This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
I adore coffee. So much so, if I could find a way to have it flow through my veins via an intravenous line, I just might consider it. It seems fitting then that the place I do most of my writing is at my … local coffee shop. It has everything a writer needs: a table, a chair, an outlet to plug in my laptop and, of course, free wifi. But, most importantly, it has coffee!
For the record, I do have a dedicated space at home. It is a lovely space: a bright and airy bedroom, which has been converted to an office. It’s filled to the brim with books and a treadmill that I’ve been meaning to actually use for years now, but so far has been serving as a drying rack from which to hang some of my wet laundry. And while I do a lot of my writing there in the evening, after the kids have gone to sleep, nothing beats my designated corner at my favorite coffee shop for those early morning sessions.
I joke with the barista there that I should have a reserved seating sign on my table. Because it’s there and only there that I can type for hours at a time, uninterrupted. It’s there that I won’t be tempted into picking up my home phone and calling my best friend for what is meant to be a two minute conversation, but actually turns into a one hour gabfest. It’s there that I won’t have my husband leaning into me and shoulder reading what I’ve just written.I know that I won’t find the million and one distractions that I usually find at home. In my little coffee shop, it’s just me and my thoughts and the sweet, tantalizing aroma of my hot steaming cup of cafe latte whiffing through the air. It’s also a really good place to people watch and, for a writer, that’s a golden opportunity to generate story lines and develop characters. You’d be surprised by the number of ideas I’ve managed to come up with just by sitting and watching the world go by.
So, you can see why this one of my favorite places to write. Oh, and did I mention the coffee?
The Holiday Gig by Erin Brady is out now.