand and page that’s very important; it affects the rhythms and cadences of your prose, that you don’t get when you type. And I use a German graphic designer’s pen with a very fine nib, which suits my tiny, little, cramped handwriting...