On Facebook, coffee is a sacrament. Have you noticed this? Coffee jokes, coffee witticisms, coffee mugs. If you subscribe to writing-related pages on Facebook, you'll quickly become convinced that coffee is the fount of all inspiration. For many of us, it is. (Those of you in the United Kingdom don't understand this because your coffee usually is Nescafe instant and some boiling water. That is not coffee.)
Some of you reading this don't fancy coffee and prefer your caffeine another way. For example, tea -- sweet, unsweet, green, oolong, Earl Grey. Most of the people I've met who drink Earl Grey were English majors or Star Trek: Next Gen fans. Or Mountain Dew -- all the people I've met who prefer Mountain Dew are computer programmers. Read on, because it may help you understand us coffee drinkers.
Why do so many writers prefer coffee? It could be because of the allure of coffeehouses* as places to write. Perhaps it's knowing the mystique of the coffee's journey from coffee cherry to processing method to grinding to brewing. Maybe it's just that coffee is a socially sanctioned form of stimulants.
Coffee drinkers, like writers, appreciate the history of coffee. The apocryphal story of the discovery of coffee goes like this: An Arabic shepherd, feeling weary, sat under a bush to rest after making a fire to boil water. After he let the water cool, he notices one of his goats take a drink and then bound around the pasture with leaps and hops. The shepherd witnessed this, took a drink of the water, and no longer felt tired.**
Can you write without coffee? Yes -- any ritual will help you get in the mindset, and writers have plenty of rituals -- Using a fountain pen to write, writing in a dedicated Moleskine book, writing in a blog as a warmup, listening to music ... Coffee is just another ritual. With caffeine added.***
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* You will find the best ambience in indie coffeehouses. Consider yourself lucky if you have access to these. Chain "stores" that sell nationally recogized brands, not so much. Only one Starbucks in the US, in my opinion, has true coffeehouse ambiance, and it's the Starbucks at Northwest Missouri State University, in the library. I work at that university and hold some of my office hours here.
** I question this account for a couple reasons: 1) I've seen goats. They dance like they're overcaffeinated ALL THE TIME. (Meet the crazy goats at Goats Gone Grazing Acres for an example.) 2) The herder boiled his water to be sanitary, only to drink it after a goat slurped it up? I prefer the story without the dancing goat.
*** Full disclosure: I am a coffee snob. In this household, we buy small lot green coffee beans and roast them at home in a small-batch drum roaster. We brew in a French press. We check for flavor notes. It's really quite obnoxious. Really.
I seldom drink coffee. When i do it must contain ice, chocolate, heavy cream or whole milk. The iced mocha is only a treat for me. However as a case manager I do have to spend long hours writing annual plans and request numerous for additional resources to meet my clients needs. The writing is not at all creative but it written in a language to meet the criteria in order to get the services approved. I would guess it is probably close to grant writing. This kind of writing can be very boring so i do keep candy in my drawer mostly chocolate, some skittles, and chewy sweet tarts. I eat about a handful each day savoring two peices at a time while write working on the document.
ReplyDeleteIf coffee is what it takes to keep you motivated I understand.
It is also a socially acceptable stimulant that is sold just about anywhere. Some writers would argue that they produce their best work when the have their favorite libation. Humans are creatures of habbit and when they are successful once they will continue to recreate the environment to produce the same results. If you were drinking your favorite coffee and were able to write a passage that you were particularly satisfied with then I can see the logic behind having a coffee while you write.
This is Lanetta.
Ahh, case management paperwork. So much paperwork! I currently teach that class to 75 students a year, and you're right -- case management paperwork is its own kind of writing! How to be concise and get enough detail in and give a clear picture and not judge the client. Very technical language there, but nonetheless writing that requires fuel.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is, insanely enough, my preferred energizer, but I also qualify as a tea snob (*blush*)