The Literary Imaginarium

Skip the Starbucks!
For many writers, nothing goes better with a laptop than a double cafe mocha at the closest Starbucks. At the rate they're opening, there may soon be one in your own living room--but for now, we'll assume you still have to leave the house.
Which is largely the point.
The theory behind the Starbucks School of Writing, to which countless aspiring writers subscribe, is simple--you'll do your best and most concentrated work when you're out of the house and losing yourself in a crowded cafe, surrounded by deafening cappuccino machines, swinging doors, and tiny tables jammed with equally striving strangers.
Of course, the theory is wrong--what you really get out of a trip to Starbucks is a nice caffeine buzz and the heady impression that you've been working when in fact you haven't.
Starbucks is where writers who want to be seen in the act of creation go, who treat writing as if it were some kind of performance art. They want to be admired, they want to soothed by the ambient noise and the occasional glance from an attractive patron. They want to be asked, "What are you working on?" so they can sit back and talk about it. 
Or scowl importantly and say, "Sorry, I can't be disturbed right now."
When, if they really and truly wanted to be undisturbed, they'd stay home in the first place, make a cup of Folgers instant (for about a nickel), and concentrate.


Excerpt from: Robert's Rules of Writing   
By: Robert Masello
Writer's Digest Books Copyright 2005