Biff Mitchell's Blog: Writing Hurts Like Hell - Posts Tagged "speculativefiction"
Coffee Shops and the Single Writer
I’m a coffee shop writer. I’ve written five novels in coffee shops because they’re the only place I can write fiction. There’s something about the atmosphere and the availability of coffee that burrows deep into the headlands of my creativity and starts a stampede of words and ideas. I write for about an hour to an hour and a half each evening and get one to two pages (yep, I’m no Stephen King). Anywhere else and I might get a paragraph or two and on very rare occasions, a whole page. Surprisingly, it doesn’t matter what coffee shop or where it is…if it’s a coffee shop, the trail to the headlands is a six lane highway racing into story telling.
And yes, I’ve written about writing in coffee shops before; in fact, my last post (in my personal blog) covered some of the hurdles to overcome. But this post is about single writers who write in coffee shops and why they’re likely to remain single forever.
To begin with…being a writer is a powerful sentence to singleness in the courtroom of relationships. I mean it. Most of the writers I know are single…and not necessarily happy about it. Some have fond memories of those days when they had someone special in their lives, someone who understood them and stuck in there in spite of long hours alone while their writer mate disappeared into the jowls of a coffee shop (we’re talking just about coffee shop writers here) to do mysterious things with words. They put up with the roller coaster of moods and lifestyle that brand writers as persona non cool. They looked the other way when the writer, foaming at the mouth and crazy-eyed, tried to explain the world-shaking ramifications of not being able to find the right word to describe Sam’s blue shirt.
“Just say it’s blue,” she says.
“But how will they know the blue?” he responds.
“By the use of the word blue,” she says.
“But how will they feel the blue,” he says.
“You only feel blue when you’re sad,” she says.
“You don’t understand me,” he cries.
“You’re making a mountain out of…” she tries to say.
“You’re just like the rest of them,” he yells.
And suddenly, he’s single. And not necessarily happy about it.
The same things happen to female coffee shop writers, proving there’s no gender inequality when it comes to losing at love, especially if you can sneak a bit of the loss into a story.
There’s something about creating worlds with words that takes you out of everybody else’s world and plops you into a place that only exists in your own mind, like when was talking to a group of co-workers while I was working on my first novel. I started talking about a man called Baxter. The others looked at me in a strange way, like my head had just fallen off. One of them said, “Who’s Baxter?”
It suddenly dawned on me that Baxter was one of the characters in my novel. That’s how real he’d become and how unreal the world of my co-workers had become. Sadly, this didn’t discourage me from writing; in fact, it probably spurred me on. Something along the lines of OK, I’ve lost it with these people, so what do I have left? Oh right…Baxter and friends.
Writing is a deep uncharted pit with a shallow slope that slants ever more precariously as you slide into it. It leads into a place where a blue shirt is deep sea or sky blue, not just blue. A place where nothing is whole until the last draft, or until an editor has a better idea for blue. It’s a place where you can get lost, where you can drift away from everything that’s known into a great unknown that you get to arrange and rearrange until you’re satisfied that it’s the right color of blue.
Sound crazy?
It is. And it’s not like those writers who write at home where the better half (at least, saner half) can pop in say, “Hi, how’s it going?”
“What’s another way of saying blue?”
“Just write blue. I think people will get it.”
“You don’t understand me.”
“Don’t stay up too late.” Door closes. Writer is alone to stew in blue. Until bed time.
But for some, the coffee shop calls out to us and off we go, single and bursting with words under the brilliant azure sky.
And yes, I’ve written about writing in coffee shops before; in fact, my last post (in my personal blog) covered some of the hurdles to overcome. But this post is about single writers who write in coffee shops and why they’re likely to remain single forever.
To begin with…being a writer is a powerful sentence to singleness in the courtroom of relationships. I mean it. Most of the writers I know are single…and not necessarily happy about it. Some have fond memories of those days when they had someone special in their lives, someone who understood them and stuck in there in spite of long hours alone while their writer mate disappeared into the jowls of a coffee shop (we’re talking just about coffee shop writers here) to do mysterious things with words. They put up with the roller coaster of moods and lifestyle that brand writers as persona non cool. They looked the other way when the writer, foaming at the mouth and crazy-eyed, tried to explain the world-shaking ramifications of not being able to find the right word to describe Sam’s blue shirt.
“Just say it’s blue,” she says.
“But how will they know the blue?” he responds.
“By the use of the word blue,” she says.
“But how will they feel the blue,” he says.
“You only feel blue when you’re sad,” she says.
“You don’t understand me,” he cries.
“You’re making a mountain out of…” she tries to say.
“You’re just like the rest of them,” he yells.
And suddenly, he’s single. And not necessarily happy about it.
The same things happen to female coffee shop writers, proving there’s no gender inequality when it comes to losing at love, especially if you can sneak a bit of the loss into a story.
There’s something about creating worlds with words that takes you out of everybody else’s world and plops you into a place that only exists in your own mind, like when was talking to a group of co-workers while I was working on my first novel. I started talking about a man called Baxter. The others looked at me in a strange way, like my head had just fallen off. One of them said, “Who’s Baxter?”
It suddenly dawned on me that Baxter was one of the characters in my novel. That’s how real he’d become and how unreal the world of my co-workers had become. Sadly, this didn’t discourage me from writing; in fact, it probably spurred me on. Something along the lines of OK, I’ve lost it with these people, so what do I have left? Oh right…Baxter and friends.
Writing is a deep uncharted pit with a shallow slope that slants ever more precariously as you slide into it. It leads into a place where a blue shirt is deep sea or sky blue, not just blue. A place where nothing is whole until the last draft, or until an editor has a better idea for blue. It’s a place where you can get lost, where you can drift away from everything that’s known into a great unknown that you get to arrange and rearrange until you’re satisfied that it’s the right color of blue.
Sound crazy?
It is. And it’s not like those writers who write at home where the better half (at least, saner half) can pop in say, “Hi, how’s it going?”
“What’s another way of saying blue?”
“Just write blue. I think people will get it.”
“You don’t understand me.”
“Don’t stay up too late.” Door closes. Writer is alone to stew in blue. Until bed time.
But for some, the coffee shop calls out to us and off we go, single and bursting with words under the brilliant azure sky.
Episode 152: The Existential Adventures of Crazy Man and the Dog, Sidestepper
Episode 152: The Existential Adventures of Crazy Man and the Dog, Sidestepper
Wherein Crazy Man and the dog, Sidestepper, see the cob behind the corn.
(TIP: Always carry butter and salt in case you meet boiled corn.)
https://existentialadventures88501343...
Wherein Crazy Man and the dog, Sidestepper, see the cob behind the corn.
(TIP: Always carry butter and salt in case you meet boiled corn.)
https://existentialadventures88501343...
Episode 153: The Existential Adventures of Crazy Man and the Dog, Sidestepper
Wherein Crazy Man and the dog, Sidestepper, visit the Single’s Only Seagull Social Club
(WARNING: Gulls just wanna have fun.)
Click below to see who’s invited.
https://crazymanadventures.com/
(WARNING: Gulls just wanna have fun.)
Click below to see who’s invited.
https://crazymanadventures.com/
Episode 154: The Existential Adventures of Crazy Man and the Dog, Sidestepper
Wherein Crazy Man and the dog, Sidestepper, See the Oneness of the Empty Bottle
(WARNING: Don’t sign the petition.)
Click below to get waxed.
https://existentialadventures88501343...
(WARNING: Don’t sign the petition.)
Click below to get waxed.
https://existentialadventures88501343...
Episode 154: The Existential Adventures of Crazy Man and the Dog, Sidestepper
Wherein Crazy Man and the dog, Sidestepper, Feel Like They’re Being Watched
(WARNING: Not all lilies are lilies.)
https://existentialadventures88501343...
(WARNING: Not all lilies are lilies.)
https://existentialadventures88501343...
Episode 156: The Existential Adventures of Crazy Man and the Dog, Sidestepper
Wherein Crazy Man and the dog, Sidestepper, have a shitty experience.
(NOTE: Not everything behind the door is good.)
https://crazymanadventures.com/
(NOTE: Not everything behind the door is good.)
https://crazymanadventures.com/
Episode 157: The Existential Adventures of Crazy Man and the Dog, Sidestepper
Wherein Crazy Man and the dog, Sidestepper, cross time and concepts.
(NOTE: Nothing to get steamed up about.)
https://existentialadventures88501343...
(NOTE: Nothing to get steamed up about.)
https://existentialadventures88501343...
Episode 158: The Existential Adventures of Crazy Man and the Dog, Sidestepper
Episode 158: The Existential Adventures of Crazy Man and the Dog, Sidestepper
Wherein Crazy Man and the dog, Sidestepper, confront thoughts and ideas.
(NOTE: It’s time to consider possibilities.)
https://existentialadventures88501343...
Wherein Crazy Man and the dog, Sidestepper, confront thoughts and ideas.
(NOTE: It’s time to consider possibilities.)
https://existentialadventures88501343...
Episode 160: The Existential Adventures of Crazy Man and the Dog, Sidestepper
Wherein Crazy Man and the dog, Sidestepper, meet the stairway to heaven.
(CAUTION: Maintenance is key to heaven.)
Click here to see the old door.
https://crazymanadventures.com/wp-con...
(CAUTION: Maintenance is key to heaven.)
Click here to see the old door.
https://crazymanadventures.com/wp-con...
Book Warning
Normally, you would expect books of short fiction and not-poems to be connected by similar themes boring you a hundred different ways through reams prose and not-poetry with the same message strangling every word and image with endless variations on the same theme.
Not this book.
This book will scatter your mind over a jagged bed theme avoidance like ice and fire.
And you’ll never be that same.
How To Get Your Copy
The Amazon Canada price on the print version of this book is atrocious. I suggest you get the ebook version and, if you don’t have a Kindle, then download the free Kindle reader to your phone or tablet. (Download the app here: https://tinyurl.com/yc86ksb8)
(BTW, the print version seems to have disappeared from Amazon Canada. You can order from other venues through the publisher at: https://books2read.com/u/3L2rWM)
Amazon .COM, Barnes & Noble, Apple and just about every other platform are much less a kick in the balls than Amazon.ca.
You can read more about the book here: https://biffmitchell.com/ocean
Not this book.
This book will scatter your mind over a jagged bed theme avoidance like ice and fire.
And you’ll never be that same.
How To Get Your Copy
The Amazon Canada price on the print version of this book is atrocious. I suggest you get the ebook version and, if you don’t have a Kindle, then download the free Kindle reader to your phone or tablet. (Download the app here: https://tinyurl.com/yc86ksb8)
(BTW, the print version seems to have disappeared from Amazon Canada. You can order from other venues through the publisher at: https://books2read.com/u/3L2rWM)
Amazon .COM, Barnes & Noble, Apple and just about every other platform are much less a kick in the balls than Amazon.ca.
You can read more about the book here: https://biffmitchell.com/ocean
Writing Hurts Like Hell
Writing Hurts Like Hell is a workshop taught by Biff Mitchell for a decade through the University of New Brunswick's College of Extended Learning. Held mostly off-campus in coffee shops, bars, studios
...more
- Biff Mitchell's profile
- 7 followers
