#11 Ben Halls, writer
'I’ve never been a fan of the "must do X words per day" approach'.
Ben Halls is a London-based writer and journalist. He worked in pubs, off licences and several minimum wage jobs before returning to school to pursue his passion for writing. In 2014 Ben completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson College in Boston, MA, and completed his Master of Fine Arts at Kingston University in 2016. The Quarry is his debut novel, and you can follow him at @benhalls.
Where do you write?
At home, in my office. If I know I’m not going to be at home for a bit I’ll give it a sporting effort on my tablet, but not much usually gets done. I very much like to be squirrelled away at my computer, being as antisocial as possible to get things done.
Morning writer or late-night words?
I don’t do anything in the mornings; I’ve got the sleep hygiene of an unsupervised teenager with a brand new Xbox in their bedroom. None of this is helped by the fact that for work I keep USA East Coast hours for five months per year. I’ll typically get going around noon, though, and then it’s a case of how much I’ve got in the tank.
I’ve never been a fan of the 'must do X words per day' approach. If I’ve got 2,000 words in me, I’ll sit there until I’m done with them, however long it takes. If I’ve got nothing then I’ll go and do something else entirely, usually something fun I’d much rather be doing when it’s a good word day.
Coffee, tea or any other drinks?
Coffee, but I also have an unhealthy obsession with a bog standard energy drink called Relentless. I used to live in the USA and you can’t get it there, so I would fly a few cans back over after being home and keep them in a 'break glass in case of emergency' type of situation.
I even don’t like other energy drinks; I just like that. I love how fast and loud it makes my brain scream. I think I’m in a cult.
Handwritten notes or phone files?
Handwritten, all the way. I live in the middle of nowhere, and every couple of weeks I love getting the train into London just to make notes. I’ll mooch around Borough Market and have oysters (bougie as hell, I know), then go and have a beer and sit and write notes out before meeting friends for yet more beer. I can’t do notes at home, I have to be out there. It’s the same as how I can’t write outside my office.
About the only exception is if I get an idea in bed because if I’ve finally tried to go to sleep, I’m not setting the whole process back just to find a pen and paper.
Something to nibble while you write?
It’s usually the need to nibble on something which finally makes me stop! I love cooking, and it’s a good reason to have me step away from the keyboard.
What's your most tempting distraction?
The wider internet. I use cloud-based everything so I have access to docs on the go, and am (hopefully!) safe from a hard disk dying. Unfortunately, this means I’m liable to pausing to think about something and suddenly having four recipes, a full shopping cart, and kittens to adopt all opened.
Any desk essentials?
A few weeks ago, I bought a Stylophone as a little fiddle thing, and it’s tremendous fun to dick around with.
In all seriousness, though, I don’t have desk essentials. My biggest worry is that my aggressively uneven floor was made in the 19th century, and it’s all about getting my desk chair settled in a way that doesn’t give me spinal issues.
What's on the speakers?
I’m a sucker for the ‘Start Radio’ function on whatever song I’m liking at the moment. By and large, it’s something slower and folky, but it changes week to week.
At the moment the two most common kick off points have been The Trapeze Swinger by Iron & Wine and True Love by Tobias Jesso Jr, but by the time this comes out, it’ll be about seven songs down the line.
Writer uniform?
Absolute feral comfort. Gym shorts and an oversized t-shirt. I aggressively split my clothes into ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ categories, and there are no hard clothes allowed when writing.
I’m dedicated to the point where, if I have to go out and run an errand, I’ll change out of my ‘soft’ indoor clothes, go run it with a belt and collar on, then change back when I’m home before sitting back at my desk.
What are your pre-writing rituals?
Caffeine. Nicotine. Later, whiskey.
And, in a smaller way, making sure I have something to write. It can feel like failure to put time aside to write and then have nothing, but that’s all a part of it. Words need to build in the brain like water does before a dam, and it’s only when the cement cracks that the words start to flow onto the page.
Perfect bookshop to hide on a rainy day?
The one I find.
I’ve never had a favourite local bookshop. I’ve got ones I like more than others, but typically I like wandering past a surprise one and dipping in. Imagine ducking for cover from the rain in a bookshop during a trip to a new city, and spending the time browsing spines until you’ve got a new book and the weather has cleared. For me, that’s heaven.
The best word in the English language?
Dumpling? Shenanigans? Capitulate. Crinkle! Tremor, boisterous, titillate?
Love.
A poem that has changed your life:
I must admit to not particularly being a poetry reader. I managed to get through both a BFA and MFA successfully avoiding the deep end, though that isn’t to say I don’t appreciate it. When The Libertines accepted an NME Award and, instead of a speech, recited the closing verse of Suicide in the Trenches by Siegfried Sassoon it was a big, foundational thing in showing me the power of language.
I can say the same about Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden, and have always found something magical in Ozymandias by Percy Shelley.
There have been two books which have absolutely changed my life, though.
The first is Have A Nice Day, the first autobiography from pro wrestling legend Mick Foley. I was about thirteen when it came out, already thought he was the coolest, and the way he talks about the writing process made writing seem cool to me.
The other is House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski. It’s my favourite book of all time, and the concept that it came from a single human mind absolutely melted my brain. That book made me want to study this writing thing and finally get a degree, and the rest is history.