The Ink Shot archive
From 7 May 2012 until 7 December 2021 The Ink Shot was the blog of Marcus Baumgart, an itinerant café writer, designer of buildings, animal-lover and day-by-day battling creative. This blog celebrates the practice of writing in cafés, writing fiction and non-fiction and being creative in general.
Marcus struggles to motivate without the happy white noise of lively conversation and hissing espresso machines.
Found! A Good Piece on Writing in Cafés Across Several Continents
Nice piece here by Neil Stewart on writing in cafés.
A shot in the brain to kick off 2014
Today I spent a calming half hour in my favourite writing cafe doing exactly that - writing. Nice to be back. Caffeine was delivered via two vectors, coffee and coke - I hadn't had enough coffee at that point, so I had developed a low level headache. Feed the addiction!
New habits: new habitats
It's winter here in the Southern Hemisphere! So in the cold weather here in Victoria I have been seeking the great indoors for my writing outings. This is the time of year when the Federal Coffee Palace at the MGPO is a little breezy, despite its gas heaters. So I have been supplementing my cafe writing stints with a new habitat, namely the lofty-ceilinged library of the RACV Club, a private Club based here in Melbourne that I am a relatively recent member of. The Club has great resources, and the Library is my favourite part of the entire setup. It has about 10,000 items that you can borrow as a member, although I prefer to read things there rather than take them home.
To top it all off, the Club is located right behind my apartment building. In addition to writing in the Library, I also love spending a few hours sitting in one of it's deep armchairs, reading through whatever my latest obsession is. In the interests of sharing, and on the topic of what I am reading, I am currently obsessed with the growing phenomenon that is Google+, and reading several books about using it for business. Nerdy, but interesting. For some reason, fiction is not holding my attention at the moment.
The Club is really becoming my home away from home - an extension of my personal living space. And to top it all off, there is a restaurant, a bistro and a café area, where I can read and write in comfort, and importantly stay warm.