The Coffee Drinker's Guide to Writing

If tea is a sophisticated drink for calm and practical people, then coffee is tea’s crazy second cousin for the passionate and the caffeine-driven. Okay, so anybody can drink coffee, but let’s face it, if you’re a writer and you enjoy coffee, then there’s a 79% chance you’re enthusiastic. Or you’re just not a morning person. Take your pick.

But how, might you ask, can a tea drinker like coffee just as much? On the contrary, my friend, I… I have no idea. I just do.

My evolution of liking coffee is a strange story. Back when I was a kid, I used to hang out with my writing club at Starbucks where we’d buy Frappuccino’s, and for years, I wouldn’t drink anything other than sugar-slathered drinks. Then one year, my friend Sarah came to visit me in Europe, and we took a trip down to Italy where I tried my first sugar-infused cappuccino. It was marvelous. Then I started drinking cappuccinos on a regular basis, without sugar. Then I went straight for strong, black coffee.

Yes, I’m a bizarre creature. Whoever said writers were supposed to be normal? I still drink cappuccinos. In fact, they’re my caffeine drink of choice, though I haven’t been able to find a decent one since leaving in Italy. (Oh, the good old days!)

Whether you’re like me or not—if you’re a writer who likes coffee, this post is for you!

Coffee comes in many, many varieties.

From chocolate-covered coffee beans and espressos to cappuccinos and iced lattes, there are plenty of coffees to enjoy on the go or at a leisurely pace. Personally, I like chocolate covered coffee beans for road trips, and they’re great for those dull times when your imagination just needs a boost. Road trips can be great for reading if you’re not the driver, and they can be great for world-building or character development whoever you are! When it comes to sitting and having a writing-related discussion, I like a good cappuccino. If I need some serious motivation, I’ll switch to strong black coffee.

It’s all based off personal preferences, but there’s a coffee for nearly any occasional. There’s even decaf, but…

The caffeine in coffee is a great motivator.

It comes from a bean, so coffee has to be so much better for you than energy drinks.  Besides, it has so many uses!

Feeling groggy because it’s morning and you can’t quite wake up enough to think let alone write? Have a cup of coffee. Staying up late writing for NaNoWriMo or some other project and you need the energy? Drink coffee!

Just the smell of coffee is inspirational.

There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly brewed coffee, filling the room and promising to awaken your senses. Can we get a coffee-scented candle already? Or coffee-scented perfume? Or maybe I just need to make more coffee!

Need I say more?

Coffee stains make your stories look 1000x more awesome.

Let’s face it. If you’re like me, and printing out your story (or handwriting it) helps you out, then there’s a 75% chance it’s going to come in contact with your drink of choice. And coffee stains are almost a given. But come on. They’re not a hindrance. They’re a badge of dedication and hard work. They say, “Look! On this page, I needed caffeine, and I had caffeine, and oh, my goodness, it’s such a relief to see something other than red ink drowning my words.”

Besides, if you’re finished with your pristine, perfect new draft manuscript, you can douse it with coffee instead of burning it. After all, coffee smells good! But whatever you do, don’t douse it with coffee and then burn it. The smell of burnt coffee is not so inspirational.

Drinking coffee is a good excuse to collect a bunch of writerly or geeky mugs.

Okay, so you could do this with tea as well, but I’m not writing about tea, am I? My own collection of mugs, though quite small, makes drinking coffee twice as enjoyable. Not only am I having a caffeinated drink, but I’m also getting an inspirational snippet as well. Sounds like a win-win deal to me!

Coffee is just nice, plain and simple.

Or complicated and sugary if you prefer. So don’t let anybody tell you not to drink it if they don’t like it. Everybody’s entitled to his or her opinion. So, drink ten cups of coffee like Lorelai Gilmore. Or sip a cappuccino like me. Or just, you know, enjoy a cup of coffee, however you like it, just like you do.

Then get to writing and enjoy your craft!

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Liked this post? You might also enjoy: The Proper Care and Feeding of a Writer: Some of the Basics and The Tea Drinker’s Guide to Writing.

Let’s chat! What’s your favorite type of coffee? What’s your favorite benefit to being a coffee drinker and a writer? Did I leave anything out?

The Tea Drinker's Guide to Writing

Writers, what’s your drink of choice? You may have heard the old argument, tea versus coffee. Well today I’m here to discuss the benefits of being a writer and an avid tea drinker.

Tea drinking is a wonderful thing. Back during my undergraduate studies, a group of my friends would host a tea party every Friday night. We’d gather together and fellowship and play music and, of course, drink tea. It was there that I tasted the most delicious spiced chai, which actually came from India. I’ve never had anything quite like it since, but it was those nights that introduced me to one of my favorite teas, so when I moved to England a couple years later, I knew a little bit about what to buy. 

And there are so, so many benefits to drinking tea and being a writer!

Tea comes in sooooo many varieties. 

With four general types of tea—black, green, white, and herbal—and hundreds of flavors, there’s plenty for people to choose from. My mom likes chai lattes. I prefer black, but am willing to try almost all others.

During my first trip to Oxford after my senior year, I discovered I didn’t like fruity teas. When I went to a celebration for scholarship winners, I discovered lemon ginger tea. It’s the only fruity tea I like. I also picked up peppermint and Welsh black tea along the way as well as the English tradition of milk and sugar. I’ll take my tea any way really, so long as it’s not green or fruity.

Not only are there teas for different tastes, but they can also help set the mood for your story. Writing a winter scene? Try some peppermint tea. Writing a death scene? Drink something black. Developing some morally-gray characters? There’s earl grey. Writing about a character with sass? There’s lemon ginger. I could go on and on.

The caffeine in tea is not overwhelming.

I love to exercise. But one of the downsides to that is that sometimes I get jittery. Drinking coffee doesn’t help, but with tea, I don’t have a problem. And for those who can’t have caffeine, there are plenty of caffeine free varieties to choose from.

If you’re a night-owl writer or you’re staying up late to meet a deadline, try a cup of tea. It will keep you hydrated, and the decaf varieties won’t keep you awake when you want to get some rest. Unless you’re me and the caffeine in tea doesn’t affect you at all. Then by all means, drink whatever kind of tea you want to keep yourself motivated.

Many fictional characters drink tea.

Captain Picard drinks earl grey. John and Sherlock drink tea all the time as do basically any characters from England. Come to think of it, I don’t usually read a lot of stories that include tea drinkers. Maybe I’m just not reading the right books? Let us change this, dear writers, and don’t be afraid to write about your favorite types of tea.

So why not join them and make yourself a cup?

A cup of tea a day keeps writer’s block away.

Okay, so maybe it doesn’t? The only real cure for writer’s block is writing. But it sounds good, right? Go ahead and have some tea.

Drinking tea is a great social activity for writers.

If there’s anything I learned about living in England, it’s that drinking tea can be either a solitary activity or a social event. Basically, anytime two people meet, aside from passing them in Lidl or the library, tea is offered. If you’re having a meeting with other writers, why not head to a café or make a pot at your place. Every time I Skype or hang out with my friend Faith, we end up drinking tea. It’s a great social drink, and while it may not keep us from choking or spilling it everywhere, it keeps us hydrated while we introverts talk more than we usually would.

Tea serves as a great conversational filler.

Unfortunately, not a lot of readers understand writers. To them, writers are either long-dead or strange human beings who take pleasure in killing off their favorite characters. I’ve even read a couple of pins that ask if writers sit down and have a cup of tea with Satan while plotting deaths. Thank you, readers. I’m glad you have such faith in us!

While I can’t vouch for others, I’m sitting here sipping my coffee—oh, goodness, what am I doing? Anywaaaaay… If you’re finding yourself misunderstood or somebody asks a question you’re not quite sure how to answer (e.g. “What’s your story about?), just raise a cup of tea, smile like Sherlock after he accidentally dropped an eyeball in the cup, and say, “Tea?”

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Liked this post? You might also enjoy: The Proper Care and Feeding of a Writer: Some of the Basics and When Can I Read Your Book?

If you’re a coffee-drinker, be sure to come back next month for A Coffee Drinker’s Guide to Writing.

Let’s chat! What’s your favorite type of tea? What’s your favorite benefit to being a tea drinker and a writer? Did I leave anything out?