Naked At McDonalds: Writing In Public

This lesson was inspired by a documentary.
It was 4am, I had insomnia.
I started flicking through the channels, and didn’t want to watch any movies or infomercials, so all that was left was PBS. The documentary was called “Good To Great”, based on the Jim Collins book of the same name. Basically Collins and his team went out and investigated the top companies in their field, and tried to discern what made them a great company as opposed to a good company. One of the companies they studied was Starbucks. And one of the things they mentioned is that Starbucks had created what they called a “third place”.
Home was the first place, work was the second, and the local Starbucks was the third place.
It’s a fascinating idea and one that made me think that all writers really need to find that third place. That place outside of our day job, outside of our home, that we find it comfortable to write in.

We, as writers need to find our third place.

Personally, my own third places have varied, but are almost always coffeehouses or cafes. Places where you can sit and write in your journal, type on your keyboard, and get lost in your own world for a while without being totally disengaged from the outside world.

Here’s an argument for finding your third place, a few rules to making it work, and several exercises to get you warmed up once you get there.

Why should you write in public?

• It takes you out of your comfort zone: Too often in our writing, we get comfortable. We have our comfy chair, we have our desk with its stacks of papers, beeping gadgets, the bookshelves lined with our favorite reads. We write about our favorite characters, ones that we know intimately. Writing in public takes you out of that comfort zone, and when you’re out of that zone, amazing things can happen. Writing is, by its very nature, a very private and intimate act. Writing in public, for all to see, takes that private and intimate act and puts it squarely into the arena. That can make you uncomfortable. With that edge, with that discomfort, there is room to grow, room to learn. You’ll do anything to gain pleasure (writing) and to avoid pain (embarrassment), so I’m going to teach you a few exercises below to help get you writing and over your embarrassment or self-consciousness. Writing in public helps you grow by pushing you out of your comfort zone.
• Distraction sharpens your concentration: When you move from your comfy writing hovel and out into a table or booth at your nearby noisy McDonalds, you are immediately thrown from comfort into chaos. Everything familiar is gone. Everything around you fights for your attention. The people walking around you, the busboy clearing the table next to you, the conversation, the buzz in the air, the scents and the sounds and the clamor all knock you out of your groove. If you’re gonna get anything done, you’re gonna have to concentrate. So you put your head down and you start writing. Soon the voice in your head becomes louder than the cacophony outside. Soon the sentences come smoother, come easier, and all that surrounds you is a white noise, a hum. When you finish that page or that chapter, you look up, pop back into the real world, and you look at your watch. An hour has passed, maybe two. That’s what you call flow. Writing in public helps harness the amazing power of concentration upon demand.
• It gets you out of the house: I used to joke that my parents were afraid that I was going to turn into the Unabomber. That my writing, along with my penchant for seclusion would turn me into a scruffy, unkempt, single, slightly crazed manifesto writer with only a single, very tenuous, very fragile thread of sanity connecting me to the real world. I’m sure that if you’ve been writing for any amount of time, your friends, your family, your significant others, have noticed that you don’t get out as much any more. You tend to stay in, write, read, work on your novel or your short stories. You’ve made your writing a priority. And that’s good. But have you also made it your excuse from getting out into the real world. “I can’t go to the store, I have to write.” “I can’t go to that party, I have to write.” “I can’t take a bath or shave, I need to write.” Now granted, that’s a gross generalization, but it serves to make my point. To be a writer you need to be engaged in the world. You can’t sit in an ivory tower and gaze upon the masses and know what’s going on in their life. You need to pack up your notebook and your pencil and you need to go out and observe them in their natural habitat. Think of it as a social experiment. Think of yourself as Jane Goodall or Jacques Costeau. You’re a brave adventurer, going out to beard the lion in its den. Writing in public forces you to shower, shave, get dressed, and get out in the sunshine, the fresh air and into the world.
• It engages your other senses: You need to remember that we have five senses. See, hear, smell, touch, taste. It’s the rare writer who really evokes all five of them at any given time. When you’re writing in public, these senses can work against you, as I mentioned above. The sounds, sights and smells slam into you like the waves of a never ending ocean. But I think that writing in public also forces you to remember those senses. You are acutely sensitive to what you hear because of the crashing around you. You are acutely sensitive to what you see because of the myriad of colors and movement that swarms around you. You are acutely sensitive to what you taste, due to the really bad coffee and really stale muffin in front of you. You are acutely sensitive to what you smell due to the aroma of burnt toast, Pine Sol and the perfume of the lady in the booth next to yours. One way to draw the reader into your world, the world of your detective is to engage all their senses. Too frequently, a writer will just show. People walking. People talking. You need to set yourself apart from the pack and let the reader really experience the scene you are writing. Before starting that chapter, make a list of all five senses and write down at least one thing or maybe even two or three things for each sense to include in your segment. Writing in public heightens your senses, which in turn reminds you to engage all five of the reader’s senses.
• It allows you to be nosy – Let’s face it, we are a nation of busybodies. We are nosy. We are intrusive. We want to know what the heck is going on with our neighbor, with our politicians, with our hairdressers, with our celebrities. Magazines such as the National Enquirer, shows such as Entertainment Tonight, are built upon this demand for information. We love to gossip, we love to spy, we love to get the dirt. Writing in public makes you a fly on the wall. It delivers to you, gift wrapped, people to watch, people to listen to. People to judge. People to laugh at, to cry with. As a writer, you must embrace your empathy; your ability to connect with, and feel with, other people. But if the only people you are writing about on a consistent basis is your detective and your other characters, then you’re really missing out. It’s like eating nothing but cold oatmeal, when you’ve got an amazing buffet surrounding you. Writing in public introduces you to a whole new cast of characters.

Now that you’ve decided to take the plunge and do some writing in public, I’ve got a few guidelines to make your trip out into the wild more successful.

Rules for writing in public

• Take only what you need. I was watching yet another documentary on those crazy guys who went exploring in the arctic back in the early 1900’s. As you know back then, it was all a race. A race to see who would get the Northwest Passage, a race to see who could get to Antarctica, a race for the north and the south poles. And the folks who won the race always had one thing in common – they packed light. They packed only what they needed. Instead of hundreds of explorers, they took a handful. Instead of twenty sled dog teams, they took two or three. They traveled light, unencumbered, undistracted. This is your rule number one for writing in public. Take what you need. What do you need? A pencil, some paper. There you go. You do not need an iPod, a cellphone, a laptop, internet access, email, wifi, lipstick, a deck of cards, your lucky troll, fingernail polish, etc. Again – you need pencil and some paper. Leave everything else in the car.
• Clearly define your goal for this trip. One easy way to get overwhelmed and confused is to lack focus. If you walk into the café with your paper and your pencil, yet have no clear idea of what you want to do, you’re gonna sit there and beat yourself up for not getting anything done for the first half hour, and then the second half hour you’re going to wonder if you have any email messages or phone messages waiting for you when you get back to the car. Before you leave your house, I want you to take an index card or post it note and write “During these two hours at the café, I will write…” and then fill in the blank. And be specific. “I will write one chapter of at least 1,000 words.” “I will write one journal entry of at least five pages.” “I will write one scene of my screenplay.” “I will plot at least five chapters of my novel.” “I will write at least two poems.” You’ve given yourself a target and a specific time limit to reach that target. Your conscious and subconsious mind will work together to hit that target every time.
• Always support the establishment – This should go without saying, but I’m going to anyway. Always buy something. Always support and give thanks to the folks who are supporting you. The folks who have created a place for you to write. And don’t cheap out by only ordering a cup of coffee. Order a sandwich, a salad, a danish, a muffin, a stack of pancakes. Show your appreciation for them being there. Give everyone a smile. Leave a big ass tip. I mean, really overtip here. Your money goes to support that cook, that cashier, that waitress, the folks that make your writing life a bit better. We’re all connected, show your gratitude.

Okay, so you’ve made it out of the house, you’ve got your minimalist supplies, you’ve got your coffee/tea/milk shake/muffin/whatever, and now you’re sitting in your seat.

Now what?

Now, of course, comes the homework.

• Pick one person, write their history – Writing in public means never writing alone. Even if it’s just you and the cashier or waitress, you’ve got a companion. Take a few minutes and watch them. Listen to them. Look at what they ar wearing. If it’s street clothes, what can you discern about them? If it’s a uniform, see how they have individualized it, made it their own. Maybe a pin or button, maybe wearing the hat or apron a certain way. Let your imagination run wild with this person, make lucky guesses, make guesses based on psychology or fantasy. Write a brief two or three paragraph history of them and how they came to be working at this establishment. Remember, everyone has a past, everyone has parents, has friends, has a history. Create a compelling history for this person.
• Have your detective interview this person as if they were a witness or a suspect in a crime - If there is one person you should already know, it’s your main character. If it’s a mystery, it’s your detective. Now I want you to have your detective walk into this establishment and talk to the above character. Maybe it’s a waitress who was the witness to a crime. Maybe it’s a cashier whose boyfriend is the main suspect in a crime. Some how, I want you to connect your detective and this character and I want your detective and this character to really get into a scrap. A fight. Whisper something in each character’s ear, then let them at each other’s throats. I want 1,000 words minimum on this one. It can be as subtle as a cat and mouse, it can be as brutal as a bare knuckle fight.
• Have your detective or secondary series character work at this establishment. You know, or should know your detective better than anyone on the planet. You should know their likes, their dislikes, their attitudes, their modus operandi, their vocal and speech patterns. You should be able to put that detective into any situation and know immediately how they are going to act and react in that situation. Now I want you to give your detective an apron and a name badge and have them come into work at the very establishment you are sitting in. How will they react with the customers? Will they be surly? I’m sure Denton would be. Will they be helpful and cheerful? I know Monty would be. How would your detective or main character get along with the cook or the teenager behind the register?
• Discover your other senses – for one minute close your eyes and listen. Then open your eyes and write down, as close to perfect as possible, what you heard. For one minute, close your eyes and breath deeply, discern the many scents that surround you. Open your eyes and list them all. Take a bite or sip of the coffee or muffin you have in front of you, and taste it. Really taste it. Take pen in hand and describe it as if you were tasting it for the very first time. How would you describe the taste to someone who had never had coffee or that muffin?

I hope that this entry will encourage your and challenge you to find your third place, your writing home away from home. You might find it right away, you might take two or three trips to get comfortable. It might take two or three places to really find the right fit, but I think you will agree, after it’s all said and done, that it will prove to be a great addition to your writing life and to your journey in life.

If you want to explore writing in public more, and its impact on writing, I urge you to pick up and devour Natalie Goldberg’s “Writing Down The Bones”.

Books mentioned during this lesson: