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I have a terrible confession to make

My wife and I both work from home, but her new telemedicine job means I can't be stealing her bandwidth. So I am a coffee shop writer now, and I've got it down to a science.

A couple of local shops do double punches on the punchcards certain days of the week. Starbucks does double points on Wednesday. So I'm not only don't seem the weirdo who comes in and sits by himself everyday, I'm also not going to pay for coffee for the next few weeks.
 
I have always found the library to be a good place to write, other than the office. (I don't do much off-site writing at my current job, though. It's not a "work from home" culture.)

Before kids, I'd write at home a lot. After kids, no.
 
Yeah, I don't edit there. Just pound out the first draft. Edits come at night in the dark and quiet.

I have to say, I really love the process of writing. I've thought about doing other things from time to time, but nothing else appeals the same way.
I've taken to writing everything by pencil. The sound is soothing, plus it's in step with my thinking and easier to erase than pen. I keep a sharpener in my bag. I prefer writing on the train or in the library when I'm not at home. Coffee houses, bars and restaurants are too distracting and, well, very poseurish. But whatever works for ya.
 
I know you're joking, but being able to dictate into Google Docs in the car is an incredible time saver.
 
I've taken to writing everything by pencil. The sound is soothing, plus it's in step with my thinking and easier to erase than pen. I keep a sharpener in my bag. I prefer writing on the train or in the library when I'm not at home. Coffee houses, bars and restaurants are too distracting and, well, very poseurish. But whatever works for ya.

I cut and paste too much to write longhand, although I like the idea. Robert Caro writes in such a physical way, and I admire his work so much, that I tried it for a little while. Didn't work.

Coffee shop is bumping today, so I have my headphones on, listening to this on a loop.



Bring on the trance.
 
I know you're joking, but being able to dictate into Google Docs in the car is an incredible time saver.

I'm not joking. Back in the day when I didn't have kids and drove all over, I used to "write" for hours. Everytime I stopped, I'd scribble down what I had. Enjoyed the process. Kind of a challenge to see how much I could keep in my head at one time.
 

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