These are the spectacular lights in Pam’s Cafe where a friend and I had coffee yesterday. We had a walk through Kirkby-in-Furness in glorious sunshine and I enjoyed looking at the houses and cottages because I am so interested in them – okay – I’m nosey! We walked along the beck past swathes of foxgloves and watched a farmer gathering sheep aided by 3 competent sheepdogs. Our walk took us back by the quiet railway line and we ended at Pam’s cafe where we had great coffee and delicious scones. I thought: this is the life, this is how JK Rowling did it, so I should do the same. All I had to do was to bring my notebook, pen and laptop and come here to write down words that would flow as easily as the coffee that would sustain me.
It worked like that for JK Rowling when she wrote the first Harry Potter book; she was surrounded by the noise and bustle of a busy cafe. I expect loud music was played and people talked and laughed around her and the coffee machine was a constant background noise, but it didn’t stop her and look what she achieved. I was tempted to try it until I realised that it wouldn’t work like that for me. When I write I work in silence with not even music playing because I am so easily distracted.
When my writing shed was first put up in the garden my children bought me a radio to use in it and I duly tuned it to Classic FM having heard that Mozart stimulated the brain. It didn’t stimulate mine and I found that instead of writing I was listening to what was being played and deciding if I liked it or not. When I realised that I was spending more time listening to the banter of the presenters, the listeners’ requests, and even the adverts I knew that the time had come to switch it off. So I am never going to be that writer who sits at a corner table in a cafe attracting interested glances from people who wonder if she’s famous …
