Coffee Anyone?

[Jbarney]

Wondering how many of the writers find coffee as a vehicle to help them get to where they want to be when the write. I never drank much coffee until last year....and that was when my own effort at writing really started to take off. (Now if I could just find the drink that will help me edit)

Do any of you find it helps you settle into a good creative writing mood?

Just wondering.....

Jason

 

[Christopher]

I don't drink coffee. Caffeine is a migraine trigger for me. I very occasionally have a cup of mild tea.

 

[KRAD]

I need a cup of coffee to get going in the morning, and I often have iced coffee when I'm working at a Starbucks. But I don't consider it anything that stimulates creativity or nothin'..... *shrug*

 

[Dayton Ward]

I don't drink coffee, though I do like my iced tea.

And I take Mountain Dew intravenously.

 

[JustKate]

Another tea drinker here - usually iced, but also hot. (My favorite really is Earl Grey!) I don't do much creative writing, though - I write mostly articles. I don't know if that makes a difference, caffeine-requirement-wise.

^ Mountain Dew? Euw! But whatever gets you through the day...

 

[Dayton Ward]

^ You're still slingin' words. Caffeine in some form is almost a pre-requisite

 

[JustKate]

Oh, I sling all right. Some days better than others.

 

[TerriO]

I'm caffeine-dependent. Doesn't necessarily need to be coffee, though.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I even have a fridge magnet that reads "no coffee, no workee" - but, having said that, the coffee's more just to get me awake and mobile at all.

For yer actual creativity, it helps when said coffee has a healthy dose of Baileys or Morgan's Spiced Rum in it

 

[William Leisner]

I drink coffee not so much to be creative as to be conscious...

 

[MichaelS]

Tea (with milk, no sugar) for me is what Mountain Dew is to Dayton.

 

[LightningStorm]

What's all this talk of coffee, tea, and Mountain Dew? I thought the drink of choice was something along the lines of Jack Daniels.

 

[Jbarney]

Before I started to write I'd heard that coffee was a great way to "prime the pump", to give the mind and body enough of a jolt to really get into an idea or to get through a writing goal.

Now that I'm trying my hand at writing, I do find it helps a lot. The creative element is there anyway, but I just find the little extra energy is helpful.

I wonder if Jake Sisko ever picked up his father's habit of drinking Klingon coffee, and if it helped him write.

 

[Jim Johnson]

I don't drink coffee or soda; but I do drink a lot of iced tea and water. The sugar and caffiene in tea does the job.

 

[Lonemagpie]

What's all this talk of coffee, tea, and Mountain Dew? I thought the drink of choice was something along the lines of Jack Daniels.

I already mentioned putting Morgan's Spiced *in* the coffee...

 

[PaulSimpson]

The nearer the deadline, the higher the caffeine intake. Exponentially!

 

[Dayton Ward]

What's all this talk of coffee, tea, and Mountain Dew? I thought the drink of choice was something along the lines of Jack Daniels.

 

[PaulSimpson]

What's all this talk of coffee, tea, and Mountain Dew? I thought the drink of choice was something along the lines of Jack Daniels.

You pitching for the humor issue again?

 

[Christopher]

Before I started to write I'd heard that coffee was a great way to "prime the pump", to give the mind and body enough of a jolt to really get into an idea or to get through a writing goal.

I think exercise is what does that for me. Not so much intensive exercise as just getting out and going for a walk. Not only does it get the blood flowing, but the change of scenery helps stimulate the mind. For instance, I just rode my bike to the bike shop for maintenance, dropped it off, went to a nearby sandwich shop for lunch, then walked home, and in the process I hit upon what may well be the central idea for my next novel (I hope). More generally, there's a small park just a couple minutes' walk from my apartment, and it often helps stimulate my creativity to go there and walk around for a while. (Although part of it is simply that it gets me away from the distraction of the Internet.)

 

[David Mack]

^ I need espresso to start my day; fortunately, John Ordover gave me and my wife an espresso machine as a wedding gift five years ago. I call it "the sacred machine."

And as Dayton has already illustrated quite ably, my primary creative fuel is made in Lynchburg, Tennessee. (Check out the end of the acknowledgments page in Star Trek Destiny: Gods of Night.)