“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.”

                                                                     -  T.S. Eliot 

It came out of Africa centuries ago and has since established a foothold in every part of the world. For most people in the world, coffee is an elixir vitae. They are not the same unless they have had that first cup of rich, black stuff after they have gotten out of bed. They cannot start their day without it. Coffee is a social-thing too, a reason for friends and family to get together. However, for writers, famous and unknown, coffee takes on an even greater level of importance.

If you write on a timetable or a schedule, coffee helps get your primed and focused to fill up that blank computer screen. Yes, I sing the praises of that blessed caffeine-kick. However, at least for me, there is more to it than that. For me, coffee is a meditation. Drinking it is a multi-sensory experience. For starters, there is that heavenly scent. That’s often enough to wake you up on its own – especially if it’s freshly ground. 

As I raise my cup, I pay attention to the warmth of the cup and then take a moment to breathe in that rich scent. I pour it slowly toward my lips, well aware of its delicious heat and making sure I get just enough of it in each sip, so I don’t burn myself. Then, there’s the taste. I drink my coffee black, the way the gods meant for it to be consumed, so we’ll say the taste is – let’s call it jarring. With each sip, I start thinking about what I need to write. Halfway through the cup, I’m ready to begin, and I have the focus needed to see me through that round of writing.

There is this romanticized notion that writers and other artists need to wait to be inspired before they can create anything. Ha! Even the greats will laugh in the face of this. Jack London was famous for saying, “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.”

Well then, I say let coffee be your muse, your inspiration. Halfway through that first cup, you’re going to be alert and focused, and you’re already sitting at your computer so you might as well give it go. See what happens. You might be surprised.  

Let’s not forget, that without coffee, we wouldn’t have coffee houses. They bring writers, these mostly solitary creatures, out of their lairs and into the bright light of day. Coffee houses are great places to meet other writers, share your works in progress and give each other feedback. 

It’s also a great place to bear down and get some writing done. I can only speak for myself when I say that sometimes writing at home can get dull. There are also too many available distractions. When I write at a coffee house though, I’m definitely more focused. I’m there for a purpose, and I do not leave my seat until I’ve finished whatever writing I have planned on doing for that day.

While doing my research for this post, I read about some very famous coffee houses that legendary writers used to haunt. The Elephant House in Edinburgh, Scotland was a favorite spot for authors Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall-Smith. It’s also where a single mother named J.K. Rowling created a pop culture icon. Vesuvio Café in San Francisco was a gathering place for the poets of the Beat Generation, and Café La Rotande in Paris played host to the likes of Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, and Ernest Hemingway. I’m tempted to pilgrimage to one of these sacred places with a pen and notebook and see if I catch any residual creative energy left behind by these great authors.

Also, while doing research for this post, I also came across what seems to be an anti-coffee conspiracy. There are heretics out there on the internet that actually believe coffee may actually inhibit creativity. I think those people were never creative to begin with. 

One of these blasphemers did bring up a good point that, often times, great ideas come when you’re not trying or when you’re the middle of another activity. I do agree. This has happened to me quite a bit. However, none of these moments would be possible without those coffee-driven rounds of writing. That is the soil from which these new ideas will later blossom when they are ready. 

Others preached that coffee was a health hazard, a poison that will take years off of your life. Well, tell that to Voltaire. He drank 30-40 cups of coffee a day and lived to be 83. 

DISCLAIMER: I do not recommend drinking 30-40 cups of coffee a day, even though it apparently worked for Voltaire.