A guest post by Laura Lam.

I try to write every day, even if it’s just a few hundred words.

That doesn’t always happen—sometimes life gets in the way or I’m too burned out, but even so, I think about things for a bit before I fall asleep.

I always ambitiously set my alarm for 6 in the morning, but a lot of the time I ignore it and fall back to sleep. When I do manage to haul myself out of bed and blearily make myself a strong cup of coffee, I can usually bust out 800 words or so before going into work.

Most of my writing is done in cafés, which is proving to be a horribly expensive habit. But I find it easier to get into the mentality of “I am here to work.” It’s also a nice change of scenery, and I go with my husband, who also writes. It might be strange dates to sit across a table and tap away on our keyboards, but hey, it works.

I’ve several favourite haunts about my city. There’s a Starbucks 5 minutes’ walk from my work, which is where I go most often. Sometimes we’ll mix it up and go to the other Starbucks, or the café where our friend works. On Saturday, I go to the little independent café around the corner from my house, which I love. I don’t even have to go up to the counter and order tea anymore—they know me well enough to just bring it to me. They know I’ve written a good chunk of my first book there, and they always ask how writing is going. It’s a cozy café, and I have a preferred table right in front of the window, so when I’m stuck I can people watch.

Plus, their milk dispensers for tea are little cows. How cute!

Photo courtesy of the Clover Café Facebook Page

On a good day, I wake up at 6, write 800 words before work, and go to the café after work from 5 to 6.30 and write another 800 words. On a Saturday at the café, a good day is 2000 words. I’ve never written more than 2,500 words on the same novel in a day. I’m always in awe of people who can write 4,000 or more words in a day, but I can’t do it.

I don’t like working in a vacuum. I’ve stolen character descriptions from people who happened to be sitting in the café that day, which sounds a bit creepy. Sometimes I’ll overhear snippets of conversation and watch people’s body language as they speak to each other. Writing is about people, and I find it comforting to be surrounded by them as I work.

That’s it from our Laura! Writers, where do you write? Are you cafe writers as well?