Where Do You Write?
By Guest Blogger, Ed SkinnerAnywhere? Everywhere? Once I’m in the zone, anywhere will do for me, but getting there? Re-reading what comes just before where I want to continue is helpful, but even that fails if the joint ain’t right.
Attributes I want
No interruptions. Other stuff going on is okay as long as it’s not jarring.
Comfortable seat. Sometimes I need to lean back, look up, and contemplate infinity.
Coffee. Preferably the less than $3 kind, but free refills are trump.
WIFI. Google and Wikipedia are my mainstays for “What’s that Chinese instrument called, the one that sounds like a snake blowing its nose?”
An unoccupied bathroom. (Did I mention free refills?)
Favorites (in no particular order)
The outdoor, concrete picnic tables under the overhang at the North Mountain Visitor Center, 12950 N. 7th Street. Access by walking (outside) between the outdoor bathrooms and the building around to the left (west) side but watch out for crawly, sting-y, bite-y critters. Before arrival, get coffee from McDonald’s, southeast corner of Thunderbird and 7th Street.
32 Shea, 10626 N. 32nd Street, next to Walgreens on the northwest corner of 32nd Street and Shea. There’s an indoor and also an outdoor bathroom. Dog-friendly outside. (Try the New Mexico burrito with the Hatch Chili sauce!)
Elevate Coffee, 2530 W. Happy Valley (northeast corner of I-17 and Happy Valley Rd, near the Harkins Theater). Dog-friendly outside.
Second Place—these lack an attribute or so but are still worth considering
The Commons at First Draft Book Bar, inside Changing Hands Bookstore, 300 W Camelback Rd.
Serafina Coffee Roasters, 15414 North 7th Street, northwest corner of Coral Gables and 7th Street. Excellent coffee and good seating, but the music may be too loud, and if it’s busy, you may need to dance in place for the single bathroom.
Press Coffee, 32nd Street and Shea, a little south of the intersection on the east side. Good coffee, good atmosphere, and my muse really squirts out the words on the inside, upper deck. The downsides are the stairs to/from the upper deck, and the “mere two” bathrooms when the place is crowded. Parking may spill over into the city-bus transit parking out the back.
Maybe
The Lux, 4400 N. Central Ave. They were down to one bathroom the last time I went (!) there. Otherwise, a good place.
Panera Bread. Pick any. I feel like a little kid sitting at some of the tables; they’re too high for the seats. Others are Okay. (Ask for the bathroom lock combination when you get your coffee.)
Home. Has everything but includes interruptions. “Did you set out the trash cans yet?” “Would you start the dishwasher, please?” Bark! Bark! Bark! --Amazon, UPS, or FedEx delivery truck. The pile of bills next to the computer nagging me with their presence.
If you see me—white hair, mustache, van dyke—and my fingers are flying and my coffee has skinned over, I’m not really there. Please don’t bring me back to your reality.
About the Author
Ed Skinner is a retired software guy, teacher, and traveler who now writes fiction. Scrivener is his writing tool of choice, and you’ll occasionally see his comments and posts in the “Scrivener Users” group on Facebook. His blog, flat5.net, has musings about writing and other passions, some current, some not so.