tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post958056850753348890..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Don't write at StarbucksBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-35254795231780325082012-02-07T19:42:00.813-08:002012-02-07T19:42:00.813-08:00I've written in my car in a parking lot in the...I've written in my car in a parking lot in the rain on a notebook, I've written alone at the house, but lately I've been writing at whatever Starbucks my navigator says is nearby. Only because they now have free wifi and I feel Panera's is way overpriced. But I'll write at a taco shop with wifi as well.<br /><br />I doubt anyone would mistake me for a writer. In fact, I'm usually wearing my pc-repair shirt and if anything I get asked tech questions rather than ever, ever hearing the comment, "So.. you're a writer eh?". Nope, has yet to happen.<br /><br />As a matter of fact, today I had to enter not 3.. but 5 Starbucks before I found one that had an open table. And even then it happened to be the table with no outlet for my laptop. WTH? What did I do to deserve karma like that? I mean, seriously.. FIVE Starbucks locations in three cities, for this? Okay, there was that one time in Mexico.. but even that shouldn't condemn me to this type of run around. But I digress.<br /><br />I agree, a real writer writes wherever and whenever the inspiration hits. And the last thing I want is interruptions. Unless she's really hot, then it's ok. Even then.. she'd better be really hot to mess with my groove.<br /><br />As for these posers.. whatever. I can call myself an astronaut or race-car driver or a fire-truck.. that doesn't make me one. A writer "writes" and sometimes, when Fate and the God(s) are kind.. he'll even makes a few bucks for his efforts.<br /><br />Henry Velez<br />http://www.lifegoeson.netHenry V.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06036352267652310882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-49426799655058685732008-01-05T08:45:00.000-08:002008-01-05T08:45:00.000-08:00I sit and PROGRAM on my laptop in various starbuck...I sit and PROGRAM on my laptop in various starbucks, tullys, or other coffee houses. <BR/><BR/>I don't want to be mistaken for a member of the writing profession. I keep my phone handy as well, in case work wants to talk directly instead of just chat on IM.William C Bonnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18419958146523957415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-14074146565714544482008-01-01T16:42:00.000-08:002008-01-01T16:42:00.000-08:00i write in restaurants sitting next to david mamet...i write in restaurants sitting next to david mamet where he stole my idea for writing in restaurants and turned it into a book of his essays.<BR/><BR/>the nerve.<BR/><BR/>so, now that i am without a place to write without being plagiarized, can i come over to your house, danny cohen? the location sounds good and i like your dress code.<BR/><BR/>========Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-39574423679420896892008-01-01T04:41:00.000-08:002008-01-01T04:41:00.000-08:00Ken, is it just regular Starbucks, or those and th...Ken, is it just regular Starbucks, or those and the Starbucks Cafes at the Barnes & Noble stores? The latter has the further problem of the "B&N Magazine Reader", who monopolizes a table while checking out about six dozen periodicals, the final 59 after they've finished their coffee of the world latte (I believe the one at Lincoln Center in Manhattan has a three month waiting list for tables).<BR/><BR/>And as anyone who is a true writer knows, the real places to go with a laptop are the ones with tables near multiple wall plugs and free Wifi, since if you're living on a writer's salary, you don't have the spare chance for either a new long-lasting laptop battery or those damn T-Mobile wireless fees at Stabucks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-63906537244433968302007-12-30T23:49:00.000-08:002007-12-30T23:49:00.000-08:00Are screenwriters all really as obsessed (or more ...<I> Are screenwriters all really as obsessed (or more obsessed) with the appearance of writing as they are with the writing itself? Are half of them preening twits who feel some great urge to write in public so that everyone will know they're writers? And are the other half cloistered in some dank room scared that someone will perceive them as preening twits? </I><BR/><BR/>Short answer: yes. But only for the last thousand years or so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-26016140263766047542007-12-30T17:54:00.000-08:002007-12-30T17:54:00.000-08:00Writing on a plane when you are stuck for hours an...Writing on a plane when you are stuck for hours and hours and hours and people bring you drinks and food without asking...I like writing like that.Mundinatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12229736929634651806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-32600310301139865942007-12-30T00:57:00.000-08:002007-12-30T00:57:00.000-08:00I am not going to tell you where I write, because ...I am not going to tell you where I write, because it is either:<BR/><BR/>a.) boring<BR/><BR/>or <BR/><BR/>b.) a government secret<BR/><BR/>but I will tell you that you should have watched that Lindsay Lohan/Jane Fonda movie. It is the funniest movie about incest/rape you will ever see. And I trust you've seen them all.WMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08580396159567990426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-89977327120238419302007-12-29T19:44:00.000-08:002007-12-29T19:44:00.000-08:00I am going to agree with you because I am on a "I ...I am going to agree with you because I am on a "I hate Starbucks" thing right now. I went there two mornings ago and recieved funny looks because I asked for a No Foam Latte. Can you imagine? I will save you the details of how I had to talk the young man behind the counter through making it for me. <BR/><BR/>I should have followed my first insticts and gone to Carabou Coffee. <BR/><BR/>Now to answer your question, I write at school during faculty meetings.Juss_ILPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03881573973614865480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-46844854664280862982007-12-29T13:55:00.000-08:002007-12-29T13:55:00.000-08:00Seems that I have to shut the world out to let the...Seems that I have to shut the world out to let the world in, if that makes sense. Though I can and have written amid many distractions, I'm never confident about the results. I always wonder, "How much better might this have been if I hadn't been scoping out chicks, eavesdropping, calling for refills, etc." 'Course, that's what rewrites are for.<BR/><BR/>So I almost always write at home. Occasionally, when I'm the designated driver for some friends who frequent a club in Costa Mesa, I'll drop them off, then camp out at the local Norm's, order steak and eggs, and try my hand at some old-fashioned pen-and-legal-pad writing (necessitated by my lack of a laptop). I usually give up after an hour and open a book.<BR/><BR/>Starbucks is great for meetings. I'd much rather be overheard talking with a producer about my script than be seen toiling away on it (or pretending same).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-87984057961877239942007-12-29T12:40:00.000-08:002007-12-29T12:40:00.000-08:00Are screenwriters all really as obsessed (or more ...Are screenwriters all really as obsessed (or more obsessed) with the appearance of writing as they are with the writing itself? Are half of them preening twits who feel some great urge to write in public so that everyone will know they're writers? And are the other half cloistered in some dank room scared that someone will perceive them as preening twits?<BR/><BR/>Get a damned grip. Writing is something that ought to be done wherever it is that gets results. If that means going to Starbucks wearing a tweed coat with elbow patches, then wardrobe up and head on over. If it means welding yourself into the storm cellar for three months, then go ahead and eliminate sunlight from your life. And somewhere in there stop giving a shit about what people think about you.<BR/><BR/>I don't write screenplays, but I have to write to make a living. Sometimes I write at the Santa Barbara Public Library, sometimes I write at my mom's house, sometimes I write in the lobby of the hotel that's next to the casino where I play too much poker, sometimes I write in my truck when I realize halfway to L.A. that I've completely forgotten about a deadline, sometimes I write in my rich friend's guest house in Montecito, and sometimes I write at the Starbucks near UCSB where the parade of fantastic looking women young enough to be my daughters makes me feel even older and fatter than I am.<BR/><BR/>But mostly I write at home in my office (like I am now) with my feet up on my desk, my wireless keyboard in my lap, and there's easy access to my long list of distracting blogs. I keep the blinds shut on my spectacular view of my neighbors garage, and I usually have the TV on behind me with a baseball game, NASCAR race or old Perry Mason rerun playing in the background. Sometimes I even wear pants.<BR/><BR/>In short, I do whatever I need to do to ship product. I'm a volume producer of words and I'll grease the production line any way I can to keep the invoices going out and the checks coming in. I've got a life to live, a family to support, and that's expensive.<BR/><BR/>I can't afford to give a shit about where I write or how I look doing it. Just pay me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-68577447708813920532007-12-29T06:39:00.000-08:002007-12-29T06:39:00.000-08:00In my front room/office at home. Sometimes underne...In my front room/office at home. Sometimes underneath cats, who are chased away. <BR/><BR/>I need to start wearing that indoor baseball cap, or no one will take me seriously!Jack Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11202365155540203592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22135980539438603642007-12-29T02:02:00.000-08:002007-12-29T02:02:00.000-08:00I'm curious how those guys actually do their dialo...I'm curious how those guys actually do their dialogue. I always read it out loud (on orders of Garth Ennis) every half page or so to make sure that everything sounds as reasonable coming out as it did going in. And I don't even write for film or stage. And I worry about what the neighbors think.<BR/><BR/>I doubt Starbucks would appreciate some half-bathed wretch doing his best impression of Tourette's Syndrome next to the biscotti.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-91711347772341484302007-12-29T01:55:00.000-08:002007-12-29T01:55:00.000-08:00Since writers are the greatest frickin' procrastin...<I>Since writers are the greatest frickin' procrastinators to ever live...</I><BR/><BR/>Rock on! That's exactly what I'm doing right now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-87755256490572647482007-12-28T23:54:00.000-08:002007-12-28T23:54:00.000-08:00So Whoopie Goldberg has a keyboard by her abode. T...<I>So Whoopie Goldberg has a keyboard by her abode. The things one learns here!</I><BR/><BR/>I have a professional acquaintance who is a comic book artist, and is currently writing a digital art how-to book for DC Comics. He uses a laptop on a special stand, height set for his toilet, as he claims to have no other time to write. I couldn't do that. Read, yes. Draw? In pinch (a loaf), sure. Write? Nooo...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-25331040216037205712007-12-28T22:55:00.000-08:002007-12-28T22:55:00.000-08:00Ahhhh... Krispy Kreme. A great company decides t...Ahhhh... Krispy Kreme. A great company decides to kill themselves by going public and doing a wicked 'uge expansion. <BR/><BR/>Dunkin Donuts coffee kicks Starbucks ass. Unfortunately, the only Dunkin' Donuts here is in convenience stores. <BR/><BR/>I prefer to write in my easy chair while ignoring Good Morning Kentuckiana or some such crap. The Starbucks here are so damned small, trying to write in one might be a bit of a struggle.<BR/><BR/>Barnes and Noble is a good place, and I've seen many a laptop at Borders. I always just assumed people were studying. <BR/><BR/>And by the way, my AT&T Tilt kicks your Iphone and Blackberry's ass.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08923161793979910495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-45543925346594365872007-12-28T20:16:00.000-08:002007-12-28T20:16:00.000-08:00I write on the train or in the food court near my ...I write on the train or in the food court near my work. I like places where people are in the background. <BR/><BR/>I have gone to Starbucks a couple times to write with a friend because it was the only coffee shop open past 6 PM. Sure, we wore berets and fake pencil mustaches, but I don't think that makes us posers.Rickyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00480810172668236583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-8917361417043021412007-12-28T20:14:00.000-08:002007-12-28T20:14:00.000-08:00I write where William Goldman said screenplays sho...I write where William Goldman said screenplays should be written: in a small room with a small window that you can't see anything out of.<BR/><BR/>Since writers are the greatest frickin' procrastinators to ever live (they're their own species <I>homo sap procrastinatorus</I> sitting anywhere where there is something to distract one is a great way to find an excuse not to write.<BR/><BR/>The pathetic schmucks who go to Starbucks, writers or whatever they are, are people I don't care to admit share the same universe with me.TCinLAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10019943818456775718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29490553257224738052007-12-28T17:07:00.000-08:002007-12-28T17:07:00.000-08:00in my bedroom or wherever pants aren't required.in my bedroom or wherever pants aren't required.Danny Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09883761502524971209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66697954721715483682007-12-28T17:03:00.000-08:002007-12-28T17:03:00.000-08:00"Blackberries are so 2007. iPhones are the new bla...<I>"Blackberries are so 2007. iPhones are the new blackberries."</I><BR/><BR/>Dude, it's still 2007.Elverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10883756259775426088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-57596399391032961592007-12-28T17:02:00.000-08:002007-12-28T17:02:00.000-08:00Heh. I have to laugh at the Anon comment above thi...Heh. I have to laugh at the Anon comment above this one. I just traded my old Palm IIIxe in for a Treo because someone gave it to me and because the desktop software was the same so that meant I didn't have to download or change a thing. <BR/><BR/>Blackberry what?? Am I showing my age now?<BR/><BR/>StaceyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29714417679597122272007-12-28T16:52:00.000-08:002007-12-28T16:52:00.000-08:00Blackberries are so 2007. iPhones are the new blac...Blackberries are so 2007. iPhones are the new blackberries.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-37942548815449746432007-12-28T16:22:00.000-08:002007-12-28T16:22:00.000-08:00Hooray for David Letterman and Worldwide Pants!Now...Hooray for David Letterman and Worldwide Pants!<BR/><BR/>Now let's hope the rest of the industry soon follows his wise example. I won't be watching Leno any time soon. (Not that I did much anyway.)<BR/><BR/>(And Buck Short, please. I wouldn't have sex with Tallulah even if she WAS a man. Have you ever had a whiff of her? Birds flying over her house fall dead even when they're 2000 feet up.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-76477750038175191532007-12-28T16:01:00.000-08:002007-12-28T16:01:00.000-08:00"S. Buck Short said... Tallulah, Dahling. Not even..."S. Buck Short said... <BR/>Tallulah, Dahling. Not even with Doug? You really ought to give writers a a shot. You know the old saying, 'Once you go hack, you never go back.' We are so needed and appreciative you could break a hip."<BR/><BR/>Sleep with Little Dougie? Excuse me! I am a woman, no matter what you've heard. By and large, I like my men bi and large, and Dougie is neither. In any event, the last time Little Dougie had sex with a female, Lincoln was still a man and not yet a Disney robot.<BR/><BR/>Besides, is Dougie a writer when all he does his jot down my words? Which begs the question: am I a writer? No. I'm not writing; I'm dictating. There's a difference. Just ask Joseph Stalin.<BR/><BR/>I'm only 110. Hardly desperate enough yet to sleep with writers.<BR/><BR/>Cheers darling.Tallulah Moreheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07416330735326405496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-35966009209760740872007-12-28T15:21:00.000-08:002007-12-28T15:21:00.000-08:00"It was a dark and stormy night as I entered the S..."It was a dark and stormy night as I entered the Starbuck's ." <BR/><BR/>One line down, rest of my novel to go. <BR/><BR/>Happy New Year one and all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-84473596339629959982007-12-28T13:15:00.000-08:002007-12-28T13:15:00.000-08:00What works: trains and isolated cottagesWhat sucks...What works: trains and isolated cottages<BR/><BR/>What sucks: planes (no room) and starbucks (no atmosphere)JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10749223049615363296noreply@blogger.com