Caffeine = writing???
Monday, August 30th, 2010 03:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizvogel(Crossposted to LJ)
I took the writing laptop along to the gym today, and stopped off at the nearby Beaners for a double mocha and a serious attempt at words. I've been meaning to try this for a while now; I've written in coffeeshops before, but usually while waiting for the car to be repaired or some such. Packing up all the writing stuff is a surprisingly large obstacle, so this is the first time I've done it solely to go to a caffeine dealer and write.
I got 400 words done in a little under two hours. This is not bad, by my standards, but not stunningly great either. In fairness, it was a rather tricky bit of badly-needed revision that I've been procrastinating about for some time, so making any progress at all counts as a win. Not that I'm done, by any stretch; progress is being defined here as several disjoint pieces that I need to join up, rather than one complete revision. I've even less idea than usual if it's any good; the environment was not conducive to holding an impression of the whole in my head.
There is definitely something to be said for writing somewhere with no cats, no internet, and no other tasks looming conveniently close to hand. I think a quieter coffeeshop would probably work better. I don't see this becoming my primary writing venue, but for occasions when I just need to buckle down and crank something out, it's not a bad option. It's no miracle cure for writer's block, but it's a worthwhile tool to add to the arsenal.
I took the writing laptop along to the gym today, and stopped off at the nearby Beaners for a double mocha and a serious attempt at words. I've been meaning to try this for a while now; I've written in coffeeshops before, but usually while waiting for the car to be repaired or some such. Packing up all the writing stuff is a surprisingly large obstacle, so this is the first time I've done it solely to go to a caffeine dealer and write.
I got 400 words done in a little under two hours. This is not bad, by my standards, but not stunningly great either. In fairness, it was a rather tricky bit of badly-needed revision that I've been procrastinating about for some time, so making any progress at all counts as a win. Not that I'm done, by any stretch; progress is being defined here as several disjoint pieces that I need to join up, rather than one complete revision. I've even less idea than usual if it's any good; the environment was not conducive to holding an impression of the whole in my head.
There is definitely something to be said for writing somewhere with no cats, no internet, and no other tasks looming conveniently close to hand. I think a quieter coffeeshop would probably work better. I don't see this becoming my primary writing venue, but for occasions when I just need to buckle down and crank something out, it's not a bad option. It's no miracle cure for writer's block, but it's a worthwhile tool to add to the arsenal.
