#35 Sian Meades-Williams, author & freelance writer
'Nothing gets written in this office without a cup of tea—not a single word'
Sian Meades-Williams is an author and freelance writer living in North London. She edits the newsletter Freelance Writing Jobs and is the author of The Pyjama Myth: the Freelance Writer's Survival Guide. Her recent poetry has been published by Green Ink, The Prose Poem, and Little Living Room. Her features have been published by the New York Times, National Geographic, and The Simple Things. She's currently working on a historical novel, Belville, which was shortlisted for the Exeter Novel Prize and won the 2022 Yeovil Literary Prize.
Where do you write?
I have a little office in our flat in Canonbury in London. It's entirely my own space, and I feel very lucky about that. There's a comfy chair for reading that the cat is determined to shred to pieces, and a lovely wooden desk. It took a week to hang the tropical art deco wallpaper, but I love it. I can't really put prints up, though, the paper is too busy, so I've got shelves of ceramic and my favourite books, and a cuckoo clock on the wall. It's a space that feels calm, but there's always something interesting to play with. It's never as tidy as it is in the photo and I'm in a constant battle with Chip the cat for desk space—especially when the sun streams in through the window the morning.
What can we always find on your desk?
So much paper! I'm a doodler, so I've always got a blank sheet by my for scribbling and piles of magazines. Sometimes a bunch of flowers jostles for space with my favourite mug. There's also a glass dinosaur (Tumbleweed) and a very old My Little Pony (Bowtie) keeping me company.
Morning writer or late-night words?
I try my best to be a morning person, but I think my most creative work gets done in the afternoon. Usually more practical jobs, such as compiling my newsletter Freelance Writing Jobs, pitching editors, chasing invoices, get done early. I need a clear mind to really focus on fiction and poetry, so that means squaring all of my emails and admin away before I get down to writing.
Coffee, tea, nibbles?
Nothing gets written in this office without a cup of tea—not a single word. Nibbles are whatever I found in the kitchen when I was making a cuppa. I did have a dedicated snack drawer in my office for a little while, a comforting throwback to 'treats in the usual place!' when I worked in an office, but of course, it lasted less than a week. The snacks were great, though.
I'm stealing the surprise snickerdoodles I made for my husband using this excellent recipe.
What's your most tempting distraction?
Email. It's always email. It's the bane of freelance life, especially as I run a newsletter about freelancing! I am a rare ‘inbox zero’ person. I try not to be beholden by them, but I send a lot of submissions and I can honestly say almost every piece of career changing news I've had has landed in my inbox, including book deals, residencies and awards, and a trip to the Arctic. That's always worth a refresh before I crack on with chapter two.
What's that we hear on the speakers?
Absolutely nothing! If I'm listening to music, I'm not working. I can't write to music; I can't think while it's on. Occasionally if I'm doing admin I'll pop an audiobook on, but that's usually just because I want to finish the chapter I was in the middle of. I've had a great run on audio recently: O Brother, Tom Lake, Demon Copperhead. All incredible.
Have you got any pre-writing rituals?
Aside from making a cuppa, not really. Once I've started I find it hard to remember to take breaks, though. I just crack on until the cat pesters me for a cuddle. I can't concentrate if my feet are cold, though.
Perfect bookshop to hide on a rainy day?
I like so many: Burley Fishers is great, Daunt is an incredible place for new discoveries [editor's note: both in London]. I'm very led by destination as a travel writer and want to match my reading to wherever I'm visiting. I adore Mr B's in Bath; it's such a happy place. I know it's a lovely thing to tell people to shop local, and I really believe in that, but I also really want to give a shout-out to Waterstones booksellers. Not every town is blessed with an independent bookshop, but every Waterstones I've been to has such enthusiastic sellers, they do an incredible job and I buy so many books because of them.
What's your most treasured book?
I get very precious about beautiful items, but there are very few "treasured" books on my shelves. Although I love them I'm much more about the stories than I am the physical items. Perhaps the collection of Jean Rhys books from my MA dissertation, or the old copy of Matilda that my husband bought me. I have a first edition of The Poisonwood Bible, which is my favourite ever book, but still the copy that I've read two dozen times that's falling apart is the one that I probably value more.
Favourite word in the English language?
I like the sound of words rather than their particular meaning. Eccles is pleasing me today.
Dream writing location?
If I'm not at my desk, it's Gladstone's Library in Hawarden on the Welsh border. I try and go once a year and I always come away feeling refreshed and inspired, like I've somehow written a book while having a brilliant nap. It's a magical place.
Three writers (dead or alive) to have dinner with?
I think this answer would change every day of the week. I'd always choose Sarah Moss—she is my favourite living author. No one gets into the minutiae of being a woman quite like she does. Val Mcdermid—crime fiction really isn't my genre, but every time I've seen Val on the telly, she seems like she'd be brilliant fun. And let's invite Jean Rhys over, too. I think she'd be a riot.
One poem that has changed your life:
Poetry tried so hard to get its claws into me throughout my university years and I resisted so much! I was too literal when I was younger, I was trying too hard to get a good grade and that's hard to do in metaphor. I felt a real shift while I was studying Sylvia Plath during my MA a few years ago, something clicked then—I could see the double meaning and I loved the cleverness and the truth. It no longer felt like it was trying to trip me up, but share more with me.
I started writing poetry at the tail end of 2022, after I'd had surgery and really wasn't well enough to write longform. Discovering poetry was like opening a floodgate, I wanted to consume anything, everything, I gobbled it all up. It was Fiona Benson's Eurofighter Typhoon that really impacted me when I started. I heard a reading of Benson's poem on a podcast and it was so utterly brave and raw, but the narrator was in complete control. I've listened to it so many times since. The sky being chainsawed open! The fact it was about one small moment but really about something else entirely, something much bigger. That's when I began to understood, really, what poetry could be. The wide-eyed potential of it. The difference it can make, the connection. I can see now that a lot of my first pieces were heavily influenced by Benson, while I was still trying to find my own voice (and still am!) She writes about women and motherhood in such an honest and original way. I find her work remarkable.