I ordered a mango chai latte and sat in a corner table next to a window. I took out my small journal and a blue pen. Being on a vacation alone, sitting in a cafe on Sunday evening was a first time for me, drinking latte was equally novel. In my mind these seemed like perfect conditions for creativity and productivity. That's what writers do, right?
I didn't get much writing done at all. First mom called, and you answer mom no matter your age. Then I saw I had received a message from a friend, so that led me to dreaming of summer, tea, walks and cakes. Then I succumbed to the temptation to post a photo of my ceramic cup on Instagram and engage in a chat with a friend.
What had I hoped would happen? I expected that the creative spirits who inhabit the cafes and support all the other writers who sip lattes would rush over to provide incredible insights and witty words to me too. Perhaps they still sat somewhere close to me and chuckled at my naivety. Maybe they had expected me to bribe them with a cake. It could be that by Sunday evening they had curled up into sleep already.
I took my pen and started scribbling random words on the page. I sure looked like a writer with the glasses on my nose, a large ceramic cup on a table and pen moving on a paper. The only thing missing was soft music playing. Instead the background noise was composed of raspy humming of the cake stand and the incomprehensible chatter of other customers.
We were thinking along the same lines with the coffee cafe writing today. I enjoy the distractions of writing in public on Saturday mornings over coffee, but I agree - I could not do this all the time. I much prefer the peaceful solitude of home.
ReplyDeleteAs I read your reflection of your time at the coffee shop, I'm reminded that sometimes we need to just be - chat with mom, take a photo, text with a friend. And even pretend to write. For me, all these steps then allow the writing to come. My OLW is approximating and all you did approximates the steps of a writer! Keep at it!! (I'm typing this comment at a Starbucks with upbeat music playing in the background!)
ReplyDeleteBetween Kim's breakfast casserole and cinnamon bun and your mango chai latte - I am getting so hungry and longing to write in a cozy cafe. Terje - your posts always make me feel like I'm home.
ReplyDeleteI would venture to say that the writing muses were definitely working planting seeds that will grow into future posts.
ReplyDeleteI have tried writing as well as grading in Starbucks a few times, but it has never been really productive for me. Rather, I do my best writing (and grading) while sitting on my porch with a gentle breeze and the regular ebb and flow of cars. I am not sure if it is the cars, the breeze, or the "Music to Study By" that makes the setting work (at least for a few months of the year!
ReplyDeleteTerje, I have not tried writing in a coffee shop, Sometime, I sit in my kitchen like I am now with so many distractions that the writing does not happen the way I think it will go. You wrote a wonderful slice today though.
ReplyDeleteSuch a refreshing and honest report from your coffee shop writing! I picture the glasses, cup and pen moving across the page but it is not the writing you dreamed of. Ha ha, when you find the perfect place let me know, I am still searching!
ReplyDeleteLOL. I love your descriptions. I've tried many times to sit and write in a cafe, but I almost always get distracted! Unfortunately, I've found that I'm most successful when I'm not trying hard to actually write. I'd even created a set up in our home office.... it's become the best storage haha!
ReplyDeleteI used to love my Saturday morning writing sessions at Starbucks. But then along came the pandemic and a move thirty minutes away from where I used to live and I no longer write there. I've yet to find a Starbucks as inviting as that one was. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I loved sitting with my computer and a raspberry hot chocolate. I wouldn't let myself leave until I wrote my celebrate post. Remember those?
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