So there I was being normal wallflower while my elders and betters (well, um, as far as the industry is concerned. Most of them are young and female, actually. I’m not sure if that’s really always better, but it is kind of obligatory to pretend.) were discussing the arcane matters of being a successful writer.
I conclude I am doomed to wither away. They all seemed to favor writing in coffee shops, the logic expressed by one that having paid $6.50 for a coffee and a snack, her conscience would then make her work. I swallowed and did not ask if the coffee shop minded if I lingered 4 hours over my coffee and snack, to make it even remotely financially viable (I figure I earn about $3.50 an hour). It did seem very popular, which made me feel very odd. I couldn’t WRITE in a coffee shop. I’d be far too busy eavesdropping and people watching. Besides, it’s half an hour to our only one, and I’m pretty sure Jo would kick me out after about 3/4 of an hour of filling a table for very little return. But hey, I am not one of the darlings of literati, and maybe their words come fast and and easy, and unlike me not plodded out over many hours. Perhaps they are well paid or have well-paid… supporters.
The discussion then moved to the topic of animal cruelty, bovine teasing. I know it worked for Hemingway, but cow-irking seemed a hard way of achieving great writing, besides hard on the cows. Maybe it is how they get frothy milk for the lattes. Pamplona, after having followed the earlier latte discussion, seemed a little fraught. And those are bulls, even in this politically correct age. I thought hamster-irking might be better place to start, especially if you wore high heels and platform soles so you were well above the savage charge of the hamster. Then I realized I had been terribly mistaken and it was a fantasy writer’s trope about cow-orcing. After all, orcs too need sex lives and a book or three about the liberation of the female orc is over-due. I was quite puzzled by the discussion as a lot of it seemed centered on New York City (which is well-known for Orcs) but also with other urban localities. They issue them with day passes and have cow-orcing centers. With postal address and phone lines. I had no idea they were so regimented. No wonder they’re such monsters.
Then a chance comment led me to discover that actually it was about cetaceans, involving free will (or will she, as opposed to will he) – or at least getting out of the house and away from the fridge, which is prone turn one into a cow- orca.
Away from my fevered imagination and in a real world I cannot occupy… well don’t want to occupy, this was actually about sharing office space. It was something they all knew about, and many used. I had in my rural bliss never heard of it. Like working in a coffee shop, the idea of being surrounded by other people wouldn’t work for me, and I’d lose more time to traveling than I do to the fridge. I actually can be quite disciplined. So: what is your take, folks? Where is best to work? Could you work in a coffee shop? And, um, as someone who really doesn’t live (or have any real interest) in their world, can I still write books which will find an audience?
Mad Genius Club 
23 responses to “Cow-Orcas and other mysteries”
I think that it’s hard for a lot of people to work at home, though I’ve never had much luck working in a coffee shop. The idea of going someplace else to work, though, is something I can identify with. I sit down at my computer and I tend to web surf and get nothing done. That said, I have an even harder time doing my home work (having gone back to college) on campus and pretty much need to be home to get anything done (in between web surfing.)
Does where the writing happens have anything to do with producing something other people want to read? I don’t know how it could.
Oh, I’m sure the surroundings wherein one writes can flavor the writing. A coffee shop, however, would not be what I would consider to be a good flavor, unless one were writing about dull, dreary everyday workplaces and the distractions people seek to keep themselves from going stir-crazy.
I must admit to using the time I spent in a coffee shop/breakfast place while at a con where i knew no-one (day 1), and the shop was frequented inner city women, to eavesdrop some wonderfully vapid alien conversations. (it was a bit like listening to Dutch for me. I could understand some of the words, but the content often passed me by).
Synova, there are two possible answers to the problem you face – one is program called IIRC Cold Turkey which turns off access to all but limited sites. That or being nasty to yourself, and, like me, buying a timer. When I stop, the timer starts. It’s max is one hour. I generally give myself 5 minutes per 200 words. Yes, actually I am driven 🙂
Only if I had no other choice could I work in a coffee shop or other open public space. Not only do I need a minimum of quiet, but I get so lost in my writing that I’d be afraid someone would lift my wallet while I worked. That and I’d feel guilty about taking up space without buying a lot of coffee and munchies.
You have my writing requirements and problems and ethic about their shop, precisely. I would rather write in a park, and even there, writer’s trance would make me a danger to myself (ok situation normal).
While NaNoWriMoing over a year ago, I tried a once-a-week get together in a sandwich shop with fellow NaNoers. Three of four of us did it regularly. It worked for me because (1) I couldn’t web surf and waste time and (2) had to shut out the noise and concentrate.
I can’t “shut out the noise” when it’s personal. My husband has taken up consulting, so he’s got a home office. Right next door to mine. Half the time he’s off at client’s offices, but when he’s home, every thump and, well, to be honest, curse at his computer, jolts me out of my writing. So I close my door, find some music that won’t take my attention . . . And he pops in to say that the next time I go shopping he needs some floss or some such.
And that’s why I’m so tempted to head for the sandwich shop, laptop in hand. I can shut out the ambient noise from strangers. I can’t ignore the sounds of my own home.
I finally concluded I have hyper-developed hunter’s instinct. What I can’t not notice is things that move – which makes coffee/sandwich places a non-starter, as the cups and sandwiches move, and need to be speared…
Besides I find the familiarity and discipline good for my work. I do hear you about family – Barbs yowling about a spider will get me across the house in seconds. Mind you it is quite a sound….
Most of my work gets done at home, with no one else here, no music. *Sigh* Today a dog with very loud digestive noises. Haven’t a clue what he ate, but I expected to be dealing with . . . odors . . . at any moment. But you know all about that. 😦
LOL! Oh, that is so terrible. (My dogs love being right with me, so I know just what you’re in for.)
If I were trying to do it professionally, I would probably do what Sarah has done, and rent office space. Near where I live, there are office spaces that rent for as low as $150 per month. It’s away from the distractions of home (and away from people who don’t consider that it beaks your concentration when they ask you to do something), and it gives the sense that you are doing it for a living, rather than being a hobby.
Other people, perhaps, would react differently.
An office for only a week and a half of groceries for us… not on my budget. But it could work for others, but would cut work hours a lot. That’s in part what the coworking space thing is about -sharing office space and work environment. Me, you judge how far a book is, by the untidiness of the desk, so it would have to be _my_ office or home-office.
I sometimes write at a coffee shop…but I wear headphones to tone out distractions and lurk in the back booth. The people that work there know me and don’t look at me too oddly when I order coffee and then wander away while muttering to myself. For me, writing at the coffee shop is either a treat or an extreme measure. If I have been stuck in the house for days and my writing has stopped co-operating then I will occasionally pack up and move to the coffee shop for a few hours. Often the different scenery is enough to jump start my writing.
I could see it as a jump-start – I do go stir crazy every now and again, and either set the timer and go and dig/weed/preserve for an hour, or walk (usually with a shotgun for company, because that way I can 1)guarantee no pheasants will sneer at me 2)kid myself its really looking for food 3)derive satisfaction that I can) or look at the word count and go and dive or fish. I find if I’m stuck (and the book is playing in my head, working out ways), these work well. If I am facing a book I don’t want to write and have to bind to… only brutal sit there until you get some done works. Eventually I come to love all of them.
I either write at McDonalds, or the library. I’ve tried Panera, and it works until it gets crowded at lunch rush. The library is much cheaper, and probably healthier, and more attractive since they’ve started allowing people to bring drinks in.
Different people work so differently. How many words do you manage in say an hour in these environments (I can see the library, the others would cost me more than I could earn.)
I forgot to sign up for follow-up comments.
When I first saw the title this morning, I thought cow-orcas were something like cows with guns. And no, I am not linking to the video. If you are that masochistic, you can look it up yourself. 🙂
(grin) too late (cow tse tung….) my son did so last year.
I managed to wrangle an office at the university by signing up for a masters. I needed a place to work away from home for my ‘real’ job anyway. So now I’m able to do my masters, and my ‘real’ job, and my writing at the university.
BTW, doing a masters is cheaper than renting office space so the ‘real’ job company is happy to pay.
Hmm. They want someone to do a research project on cat stomachs (feral cat trapping). Maybe I ought to sign up… But you can’t eat cat stomachs
I can work in a coffee shop but not well and only for non-creative things like replying to emails. Stuff that requires thought needs somewhere where random noise won’t disturb me. So writing a story is not going to happen in that environment.
Although I can and do sometimes write successfully on planes and trains. It depends on how noisy it is, whether there is anything to look at out of the window. etc.
The problem with working at home is that it is terribly easy to get distracted by stuff and not do the job because there’s no boss (or cow-orca) to ask how you are doing etc. On the other hand if you are at home and you have the discipline to concentrate you can get a lot done – especially if you inform other inhabitants of the house that they shouldn’t disturb you ….
I tell the dogs not to disturb me. Sometimes they listen. The cats…