Which Coffee Will Beat Your Writer’s Block?

Writers love their coffee. No workspace is truly Instagrammable until there is a mug on it. And did you know, you can tailor your beverage to help you get in the right frame of mind for your next chapter?

So which hot drink is right for you? Here’s my handy guide to help you navigate the barista’s choices.

Black Coffee/Americano

Standard, straight forward and brewed strong, this is the perfect coffee for ploughing on with your gritty thriller. Guaranteed to inspire that bitter aftertaste as you shock your readers by killing off a character.

Caramel Cappuccino

Sweet and frothy, if your romantic novel needs a heartwarming resolution, this is the ideal choice to capture that feel good factor. Bonus points if the foam is decorated with chocolate sprinkles in a heart shape.

Double Espresso

If your plot is starting to drag and you need to kick it into life with some energy and wild ideas, get yourself a double espresso. Hey, maybe even a quadruple espresso. Suddenly the pace picks up. Is it time to kill a character? Uncover a conspiracy? What if this guy was the villain in disguise all along? You won’t know if your racing heart rate is from the gripping story or the caffeine hit.

Handground coffee from a mountainside farm in Ecuador, roasted by some bearded guys in the next town, brewed in your favourite aeropress, savoured to appreciate those smokey/peach/citrus/honey/sushi flavours

If you are drinking this, it’s clear you are working on the next great masterpiece of literary fiction. I mean, you are destined for all the book prizes there are (except the populist mainstream ones of course). You tried emulating your protagonist, a typewriter-using chain smoking disillusioned ex-journalist, for a couple of weeks but the typewriter kept jamming. The only risk is that your book will be too clever for your readers who may not appreciate how you are subverting the genre.

Tea

Ever the rebel, you’ve written something that doesn’t quite fit any of the usual genres, so will be marketed as contemporary fiction. A good old fashioned cup of English Breakfast tea will fuel the plot of your story while avoiding any sensationalism and keeping you grounded in themes that really matter.

Peppermint Tea

For the writer with no deadlines, peppermint tea will keep you chilled and your prose mellow. Let that scenery description flow, gaze out of the window for half an hour, then take another sip and ponder until you fix upon exactly the right word. There’s no sense rushing something as beautiful as this.