Cafe Writer (or the Ultimate Writer Cliche)

This post is to talk about the ultimate writer cliche: cafe writing.

You can picture it in your head, easy peasy. A writer–any writer–with a cup of caffeine at their side, staring out the cafe windows as the word passes by. Always eavesdropping, occasionally scribbling in a Moleskine notebook with handwriting that leaves legibility to be desired.

Some writers talk about this cliche. It can be a harmful image for writers, making them seem as flippant and unproductive, not treating writing as the profession it is. I’ll admit that I don’t like this image of the writer, either.

The reason why I am bringing this writer cliche up? This is the writer I am turning into. Except not the relaxing, lazy cliche of a cafe writer.

My version?

Obligatory-patronage beverage at my side, I have my earbuds in and playing music despite their inability to drown out the cafe’s own preferred music mix. My bullet journal is open beside me, letting me know the top 3,285 things I have to be working on.

I glare at my computer while I tap-tap-tap away at the keys. I sigh whenever I have to backspace a typo. But I am writing with as much concentration as possible. Because this might be the only hour I get this week to get words in and I have a comic script chapter due last week, a blog post to queue for 7am tomorrow morning, and full-time work between then and now.

For the last few months, I have had maybe two hours each week set aside to write. And I know that if I don’t use that time to the fullest, I will just be full of regret and frustrated at myself the rest of the time.

Some days I go with an accountability partner. Hilariously, for a while, it was Jessica Corra, editor for the charity anthology I was writing for. I literally had my editor staring at me writing the story for the anthology.

This month the focus has been on comic chapters. Last month, it was the anthology story. Next month? I don’t know if I will have cafe time. I have to go back to full days at work and I will be drowning in ALL THE FALL BOOKS (seriously, I think there are at least 30,000 frontlist titles I go through for fall?). But if I do manage to get an hour here or there, you can bet I will be glaring at my computer and daring it to function any slower.

Cafe Writer Image Source

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