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Does anyone here do their writing at coffee houses? I sure would love to but I'm a little unsure as to how long it is acceptable to sit there writing. So help a budding writer out and tell me: How long can a body sit at a coffee house writing?

Plant yer butt there and start writing! Really. I used to study for finals at the coffeehouse across the street from campus. I'd order one drink and nurse it for HOURS. And they didn't care. I was a paying customer!

JD

I think J.K. Rowling wrote in a coffee house or cafe. And hey, it worked out for her.

I'm a bit shy of doing so, but hey sit your buttocks down and write some FAB stuff.

When I was a manager at McDonald's, I used to let the writers and students stay as long as they wanted. I liked having people around they kept nice company.

However, when the next manager came in sometimes they would give a hint to leave. What grumps. I can understand why, but they were always polite enough for me to make room or leave if we suddenly got a rush.

Some people were to shy to ask and some though, ooh I don't have to clean a table right away :p

Hmm, but from a customer point of view when the place is stuffed .... I think as long as you are ordering their services. I know I've gone in with the hopes of sitting and relaxing with a cup of coffee at two of the local coffee shops just outside of my apt on a Saturday morning. However I have not been able to do so b/c the same people stay there all morning. I'm going to beat that system someday. . . someday. It's my thing now, but I love to sleep in.

If it quite - stay as long as you want.
If it is busy - judge it. I can't study/write when it is loud though.

Well, I've sat all afternoon in the cafe at the Albert Hall (concert hall in London) a few times writing fanfic. Officially, they close between lunchtime and evening, but they just let me sit there. I was usually wearing my BBC Symphony Chorus polo shirt, so maybe they thought I was someone official from the BBC working on management reports . In fact, I'm pretty certain they did, because one time, the manageress gave me a guided tour of the facilities. I didn't let on that I'm only a lowly first alto and not some BBC bigwig.

Yvonne

My guess is 'how long' depends on 'when'. If your coffee house is going to get crowded at lunchtime, neither the proprietor or queuing customers are going to love you for hogging a table. Especially if there are not enough seats to go around.

During slack times, though, what possible harm can your presence do? In fact, in a way, you are doing the coffee shop a favour; you're making it look busier than it actually is!

Having said all that, a couple of years ago, I came across an item about the interior design of American-style coffee shops. (This was in Britain.) Apparently, the numbers of comfy chairs were going to be cut back because they encouraged people to linger. So, out went Friends-inspired sofas, and in came hard dining chairs and stools. This was particularly important to businesses in central city locations where passenger turnover wasn't fast enough and that, therefore, weren't making enough profit...

Chris

Near the university, you can sit in a coffeeshop forever without guilt. They expect it.

Near where my home is, you can't. They give you dirty looks, and want your space for imaginary paying customers.

Luckily for me, my home is a great place to be on the internet or writing.