How did you become a writer?

I was in my mid-twenties when I decided to become a writer, and it came as quite a surprise. Until then, I saw myself first and foremost as a scientist and I used words simply as a means to an end — to pass exams, write papers. Then, in grad school, I began to realise the power of good writing to communicate ideas and inspire people, to send them off to places they’ll never see themselves and offer a different view of the world. It’s odd that it took me so long to figure that out, because I’d been going on those journeys myself, avidly reading popular science books since I was in high school, but it never occurred to me that writing books like that was something I could do.

So, once I’d had the initial spark of an idea to try it out, I started writing as much as I could. I wrote for the student newspaper, I entered science writing competitions, tried a bunch of other things including student radio, and I discovered not only that I like writing but that with practise I could get better at it. By the time I came to writing my doctoral thesis (itself a book-length treatise) I had already decided I wanted to write a more creative book that hopefully more than 2 or 3 people would read.

The rest of the ‘how’ part took another couple of years after that, of working on book ideas, writing for websites including regular news pieces for National Geographic, publishing my first magazine features, getting an agent and landing my first book deal.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

Early on, my literary influences were mainly writers and scientists who occupy a liminal space between science and art. As a teenager I read a lot of Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould. David Quammen’s Song of the Dodo and Carl Safina’s Song for the Blue Ocean both made a huge impression on me, also Eugenie Clark’s Lady with a Spear, Mark Kurlansky’s Cod and Rachel Carson’s ocean trilogy. 

My more recent influences include Kathleen Jamie, Rebecca Solnit, Richard Powers, Tim Winton, Roger Deakin, Barry Lopez, Amy Leach,  Victoria Finlay, Fredrik Sjöberg, Piers Torday, Naomi Klein, Elizabeth Kolbert, Susan Orlean, Susan Casey, Mary Roach, Annie Dillard.

When and where do you write?

I am not a morning person. My best mornings start slowly with coffee and yoga, before I open my laptop, reply to emails, dip into social media, then I open Scrivener and start something new or carry on with whatever I'm in the middle of. If I’m home alone and if the writing is going well, then I’m very bad at stopping. I graze when I get hungry, switch from coffee to tea after midday, and only stop when something or someone tells me to. I listen all day to BBC 6 Music.

Usually I write in either of two places: my study in Cambridge, a little, book-crammed room at the back of the house, at a standup desk with a tall chair that I cheat on, or in our little house in the woods by the sea in the far wild west coast of France. I dream of building a writing studio in the woods there, so I can simultaneously write and forest bathe.

What are you working on now?

Right now I’m working on a couple of books for younger readers and an illustrated book for readers of all ages. I’m also working on some stories for National Geographic Magazine. I love collaborating with artists and photographers, combining words with visual storytelling.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

I’ve not suffered from anything I’ve recognised or named as writer’s block. Sure, there are days when the words feel more difficult, but never to the point of complete blockage. I have, though, suffered bouts of crippling self doubt when suddenly I realise that my words and ideas are no good and my past successes have been nothing but a fluke. The feeling can last anything from a few moments to a few months. I’m starting to spot the things that unleash my imposter syndrome and try hard to keep her at bay by letting the good stuff seep in when I need it, the positive reviews, the enthusiastic fan mail.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

I was roughly half way through writing my first book when I met with a writer friend for tea. He asked me how much I’d written and what my plans were for the rest of the book. I rattled off a list of places I planned to visit and carry out research. He told me to stay at home and write. He was right. I was being way too ambitious with my research plans. What I needed to do was get the words down. I do my best to remember that advice whenever I tumble yet again down another never-ending rabbit hole of research, even if it’s just reading books and papers and not island hopping around Scotland.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Write.

At first it doesn’t so much matter who you write for and where or whether it’s published. For science and nature writers especially there are so many places out there online to contribute to. But just write. It’s the only way you’ll get better at writing and find your voice.

Also read.

Read so you can work out what you like and what you don’t, what is good (and why) and what is not. Then you should start being able to see what is good and bad about your writing too.

Also, if you don’t enjoy doing both of those things — writing and reading — then I politely suggest you go find something else to do. 

Dr. Helen Scales is a marine biologist, writer and broadcaster. Her highly acclaimed books include Spirals in Time and The Brilliant Abyss. She writes about the oceans for National Geographic Magazine, the Guardian and New Scientist among others, appears regularly on BBC Radio and presents the podcasts Catch Our Drift and Earth Unscrewed. At Cambridge University, she teaches science writing and marine science, and she’s scientific advisor to the marine conservation charity Sea Changers. Helen divides her time between Cambridge, England and the French coast of Finistère.
www.helenscales.com