I Need Some Coffee For This Project...
I’m not certain that having coffee helps my writing, but I wouldn’t say it hurts either. I’ve found the normal scenario of setting up in a coffee shop with Wi-Fi and writing an article becomes more interesting with the coffee jolt. By interesting, I think I should say unpredictable. (Spontaneous and creative may be more positive adjectives. ) The stream of consciousness that gets revved up can make my angles more compelling, unique and pointed. There’s also a chance I cold lose focus and pursue a tangent of commentary that is fascinating in the moment, but later reads strangely off-topic.
Having analyzed articles pre-submission against the writing scenario I was in has helped make me more intentional about how I use “the buzz”. And there are different buzzes per coffee shops, brands and probably even baristas. I know if I go to a certain Brewing Market in Boulder, my large mocha will jack my brain for about two hours and I can crank out my writing with frantic glee. If I go to a certain Vic’s Coffee shop I get more of an incisive focus that almost always helps me reveal deeper nuggets of detail that weren’t apparent during the intial outline process. A different shop’s coffees somehow sends me wandering the vastness of the internet, following links like PacMan until I’m reading about some corruption lawsuit in Jakarta for my article on new trends in Colorado landscaping.
You can have similar physiological reactions to food, and paying attention to how your coffee - or any food/drink choice - affects your concentration is worth the effort. Now where’s that chocolate-chip muffin…?
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