Although I write at home during the evenings and many weekends, on weekdays I can often be found at a local coffee house nursing what appears to be a bottomless cup of cafe au lait (but which in reality is just one cup, one I will nurse for hours because the price of coffeehouse coffee is just freakin’ expensive).
This particular place doesn’t even make the best coffee in town, nor is it the cheapest. However, it is the most conveniently located (B.’s hospital is right across the street, so it’s easy for me to pick him up at the end of the day) and, while not usually very q
uiet (it can get downright noisy in the mid-afternoon — geez, people, don’t you guys have jobs???), it has lots of big tables where I can spread out and work all day if I wanted.
On the other hand, I also enjoy working at home, where there isn’t any coffee but there is plenty of peace and quiet and green tea. My desk can be unbelievably messy at times, but every scrap of paper is mine and I never have to worry about leaving anything behind. Also, there’s not as much to distract me there (laundry and the refrigerator and HGTV and Kimora Lee Simmons: Life in the Fab Lane and NBC Must See TV Night notwithstanding), as my desk faces a blank wall and did I mention that it’s usually pretty darn quiet?
I know that Stephen King wrote Carrie when he was a desperately poor laundry worker, living in a trailer with his growing family and balancing his typewriter on his knees. Ray Bradbury reportedly banged out Fahrenheit 451 in the basement of UCLA’s library on a pay typewriter. Marian Keyes writes her international bestsellers a la Barbara Cartland, i.e., in bed, clad in her jammies, propped up on pillows and eating copious amounts of chocolate (actually, I’ve no idea if Dame Cartland gorged on chocolates while she wrote her millions of books, but it sounds so appropriate, no?).
And yes, J.K. Rowling supposedly wrote the first Harry Potter book in a cafe because it was warmer than her coldwater flat. (The actual story isn’t quite as dramatic as that, of course, but it still makes for good reading.)
So I feel in good company when I’m writing out the book while squatting at the neighborhood coffee house. And I feel equally at home when typing furiously on the keyboard while settled in my comfy office chair at home.
Where do you like to write? Or perhaps more accurately, where are you most inspired to write?
MRA
I always write at home, at my desk. Hubby and I live in a very small house, so space is limited, but my desk is comfy and more often than not I have a cat on my lap or draped across my legs as I prop them on my desk. 😀I’ve never written at a coffee house, even though I love drinking coffee at home. I don’t know if I could write unless my cats were in attendance! ;-D
Binura ko po muna yung novel excerpt ko kasi nakakahiya..As in sobra!akala ko ako lang nakakakita nun,hindi pala..Ilalagay ko na lang po ulit pag naayos ko na.. bakit yung mga exerpts niyo hindi ko makita?! akin lang yung nakikita kaya medyo nahiya naman ako..yesz?!mahal pala ang kape dyan.. sa bahay ka na lang ate mag kape..aheheh! walang bayad at libre pa!asus…(“,)nagmamaganda,aizelle
TL, I may have to start writing at home as well. Coffee isn’t too bad — it’s about $2.50 with tip — and I like having the “company.” I live in my head so much during the rest of the week that I like to occasionally “join” the real world by writing elsewhere.However, it still gets expensive, and the noise level can get pretty bad. I think I’ll be writing at home tomorrow!Aizelle, hija, huwag kang magalala. Hindi ko in-upload yung novel excerpt ko kasi mahiyain din ako. 😉 Basta maniwala ka sa ‘kin na talagang impressed ako sa sinulat mo nung isang araw, at please please please huwag mong burahin forever, ha? Kahit hindi mo nilagay sa profile mo, basta huwag mong itapon iyan. Ituloy mo na lang — huwag ka nang magsimula nang iba kasi talagang interesting naman yung sinulat mo. Kung gusto mong magsimula uli nang bago dahil ayaw mo talaga nang unang draft mo, okay yan, pero kung gusto mo lang burahin dahil nahihiya ka, DON’T DO IT. Just keep going, and don’t worry about the editing until later, okay? So kuwento mo sa ‘kin yung progress mo bukas, ha?
Hi Ate Marj! Salamat hah, kaw lang ata nagsabi na may patutunguhan yung sinusulat ko. Hindi ko na po binago, tinuloy ko na. Hindi ko lang siya nagawa ng tuloy-tuloy the passed few days kasi feeling ko parang andun ako sa mga characters ko.. So ayun, napansin ko nga ate na true to life story pala ang ginagawa ko..Pero half the story exaggerated na. Ako yung best-friend ng bida.. Ako nga pala si Stephanie Borromeo..AMBISYOSA!!ahahahhaha..So ang ginawa ko, pinasama ko yung character ko, para may twist naman..At balak ko pang lagyan ng maraming boylets..aheheh!Nag-eenjoy na ata ako sa Nano. Madami palang taga pinas dun.. Mag-mee2t yung iba next week pero unfortunately wala ako sa manila, so sila-sila na lang! Maganda naman ang pag-welcome nila sa akin.Im soo proud of you ate, as of the latest count;13K..WOW!sige po..love,aizelle
Aizelle,Salamat for the progress report, hah? Sabi ko na sa iyo na ang pinakaimportante ay na e-enjoy mo yung process. Oo, mahirap nga magsulat nang novel, pero overall, talagang napaka-satisfying ang work. Karamihan nang mga novelists ay nagsisimulang magsulat ay parang semi-autobiographical, so hindi naman bihira yung ginagawa mo. Eh, di ba dapat isulat mo ang alam-na-alam mo? That way, you write the truth, since you experienced it yourself first hand. Ang maganda naman sa novel ay puwede mong i-embellish yung story, dagdag mo ang characters from your imagination, develop mo yung ibang subplots, etc. Basta tuluyin mo yung pagsusulat mo tapos we can edit it later.The most important thing ay mag-enjoy ka. And even if you don’t think na maganda yung pagsusulat (and I beg to differ), basta mag-enjoy ka muna. I promise you na you’ll get better and better the more you write.love,Ate Marj
Thank you din ate! kahit na nagiging pessimistic ako minsan, eh, ine-encourage mo pa’rin ako na magsulat at magtiwala sa sarili ko.Thank you soo soo much..Sige po..Till next time!Take care..love yah,aizelle