Before he was an international bestselling author, Tim Weaver was writing about video games. He covered Super Nintendo titles for Total!, wrote features for N64 Magazine, and later became a senior editor at Xbox World. It was fast-paced work—tight deadlines, punchy copy, the next console always on the horizon. But even then, Weaver had another ambition: he wanted to write fiction. Not just short stories or scattered scenes, but full-blown thrillers—books you could lose yourself in.
He wrote at night, after work. In the quiet hours, while the rest of the house slept, he chipped away at drafts and taught himself how to build suspense. His heroes were Michael Connelly, John Connolly, Raymond Chandler. He didn’t try to imitate them, exactly, but he studied their rhythm, their structure, their emotional depth. When Chasing the Dead came out in 2010, it introduced readers to David Raker, a former journalist turned missing persons investigator—and launched a series that would become one of the most popular crime franchises in the UK.
Since then, Weaver has published more than a dozen thrillers, recorded a hit podcast, and become a fixture on the Richard & Judy Book Club. But he still approaches writing the way he always has: late at night, cup of tea in hand, wrestling his way through the next chapter.
Tim Weaver’s daily writing routine
Weaver writes in the evenings. He always has. As a working journalist and full-time dad, daytime hours were never an option. So after dinner—after he’s helped put his daughter to bed, cleaned up, and checked the scores—he makes a cup of tea, reads over the previous chapter, and begins.
He writes in silence. No music, no distractions. For years he worked from a study, but when his house was under renovation, he set up at the dining table, surrounded by children’s toys and old furniture. “I’m basically homeless inside my own home,” he joked. Still, he kept writing. Even if the space changed, the schedule didn’t. He wrote from 8 p.m. to midnight, night after night, draft after draft.
Weaver doesn’t outline obsessively, but he always knows the central mystery. He plans enough to feel confident, then lets the rest unfold. His books often revolve around disappearances—people vanishing without a trace in an age of smartphones, CCTV, and social media. “It seemed like an intriguing starting point,” he’s said. “Can you imagine how many stories must go untold when a person vanishes?”
When a book reaches the 40,000-word mark, doubt creeps in. “You start to hate everything you’ve written,” he says. “It happens every time.” But he pushes through. Writing, for Weaver, isn’t about inspiration—it’s about perseverance. “Finish what you’ve started,” he tells aspiring writers. “Then put it away for a while. Come back to it with fresh eyes.”
He doesn’t read fiction while writing. Too distracting. But when a manuscript is finished, he binges—books, films, TV, video games. It’s a kind of reset. “Downtime is incredibly important to me,” he says. He spends it with his wife and daughter, tries to remember what normal life feels like, and always finds time to watch Arsenal and Bath City.
Even after more than a dozen novels, each book still feels like a gamble. “That tiny voice,” he says, “chipping away, telling me I don’t have it in me to finish another book.” But the routine is there to quiet the voice. One night, one chapter, one cup of tea at a time.
Weaver doesn’t believe in rituals. He believes in consistency.
And, when the draft is finally done, he breathes a big sigh of relief—and gets ready to do it all over again.
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