Thursday, December 18, 2014

Coffee House Love



To a vast majority of writers, and people in general these days, coffee is everything.


We get up, get ready, get our coffee and then start writing. 

But have you ever thought about what makes the atmosphere of your favorite coffee shop so great for writing?


Well it certainly isn’t this guy that’s always taking up the corner table with the electrical outlet and acting like he’s Sartre or something!

I don’t even think that it’s the calm chatter, or the smell of coffee and muffins in the air. It isn’t that the coffee shop makes you feel more focused or because it is the only place on earth where ignoring your fellow man is accepted. It isn’t the decorations or the comfy seat or the ready availability of plugs for your laptop or phone. It isn’t even really that you went somewhere and took set time out of your schedule to write – although that is highly necessary.

I would like to propose to you that the reason why your favorite coffee shop is your favorite coffee shop is because of the music they play. Maybe you haven’t even noticed the ambient, indie tunes dancing about in the background of your mind, but I bet if you sat a listened for a bit you could hear their inspiring voices calling your characters forth.

Realizing this fact you might begin to wonder what you ought to do when you visit a coffee house where no music is playing, or when the weather has kept you at home brewing your own cup of coffee. How can you replicate the inspiration without the Sartre man smoking at the corner table?

Well I’m sure many of us have heard of Spotify and have our own favorite playlists on there that we listen to ALL THE TIME. (Oh! Fun side note, I listened to 41,993 minutes of music on Spotify this year. If you can beat that be sure to comment below and we will all bask in your love of music. Anyway, back on topic…) Spotify has a lot of great playlists on it for us writers. And I have five which I would like to suggest for those of you missing the music needed for the enjoyment and full working effects of your life blood – coffee.

        1. Your Favorite Coffeehouse


This playlist is full of mellow indie tunes such as those by The Civil Wars, Daniela Andrade and John Schmitt. If you are looking for music that has a full, gentle tone this is the playlist for you. While nearly all the songs on the playlist have lyrics they serve for modern inspiration and a quiet bout of thinking and clacking away on your keyboard.

        2. Peaceful Piano


For those of you who cannot take lyrics while you are writing and tend to write best when your mind is gently massaged into a relaxed state I would like to recommend Peaceful Piano. WARNING: it might make you busy headed people sleepy so use wisely – like on a cool and rainy afternoon.

        3. Intense Studying


This playlist is also especially nice for those of you who cannot write with words playing the background and is a little more upbeat with some other instruments such as violin, cello and some brass.

        4. Deep focus


This playlist is much darker than the others I have mentioned. The beats are deep, melodic and melancholy. Perfect for that intense, scary or depressing scene you have to write – or a novel that is just entirely depressing and thought provoking.

Finally I would like to suggest a favorite indie artist of mine who has a voice that is simply angelic and can always get me in the mood to write something beautiful:

        5. Alex G


You can find a lot of her covers and singles on Spotify, but her presence is much greater on YouTube if you can use that resource without distraction – I for one simply cannot. ;)

Well, now that you have some new music inspirations that you can take nearly wherever you wish where are you going to go write first? Escape the rut of writing where you usually do and take your morning cuppa to a new special place where inspiration will flow all the better.

Love,

Deanna.

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