Confessions of a Coffeehouse Writer
May 6, 2008 by Deb
Filed under Freelance Writing
by Rhonda Franz
I have recently come across more than one pontification on the audacity of writers who choose write in public places-namely coffeehouses-sitting with laptop screens to faces enjoying expensive cups of coffee while “trying” to look serious about the craft. Complaints include everything from why we can’t seem to remain in the privacy of our own home, to assumptions that any such writer is most likely not really a writer, and therefore unfamiliar with the works of historical literary figures who practically chained themselves in disheveled corners of their humble homes writing in desperation and obsession. There is also apparent confusion as to why any of us should be plunking down several bucks for fancy cup of coffee rather than making it at home or getting a cheap cup at the local gas station.
It is with unabashed pride that I admit to be one such writer, and I wonder if perhaps the dissenters do not have the whole story.
I write nearly every day at home. I don’t have the holed-up shanty characteristic of literary greats before me, but rest assured my desk is broken in two places and the room is cluttered with all manner of papers, cardboard boxes, and unfiled bills. The desk surface has a printer, an entire shelf of writing books, a journal, the dictionary, and two copies of The Elements of Style. There are also a few loose bills, a roll of film, a stack of scratch paper, and occasionally a pebble.
This room also contains a basket of books and toys for my two-year-old son. With a toddler at home, it wouldn’t matter if I locked myself in an attic trunk, or stole away to the crawlspace to write: he would find me. If a few hours of uninterrupted writing is what I am looking for, away from this house I’ll have to be. I have the wonderful privilege, yet often difficult and mundane responsibility, of being a stay at home mom. A day for me consists of changing diapers, giving baths, enforcing the putting away of toys, and preparing healthy meals: all while making sure my son’s trips and falls and journeys to the top of the stairs do not result in a concussion. I do not wish to relinquish this role any time soon, but it is with great excitement that I am able to leave for an entire morning and write to my heart’s content without a cry, a whine, or even a cute little face seeking my attention or pining for a snack. It is here where I can-uninterrupted-scan through all the writing websites and job boards that are bookmarked on my aging laptop. It is at this time where I can, at least one day a week, take real time to learn more about writing, the craft and writing, the business. It is a great break from the monotony of home, and I come back refreshed and ready to take on my regular daily schedule of mommyhood and writing before daybreak or during the afternoon nap.
When I make it to the local coffee shop to write, it is so much about the getaway, writing is almost secondary to the occasion. I don’t go there to get noticed, I go there so I won’t be. And since my bookshelves include cheap, used copies of Faulkner, Twain, and Grisham from the local bookstore, I will go ahead spend four dollars on a perfectly-spiced house mocha and splurge for the overpriced bagel, both of which are delicious-and neither of which I had to prepare myself.
I see others in coffeehouses with books and laptops and note paper and pens. They may not all be writers. Perhaps they are students working on assignments during a break between classes, or businesspeople on their way to work. They may just be taking their own vacation from day-to-day surroundings while enjoying a hot drink, or waiting there to meet up with an acquaintance. There are others who go to such places for the same reasons as I do. In any case, doing putting pen to paper or print to screen, regardless of the venue they choose, is indeed a worthwhile task.
Here’s my advice: if you don’t like seeing writers at a coffee house-don’t go there. Allow me to suggest that you frequent that local gas station for your cup of joe. It is doubtful you will be bothered by any laptop writers there.
Rhonda Franz is on indefinite leave from teaching to be a stay at home mom. When she is not lavishly spending money on overpriced coffee drinks, she writes at home and continues to research the writing business. She recently published her first essay, Yoga Night in a small, local publication for parents and is currently testing the waters of writing for the web.
I say do what you gotta do, Rhonda! I am in Italy, and therefore unable to pay $4 for a caramel cappuccino, with cream
but, I would if I could!
Enjoy your “YOU” time!
Great article Rhonda! I want to start getting away from home to write (I don’t have any kids, but a house full of animals) and I was worried about the perception of yet another writer at a coffeehouse. Now, I don’t give a darn!
Thank you, Rhonda! In recent weeks, I’ve grown weary of hearing the stereptype and its attendant complaints, too. On The Daily Show, they ran a segment about Starbucks and the “douchebags” who take their laptops to work. It was pretty funny (hey, I can laugh at the stereotype), but sadly too many people *not* making satirical shows talk about it, too!
For me, the whole coffee shop thing is akin to the eyeroll I can see when I say I work from home. “Oh, do you actually make any money?” Um, yeah.
In Brazil the coffee is cheap, but in the small town where I live no one sits around and reads at the cafe, let alone write with a laptop!
The culture is drink and go. Enjoy your coffee house time! I really do miss Starbucks even with the $4 drinks.
I work mainly from home and it gets lonely! I’m a natural hermit anyway and my husband works out of town a lot so I try to make myself go to a local coffee shop once a week to write just so I’m out and around people.
What I find more annoying in coffee shops than the writers and students with laptops, are those who meet for business meetings and insist on conducting them very loudly so everyone else can’t help bu be forced to listen.
The process is different for every writer. Most of us take a long time to discover what our process is. I say, once you find it, be true to it, even if the nay sayers tell you it’s wrong.
Right on, Rhonda!
Rhonda,
As a stay-at-home mom of three boys I can absolutely appreciate the need to get away and be an adult for a spell–I’ve often gone the way of a coffee house escape myself! I laugh that I live in a Testosterone Temple and sometimes a girl has just got to get away. Writing at home with little feet about is challenging–seeking out an alternative venue that works for you is a perfect idea. Besides the fact that a warm coffee and bagel sounds a little better than the Cheerios I just ate! Cheers to you …
Thank you for this humorous, yet very true, post! I’m one of the coffee house writers that you speak of. I’m too social to be holed up at home all the time LOL
@Fiona- I agree the loud businessmen/women conducting meetings at an ear shattering volume is irritating. I do find myself often listening in and taking notes on word choices and behaviors–the fiction writer in me can’t help it!
I love working at the coffee house because I get so much more done in a short period of time – no laundry to throw in, no phones to answer, nothing to distract me.
So sing it sister – we don’t get power lunches or stock options or employee incentive or health benefits plans. But we do get $4 cups of coffee in the middle of the afternoon. And those people who whine about it are just jealous.
What an enjoyable post. Thanks! Like many others, I like to take my laptop and get away now and then. Sometimes it’s my back deck, sometimes it’s Starbucks and sometimes it’s the library.
I get distracted by people around me. I love people watching and semi- eavesdropping. I enjoy trying to guess other peoples’ stories. Still, it’s nice to have a change of scenery every now and then. I especially like sidewalk cafes where I can work outside.
Lara – great idea about taking notes. I admit I listen in to other people’s conversations all the time. You pick up some great lines you want to use later.
Last week, I was at the Starbucks in our local Barnes & Noble. It was wonderfully quiet except for the two women at the table next to me. One left her phone on and it rang every five minutes. She didn’t answer it so why not just switch it to vibrate? I think she figured it made her sound important if everyone was constantly interrupted by her phone.
I’m a freelance art director, and am on my way to Starbucks to do some concepting this minute! I too have a young one at home and need to be available only to me at times.
Viva la coffeehouse for freelancers! (It’s our natural terrain, after all.)
@ everyone:
Thanks for all the really nice comments! I had no idea people would enjoy this so much, but I am so glad you all did.
@Fiona & Lara: I too have to put up with the occasional loud cell-phone user. Call me old old fashioned, but I always have my phone on vibrate and step outside if I have to use it.
Thank you Deb for posting this.
People make fun of things they don’t understand. And perhaps it’s a bit of jealousy, too? Why do we get to sit somewhere public and fun with our businesses while people “suffer” through the daily grind… When I explain to people what I do, they ask me how I got into it with genuine interest and proceed to tell me that they didn’t realize writers can do that (ghost writing is my main source of income).
Amen sistah!
I found John Scalzi’s book “You’re Not Fooling Anyone when You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop” to be a bit pompous. I’m not trying to fool anyone. I AM a writer and the local Panera, Starbucks and independent coffee houses are my oasis.
I have no internet connection on my laptop, the coffee is strong, my phone doesn’t ring and I can accomplish more there than I can at home–where laundry, chores, bills and the cats beckon.
And if I happen to be sitting next to a wannabe writer…frankly, more power to him or her. We all had to start somewhere. Why not with a cup of hot java?
There’s nothing like leaving your usual writing area for getting inspired. I’ve written some of my best stuff based on people around me at the coffee shop!
might I suggest, in the spirit of being self employed,
that you make an effort to support the independent coffee shops, rather than Starbucks?
@ Adam: the “coffeehouse” referred to in this piece is a locally-owned independent coffeehouse-best one I’ve ever been to, best coffee drinks I have ever had.
Unfortunately, we have moved a ways out of town, and going to this coffeeshop for me means driving quite a ways away, so I have sometimes resorted to the closest, which means a chain-owned shop.
Adam,
With gas prices the way they are – I go to the closest bookstore, whose coffee shop happens to be a Starbucks. Since I don’t drink coffee, it doesn’t make much difference either way but we are lacking independent anything where I live.
What naysayers fail to recognize is that the coffehouse is the new golf course! There are quite a bit of business transactions that occur over a cup of coffee. Writers meet editors which lead to assignments!
I used to work on my fiction in a coffeeshop every Monday afternoon. As a work-at-home freelancer, it was a nice treat at the beginning of the week, plus it kept me going on a novel. I regularly saw local fiction writers with published stories and books writing there, too, so I always thought the coffeeshop had some sort of karma! I’m hoping to resurrect the Monday tradition soon.
Geez, I am SO wanting a laptop now! I’m chained to my kitchen desk, and I type so much faster than I write. Taking a notepad probaby wouldn’t help me much. I don’t suppose they’d appreciate me taking in my whole desktop unit, either.
As I said in a different post comment thread, one day I will have a laptop and I will probably do the Monday morning thing as well. Start the week refreshed and pampered.
Hear hear, Rhonda!!
I have my own office, but use primarily Panera when I need a satellite office because a kid needs a ride and it makes no sense to drive back here before picking her up. It also works well when I’m on “vacation,” or the local cable is down.
I’ve used other hotspots for the same reason, including Java Junkie in Rapid City,SD, to finish an article that contacts would not be ready for at any time before vacation. Spent two days at Java Junkie.
I try to only work on work at coffee shops if my internet goes down. I do, however, love the coffee shop, because like all of you said: I get more done. So, I go two times a week to work on fiction. Work, yes, but much more fun. Then, I can set a time limit and I’m more refreshed when I get home to work on work, I have energy to deal with my puppy and I can turn my eye to the mess that is my desk.
@Brandi
About the “Oh, do you actually make any money?” thing, yesterday, I was at my boyfriend’s house, and his uncle had the audacity to announce that I don’t “actually work.” Evidently, I don’t do anything all day long. I dragged the boy out for ice cream before I said anything I’d regret.
I work from home and am happy to. I have retired neighbors across the street if I need to talk to a grown up. For me the nearest coffee shop is 23 miles away, so that’s a big factor. In addition, it is a Starbucks, a chain I dislike, and buying a cappucino there would cost me $4 – that’s almost equal to a gallon of gas here.
I just read a funny book about screenwriting and Starbucks (Chris Ver Wiel’s STARBUCKS NATION) and have to say it was refreshing to see that my thoughts on Starbucks fall in line with the authors. My brother swears by their coffee, but I find my Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and my cappucino/espresso machine here (one I paid $30 for at Walmart) do the job for me!
@Ann G.
I don’t particularly like Starbucks, either. Unfortunately, it’s better than one of the other coffee shops in my town (of course, this town is riddled with coffee shops, so it’s kind of a moot point).
I think the coffee is weak and I can make it (much) better at home. I do like going to the coffee shops, though… relaxing.
Living in a college town, lap tops in coffee shops is a common thing. Lots of students working on papers, professors working on papers, right along with the writers.
I used to go to Panera’s all the time, but I never took my lap top. I always wrote with a pen and notebook there.
Who cares where we write? We all write differently and need different environments. I think it is crazy that someone needs to put their nose into other’s writing venues. I also write at home with my 2-year-old by my side. If I can get away to find different scenery it doesn’t make me any less of a writer. Good post!
It is more about what you write than where you write isn’t it? I have not tried the coffee house approach, but it seems it might give one some interesting subjects.
I would be tempted to ask you about your writing if I saw you typing away.
Rich
Rhonda, I’ve complained openly about coffeehouse writers, but the ones I’m griping about are one who leave the impression that to be a writer means we have tons of time to sit in coffeehouses and DISCUSS writing. I go to the coffeehouse to meet a friend once a week. We discuss writing from 7:30 to 9:30. Then we both go home and do it. What I object to is that sect of “writers” (and I use quotations for a reason) who say they’re writers, who spend their time in all the cliched places and bemoan or praise or argue the craft they’ve yet to bother to apply.
I work in coffeehouses occasionally. Moreover, I grab a laptop, a lawn chair and head to the park. But I work. If I can’t work, there’s no point. It’s a quiet place away from the phone. It’s not a place to gather and talk poetry or argue style points in loud tones so as to impress the passersby. It’s a place to get something done without interruption.
)
I am highly undisciplined. When I’m at home and I hit a rough patch in my writing, my first instinct is to log on and see if some ‘net surfing will jog my creative juices. It never works, but I can never seem to break myself of the habit.
Add in a husband who has no concept of “alone time”, and I have to get out of the house to write! Or, kick him out for a few hours. I’ve made a lot more progress on my WIP since I began frequenting local coffee houses, as well as giving me a taste of the world outside of home and the day job.
@ Lori in Brazil: Hey, Lori! I traveled to Brazil ten years ago and absolutely loved it! I never went to a coffeehouse, but I had the coffee they served in restaurants at the end of meals. Too strong for me at the time! Your comment brought that memory back to me.
If I were there now, I’d probably plop down on the side of the road in the streets of Caruaru and write about all the amazing people there after I sought out the friends I made the first time around.
@ the other Lori: I don’t think I’ve read any of your stuff about writers in coffeehouses. I read an article about it in a literary magazine (which was funny and did make me laugh) about such people not being real writers, then soon after I read something somewhere else where someone was complaining about the same thing. It just goes to show you often can’t judge motives by just what you see (or don’t see).
There could be people who think all you and your friend do is just talk about writing in the coffeehouse, when that isn’t the case at all.
Thanks for reading the post.
Hiya Rhonda, great post. You made me laugh, so you get two gold stars.
Seriously, I don’t understand the whole “if you don’t write in a cave, you’re not a real writer” mentality.
I was in San Francisco recently and happily returned to my favorite gay male biker bar… which is where I did some of my best writing when I lived there.
At home, I sometimes write in my closet.
Generally, I do my “billable” work in bed. In pajamas. Usually without showering first. And I don’t care which clients know it.
Or sometimes I stroll down to the train station, where there is a wireless internet connection and expensive coffee. It’s like Starbucks, but for bumfuck suburbian folk like me who don’t drive and don’t feel like training it into the city — a process that takes an hour.
I fully subscribe to the theory that anyone who has nothing better to do than sit around wondering/judging who is a “real writer” probably has some bigger issues than I do. And I’m pretty friggen crazy. So that’s saying a lot.
Good for you for staying at home with your kid. I don’t have kids at home, but I like to think that if I did I would want to be with them. And I’d also like to think I was allowed to drink whatever kind of coffee I wanted with or without my laptop in tow. So rock on Rhonda.
Yes like Cherrye above, I’m also in Italy, and I *wish* we had coffeehouses like in America to go get lost in. I’ve never been able to get much done there personally, but the atmosphere (and people watching/note-taking) always inspires me.
I LOVE working in the coffee house. I spend so much time at home that I can not stand it sometimes. Makes me want to get a REAL JOB! Then, I find the comfort of a chair in a coffee house and remember that most people don’t get this luxury at work!
Alas. We have no coffeehouse in my town. But we do have bars with outdoor terrasses, so I can type away happily while having a beer in the sun.
Rhonda,
What a wonderful article! I really enjoyed reading it.
Yep – I’d do this if I could too. I long to get away from the clutter and chaos of this house; to be served a cup of coffee I didn’t make myself and won’t have to wash up after. And I don’t even mind if other people think I’m a ponce, either.
Wow, this made me really nostalgic. When I lived in New Orleans last year, my apartment was directly above my favorite coffee house. I also had a balcony overlooking Royal Street, and the entire French Quarter was a Wifi hotspot. That was the life…down to the coffee house for some social interaction, then a mocha to go that I could nurse on the balcony.
Sadly, nothing lasts forever. I’m now in the middle of nowhere in Central FL, and I still don’t own a car. Going to a coffee house is a real rarity these days.
Thanks for the memories!
Lisa,
Viva Cafe DuMonde — the only place my wife allows me to go in New Orleans, though I haven’t been there in about five years.
Phil,
No time like the present for a road trip…God knows they could still use the tourist dollars. There’s still parts of the city that look like they did the day after Katrina. Though the Quarter is back to its old self, thankfully.
I made my home office useful and comfortable, and still I have to write away from home! It helps me focus. There are just too many distrations away from home. I go to a place with no Internet access so that I can concentrate on writing – go figure. Who cares what anyone thinks! The expensive coffee is much cheaper than rent on a real office. And yes, I’ve gotten work because of writing in the coffee shop. So there! Keep it up Rhonda.
Oops – too many distractions AT home.