WORKING IN A COFFEE SHOP - OR NOT

Lucy Kellaway, writer for the Financial Times says, well at least the Globe and Mail headline does: "Working in a coffee shop is a real buzzkill."

Really? I guess it depends on who you are. I remember sitting in a coffee shop right near the University of Toronto a few years ago and asking the young woman sitting beside me, "you can work in this?" (It was really noisy in there; even more so than the usual coffee shop din.) She replied very pleasantly, "I can", and went on to explain that she thrives off the sonic racket. Good for her. I'm a bit the same, although too loud a conversation level combined with constant coffee grinder grinding can definitely pop me out of the writing experience.

As a rule I do light reading and writing in a coffee house (the hip term) and not heavy duty stuff. I don't try to read books on philosophy in my local cuppa, that's for sure; or edit and rewrite more formal pieces.

Yes, it is well documented that Harry Potter scribe J.K. Rowling wrote her first H.P. novel in her "local".

Whatever works for you. I'd try and write in a metal foundry if it increased my chances of having J.K.R. quantities of money.

I'm off to my local coffee shop; or, I could travel for a few minutes to Jet Fuel Coffee Shop on Parliament Street. It's a hipster place and one which generates some buzz....


Working in a coffee shop is a real buzzkill
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/life-at-work/working-in-a-coffee-shop-is-a-real-buzzkill/article13529878/