A work date

Photo by cyclonebill - found at Wikimedia Commons

Over the five years I've been a writer, I have never written any of my stories in a cafe. Or restaurant.

Maybe it's because I predominantly swing towards the extreme ends of writing. Long form features or short and succinct news. One requires tons of research and I am notorious for killing trees. The other requires only a smartphone and you can write stories standing. And as I generally do not require much external inspiration to write, I write in the office, or at home, or anywhere I can find a flat surface to sit on. I just don't believe in paying a premium for a workspace.

But yesterday I did. And it turns out to be quite pleasant. It felt weird at first because I have always wondered how people can just go to Starbucks, order expensive coffee, sit down, power up their laptops and work. I understand there's free wi-fi and people do go there to work. Alone. But when there is more than two people? What was the point?

After spending close to 5 hours at Starbucks, I finally realise the possible reasons why people do meet up to work.

1. These days our lives are getting busier than ever. Alongside work commitments, social commitments grow over time. On top of business meetings, you have your dinners with friends, farewells, birthday bashes, weddings etc etc. When you want to meet as well as work weekends, you meet and work!

2. Although writing is very much a solitary activity (which is why writers tend to live in their heads), some distraction is good. Though these days due to the Internet, we tend to distract ourselves with other people's writing. Some sort of conversation in between paragraphs can actually get the brain juices flowing.

3. Sometimes people watching can be fun. There was this young couple at the next table who can't stop checking out other people and providing commentary. And there was this French guy who was brokering a black market deal over the phone, loudly.

And so, the work is finished after about 5 hours and we head off for some entertainment to cap off the day. It was one of the toughest stories for me but I think it may take longer if I were to stare at the ceiling and wrench words out of my mind.

I may not be called a dinosaur yet, but my approach to life is pretty conventional and traditional. That's why I used to think that when people meet, phones are best tucked away. That said, there is a difference between being totally engrossed with work/the phone and being present while doing work. It's kind of like one of my other friends, who could fiddle with the phone and still catch whatever conversation that is going on around the table.

Spending quality time together with friends and family is still the best. But being able just to spend time with people we care about whilst fulfilling our other duties is sometimes good enough.