Tag: ideal writing conditions

Writing in Cafes Review: Verve Cafe

It’s currently the heart of winter, which in Wellington means cold rain and wind. Lots of wind. The cats have become increasingly snuggly i.e. interested in sharing body warmth.

I feel the cold easily. The ambient temperature of cafes has thus become even more important to me than usual.

I do like the occasionally spectacular winter sunsets though.

For this reason, I’ve shifted my usual writing space from Mt Cook to Verve Cafe. Verve is located beneath an office/mall building in the CBD on Lambton Quay and gives the strong impression of being underground due to the complete lack of windows. I rather like the cosiness of this, but my friends have used words like “cave-like” to describe it.

Reasons to go there

Verve meets most of my key cafe criteria for writers, though the coffee quality is variable. There’s free WiFi, plenty of table space, comfy seats, many food choices. The staff seem relatively non-judgemental about my frequent presence as I desperately try to finish the last book in the Stariel Series.

Verve cafe on a quiet Sunday afternoon in July.

This is both a reason to go and not to go: The interesting playlists. I’m not sure who chooses them, but sometimes they exactly hit my preferences – one afternoon they played the entire soundtrack of Mamma Mia; another time, a list of nostalgic 90s pop hits. Other times, they choose a playlist diametrically opposed to my personal preferences, but YMMV (“I Whip My Hair Back and Forth” tests even my legendary ability to switch off my ears when I’m concentrating). Today is a good playlist day. As I write this, Tainted Love is playing in the background.

Reasons not to go there

If, you like to have some idea what the weather is doing before you go out in it, this is not the cafe for you, my friend. Sometimes I’ve been messaging people while inside Verve, suggesting we hang out, and they’re like: ARE YOU KIDDING? IT’S FREAKING BUCKETING DOWN AND GALE-FORCE WINDS OUTSIDE; I’M NOT LEAVING THE HOUSE.

July 8, 2018
Writing in Cafes Review: The Annexe, Whitcoulls aka The Cafe of Awkward Bathroom Escorts

Cafes and bookshops are two of my favourite things, so cafes IN bookshops = happy me. In central Wellington, this combo exists only in The Annexe, which is the cafe on the second floor of the Whitcoulls bookshop on Lambton Quay. I hang out here a lot on weekends, because of the following paragraph of reasons (and despite the anti-reasons in the rest of this post):

Reasons to go there

This is a large, airy cafe with a cosy atmosphere (I mean, it’s in a bookstore!) and a sweet people-watching view of Lambton Quay, the main shopping street in Wellington. It’s never so busy that I feel guilty for laying claim to a table for hours at a time. There’s free WiFi, but only half an hour of it (maybe this is their way of encouraging you to leave after that amount of time, but I actually find it helpful in terms of preventing me from procrastinating by reading the internet instead of writing). The food for purchase is entirely edible.

Reasons not to go there

The greatest downside to this cafe isn’t that you might accidentally purchase books on your way out despite the fact that you swore you were cutting down on spending and promised yourself that this would be a coffee-ONLY trip even if the new house editions of the Harry Potter books are super neat and right THERE on the shelf where you could buy them but you DEFINITELY DON’T NEED THEM YOU ALREADY OWN COPIES OF ALL THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS. Ahem.

The greatest downside isn’t even the fact that the coffee is pretty dreadful. No, by far the worst thing about The Annexe is the bathroom situation. The bathroom is locked, and you have to go up and ask the staff if you want to use it. They won’t give you the code for the bathroom door (or even *gasp* have an unlocked bathroom). That would be way too sensible. No, they escort you there and let you in personally. Since the bathroom is located on the other side of the floor, through the bookshop, this means having to make awkward so-how’s-your-day-going conversation whilst trying not to feel like a small child being taken for a bathroom break.

For my list of optimum cafe writing conditions, see here.

September 9, 2017
Optimum Cafe Conditions for Writing
I spend a surprising amount of time writing in cafes. I like the background white noise, the free heating/air-conditioning (depending on season), and the ability to be alone whilst not alone. The easy access to hot drinks is a nice bonus.

My working relationship with cafes isn’t a new thing. When I was a university student, I used to study in cafes in the breaks between lectures, spreading my flash-cards and notes out to cover an entire table and making one hot chocolate last for several hours. During my overseas experience in the United Kingdom, I outlined The Lord of Stariel in the Starbucks in Tooting Broadway, London, and wrote the first draft in various cafes around Oxford.

Consequently, I have a lot of Opinions about what makes for a productive cafe experience. My list of requirements, in order of priority, are:
1. Large enough that you don’t feel guilty hogging a table for hours (and also so it’s not just you and the barista awkwardly hanging out together)
2. Good table size & comfortable seat height
3. No loud music or children
4. Warm (I get cold easily)
5. Long opening hours
6. WiFi
7. Good coffee
8. Cheap and diverse cabinet food
Coming soon on the blog: reviews of Wellington cafes from a writing perspective.

This is from Ombra, Cuba St, which I would never try to write in as it’s more restaurant than cafe, but they do mochas with a SOLID STICK OF CHOCOLATE to swirl around and melt!!!! You’re welcome.
August 6, 2017