So I spent some time Saturday over at JPs coffee house with Sarah. We were supposed to be working on our various writing projects but we ended up spending the majority of our time there chatting...because we don't talk daily or anything.
During November I spent about 2 nights a week at coffee shops writing in a frenzy to complete my 50k words. But I wrote just as much or more every other night of the week not at a coffee house. Lately it seems to me that whenever I go to JPs or Doozens I spend more time chatting or playing spider solitaire than writing. Yet there are those wonderful nights where I'll get my soy mocha and write 3000 in a sitting without looking up from my laptop.
Lets not forget that a coffee shop does usually provide the best atmosphere for projects of any kind. You have unlimited (depending on your bank account) coffee, free wi-fi, soothing music and just a general laid back feel. I especially like Doozen's for that atmosphere...and their quiche. You also don't have the many distractions that home provides. No TV, no chores that need doing, games that need playing or books that need reading. However, sometimes the small cozy one room shop becomes crowded and loud and you can't focus even with your ipod crammed deep into your ear canals. So you join in the conversations and make it that much more loud for the person sitting next to you. And then that person decides to start sending you dangerously blush-worthy pictures of celebrities and you get even less done than you planned.
That being said, i did manage to pen almost a full page in the 2 and a half hours I sat at JPs. Of course almost a page isn't anything to write home about. It's like...400 words or something stupidly low. So the question of the day is are coffee shops conducive to writing or not? I would say that it's just me but I've been observing others during my many moments of utter procrastination and it seems they have the same problem. Of course it could just be that I'm so vibrant and awesome they feel more compelled to chat with me than to work on their own stuff. yeah...I like that explanation we'll go with it.
Okay so my conclusion is this: I am just so awesome that everyone wants to talk to me and that's why I don't get very much done at coffee shops. :) What's your opinion?
3 comments:
While you are incredibly vibrant and awesome, I don't think that's necessarily the reason you don't get much done. :-) I actually managed a good eight pages that day. Granted, most of it was after you left, but still. Stay tuned to MY blog for my own commentary! Bwahahaha!!!
OK, you made me feel guilty about my page count. Just so we're clear, that's 8 pages of screenwriting, not prose. There's a big difference, as a page of screenwriting is much less than a page of prose. So there. But I'd also like to point out that 8 pages is about twice the rate I managed during Screnzy. So it's still quite good. But yeah. Just thought I should clarify.
But still, BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
I think perhaps that you enjoy procrastinating at everything you do, and that it's probably the best thing for you with your writing. If you continue to procrastinate until you're actually in the zone, and then you write up a ton of awesomeness - isn't that more rewarding than forcing yourself to write out a little bit of meh?
Quality over quantity I says.
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