OCEAN PARK The ultimate cure for a writer’s block just might be a cup of Joe.
Tucked away from the clothing boutique and restaurant filled Main Street is a crowded literary hotspot where the writers spend their “office hours” staring at the screen of a laptop, frantically typing away before losing a thought.
The scene in Pier Avenue’s Novel Café is one replicated in Santa Monica’s independent coffeehouses where amidst the backdrop of the baristas stirring steaming espressos are the writers, hands on head, empty coffee cups and scribbled notes on table, laptop open.
For many writers, whether they are authors or screenwriters, independent coffeehouses serve as the office away from the office, a place where the literary minds can work solo, but if needed, could look up and find another writer on whom they could test their material.
“It’s kind of a way to be social and antisocial at the same time,” said Katherine O’Brien, a Santa Monica screenwriter who has been working in coffeehouses for the past eight years since starting USC film school.
As a college freshman in the early part of the decade, O’Brien frequented coffeehouses as a relief from the stiff library environment, a place where she could collaborate with other writers over a cup of coffee.
Since flying solo, the coffeehouse has become less a collaborative space, and more of a location where she could get away from her apartment and be around other people.
“It’s an environment where I can just have people around, but not (have) anyone talking to me or bugging me,” she said.
In recent months, O’Brien’s favorite spots have been Funnel Mill and It’s a Grind, coffeehouses located within walking distance from her home, a plus since the screenwriter decided to minimize the use of the car.
Both coffeehouses, located in and around Downtown Santa Monica, provide good ambiance for writers, with “good music” and comfortable seating, O’Brien said.
Perhaps one of the most popular “offices” is the Novel Café where the accommodating no-hassle staff and soft background music has the coffeehouse buzzing amongst writers’ circles as a place conducive to creativity.
The Novel Café has the appearance of a home library, with walls lined with shelves and filled with books in no particular order. The books on these walls cover nearly every conceivable genre, with a Stephen King novel, CliffsNotes and a political book among the books occupying one wall.
T.he coffeehouse gives the same vibe as the Cheers bar, a place where all the writers know each other by name and the frequent patrons chat with the staff.
On Friday afternoon, nearly every seat in the Novel Café was occupied, not an unfamiliar scene in the popular coffeehouse. Many of the customers either had a lap-top open or were reading a book pulled from the shelves.
Among the writers was Ralph Soll, a Santa Monica screenwriter with credits including “The Tick,” “Animaniacs” and the cartoon version of “The Mask.”
A patron of his neighborhood coffeehouse for nearly 10 years, Soll said the surrounding books have been a great source of inspiration for some of his material, recalling a time when he was writing a screenplay involving vampires, glanced up at the shelves and saw a book on the history of vampires.
There are three main groups that gather at Novel Café – writers, students and “Venice bohemia,” Soll said.
For many writers who choose to make a coffeehouse their work location, the noise of the café can be like “white noise,” Soll said. The silence of a home can at times be deafening.
Just as the average worker spends the hours between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the office, some writers spend the same hours working at their office — the 18th Street Coffee House.
Unlike many of the city’s other coffeehouses, the 18th Street Coffee House, located on Broadway, lacks wireless Internet, ensuring that the writers are actually writing, rather than procrastinating on the Web.
“Writers come and actually do work,” said Mindy Raymond, a barista at 18th Street. “It’s a lot of regulars so it’s kind of like a family here, very chill and relaxing.”
On the other side of the 10 Freeway, the dark rooms of the Unurban coffeehouse are illuminated by the soft light emanating from the open laptops belonging to the many writers on hand.
The homey Pico Boulevard coffee house is a draw for creative minds, including writers and artists.
“There’s a lot of intellectual stimulation,” said Jamie Rusche, a barista at Unurban.
A few blocks west on Ocean Park Boulevard, The Talking Stick has been feeding creative minds for years, affectionately referred to as “The Writing Stick” among writers.
“It’s a creative non-corporate atmosphere where it’s the extension of the living room, but has the excitement of being a community space,” said Rich Braaksma, the owner of The Talking Stick.
The customers aren’t the only ones that use the coffeehouse as a place to write.
Jamie Solblack has used The Talking Stick as a double work space — serving coffee to his customers and writing his musical lyrics early in the morning before the crowds arrive.
Spending his downtime working on his lyrics, which he describes as “rockabilly, folk and punk,” Solblack is able to draw inspiration from nearly everything in the coffeehouse.
“I look up and see the signs or see the way the chairs (are configured) and that will give me an idea for a song,”Solblack said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 4, 2007. Read the original PDF.