Hello…

People sometimes ask me how I research my books. Well, apart from lots of reading in the British Library, I try as far as I can to experience what my characters do in the story. That’s why I went to Scandinavia so often for the Wolf Brother books, and Svalbard for Dark Matter. And I don’t really do this to get things right, I do it so that you, the reader, will feel that you’re inside the story, living it alongside the characters.

The things I do for research… Licking a giant slug in Canada!

For me the greatest thrill of a research trip is that it gives me lots of ideas. Spending time with the wolves of the UK Wolf Conservation Trust gave me the black wolf with green eyes who would become Wolf’s mate, Darkfur; the dramatic loss of the tip of Wolf’s tail; and all sorts of little details, such as a wolf calmly cleaning her teeth by running a length of bramble through her jaws. For Dark Matter, visiting Svalbard in the winter darkness made me realise how important the moon would be to Jack; and being with some particularly feisty huskies gave me his canine companion, Isaak. With Rainforest, simply re-reading the notes I’d taken years ago in the Peruvian Amazon brought back how I’d felt when I was lost in the jungle – although luckily I wasn’t lost for long, unlike my hero!

You might think that I would have taken loads of photographs on my research trips, but in fact I hardly ever take any, just a few for publicity, to keep my agent happy. You see, I learnt very early on that photos are pretty useless when it comes to writing.

I was reminded of this recently when I was taking some snaps with my phone for this newsletter. It was at one of the ponds on the Common where I live, and in winter it’s busy with geese, ducks and swans; I love seeing who’s flown in overnight as I walk to the shops. As soon as I’d stopped at the water’s edge, a pair of swans swam over and waddled right up to me (some people feed them, and clearly they’d spotted my Tesco’s bag and thought they were in luck). I didn’t need the zoom for the one in the picture, he came so close I could have touched him. But afterwards, I realised that I hadn’t really seen him. I’d been so intent on taking pictures.

This swan’s only interested in my Tesco’s bag

Taking photos really does prevent you from seeing. At least, it does for me. And a photograph can’t tell you anything about the sounds and smells, the sense of touch, or the feelings evoked. In particular, how does this place, or that wild creature, affect the character in your story?

A greylag goose also after food

That’s the real reason I don’t take photos for research. I much prefer scribbling notes in my scruffy little notebook. And it’s also why one of my top tips for writing is simply this: Always carry a notebook. Because if you don’t, that chance observation, or line of dialogue, or brilliant idea for an episode, might have evaporated by the time you get a chance to write it down. Of course I know I’m showing my age by even mentioning notebooks, and lots of you simply type notes on your phones; and that’s fine. Just so long as you write it down there and then.

Canada geese in classic one-legged goose pose

The day after I’d taken those pictures, the phone stayed in my pocket when I reached the pond, and I simply enjoyed the swans. I hope that wherever you are, you too can find time to pause and enjoy a bird or a tree or just the sight of a blue sky, without a phone getting in the way.

In the meantime, stay steady – and happy reading!

Michelle Paver

PS… The slug-licking occurred while I was researching for the Wolf Brother books, and licking that type of slug is a traditional cure for tooth-ache – it worked, my mouth went numb. And the slug survived.