Week 12 - A Boy and the Black Stuff

There’s no escaping the fact that life can get really busy at this time of year.

I always find it odd that I start complaining when the department stores put out their Christmas stock in September; yet it gets to the first week in December and suddenly there doesn’t seem to be enough time to fit everything in.

One thing is different this year: I’m writing a novel. If you’ve been with me from the first blog, you will know that my plan was to get to Chapter 20 before a well-earned Christmas break. I started Chapter 19 this morning, so I am on track.

This has been helped in no small way by the fact my local Starbucks has started to open an hour earlier. I can now go in anytime after 7 am and start to type away.

This has proven immensely useful and very productive, although at a slight moral cost.

I should really dislike Starbucks. In fact, I really want to dislike it.

Look at what comes under the negatives in my Starbucks Plus & Minus spreadsheet (OK, it’s a virtual spreadsheet, but you get the drift).

American Corporate Giant; Anytown syndrome; All look the same; puts the “little man” out of business; play the same music; Starbucks and laptops is such a cliché...

and yet...

I love the place! The plus column: The coffee’s great (black, of course); the staff remember me and what I drink; I like the music; and I tried the little man’s coffee shop: it never opened on time, the staff were terrible and it was about as conducive to writing as standing up on a rush hour tube, while some drunk itinerant treats the carriage to an energetic chorus or two of “It’s Not Unusual”.

As for the cliché - it must be a cliché for a reason. And that reason is sometimes it’s good to go against what people say and just do what seems right - like starting a sentence with a preposition.

At the end of the day, I just can’t argue with the facts. I am more productive because getting to write in a place that seems geared to it inspires me to keep going.

Kate Mosse suggests certain favourite quotes help inspire the writing process. She offers some examples, such as: Dem Wandersmann gehört die Welt in allen ihren Weiten (to the wanderer belongs the whole wide world). You can see more here: http://www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk/advice/12.asp.

As ever, good advice. But my own sure fire quote to get the creative juices flowing is: There’s always time for one more drink (E.Morse).

After all, the next chapter is only a cup of coffee away.