Just call me the Sam-I-Am of words.
I will write words in a house (as long as my husband's not home!)
I will write them with a mouse (literally, my husband's the one who cleans up the cats' kills)I will write them on a train (oh, how I loved the writing time on the way to last years Left Coast Crime. Wept bitter tears when the snow changed my return trip to a wimpy plane ride).
I will write them in the rain (well, I wrote a whole screenplay one winter while it snowed outside).
Sorry, Dr. Seuss, but I love you!
My book is in its final draft, and I have to get busy. Last year, finding the perfect cafe was my mad obsession. You see, I live on the west side of San Francisco, where there is slightly more parking but far fewer bistros and coffee shops. The Starbucks and indie coffee shops are chock full most of the time. I spent over half an hour of my precious writing time looking for the right place to write every weekend. At last I found a place where the coffee is generic, the food menu limited, but the cafe is cavernous, and they smile when I come in, knowing I'll pay more than the required five dollars in coffee and bagels just to get a plug. So what if it's on the other side of town? It's reliable. And I'm going to learn how to say "good morning" and "thank you" in Korean.
No time for the ten minute drive now--the book is overdue! So I just throw my husband out of the house, fire up the computer, and get to it, miraculously shorn of my place-fussiness.
The only place I CAN'T write is work. All the unfinished tasks call to me, and because I was a technical writer for 20 years, getting within a block of my office at 1 Market turns my prose into bullet lists. It's not a pretty sight.
Oh, I'm a nut about noise--but only at home. When the neighbors crank up their stereo, or pack their house with football fans, I have to bail, deadlines or not. To a cafe or diner that's just as loud, but mysteriously not as distracting. Still not sure what's up with that.
Here's hoping there's a good book in your weekend! I have to finish this post and get cranking on the novel.
P.S. Did you know that Green Eggs and Ham is in the top five of all time favorite children's books? Written for a bet that he couldn't write a book with just 500 words. Have you ever done something great on a bet, to prove someone wrong? Tell me about it!
Mysti, I have the same problem with noise when I try to work in my home office. I think it's because I expect it to be quiet, whereas when I go to a cafe or some such place, I already know it's going to be noisy.
Congrats on reaching the final draft!
Posted by: Staci | February 04, 2012 at 03:18 PM
Thanks, Staci! It's starting to get exciting ;)
Posted by: Mysti Berry | February 04, 2012 at 03:28 PM
Can't wait to see it! Putting in a bid to blurb it!
Posted by: Camille Minichino | February 04, 2012 at 04:20 PM
You're my first choice, Camille! It does need a bit more math...I'm working on it :)
Posted by: Mysti Berry | February 04, 2012 at 05:07 PM
I like music in the background, but not wailing children or cursing spouses... ;-) Mysti: Have you tried using "noise reduction" earphones when you have no choice but to work at home?
(I can't throw people out... it's a suburban wasteland out there, and they'd have nowhere to go. Ah, for a coffeehouse on the corner!)
Looking forward to your book! I absolutely cannot WAIT! :-D
Posted by: Ann | February 08, 2012 at 09:24 AM