We need Gunderman for this one.
I can't decide if this is insanity or brilliance. Apparently people are buying up loft space and converting them into things called "Writing Rooms". Basically, they take a large, empty space, put up a few cubicles and rent it out to writers as a work room. They provide the coffee (but you have to make it) and insist on complete silence, so as to eliminate all distraction. You must provide three letters of recommendation, a resume, and writing samples in order to apply for a spot. Assuming you get in, there's usually a six-month waiting list.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the appeal. Working from home, it's easy to get distracted by the TV and the telephone and noisy neighbors. These rooms offer a space in which to work uninterrupted for as long as you want and the chance to network with other writers (you're allowed to talk outside, I suppose), plus it's probably inspiring to be surrounded by a bunch of people who are all working toward the same goal - not to mention a lot less lonely than sitting at home by yourself. What I can't get over are the prices. According to an article in Time Out New York, the Writing Room charges $600 a month. A ringing cell phone can make you lose your deposit. I can't decide if it's an interesting commentary on the state of life in the Big City or simply a brilliant marketing device, akin to convincing people to shell out $5 for a latte. Mostly I think it's sad that quiet space is so limited here that people can charge inordinate amounts of money for the "priviledge" of having it.
posted by Ali @ 2:20 PM
4 Comments:
Alright, here goes...
I was a member of The Writer's Room for about four years. I'm pretty sure it was the first of these writing rooms that seem to be cropping nowadays.
The Writer's Room was $70 a month (which you paid quarterly -- that's $210 every three months for the math idiots out there), and in return you got yourselves a guaranteed quiet space, a locker, and all the coffee you can drink. Those of you that know the costs of renting an office in Manhattan, this is exquisitely cheap -- less, even, than buying that latte every day.
Most important, it was a place to keep your work. I had a full-time office job while I was going there, and it was probably the most organized my life's ever been. I went to work where I rented out my soul writing copy. Because I went to the Writer's Room, I could leave that bullshit work at work. At the Writer's Room, I did whatever creative writing I was working on at the time. I'd spend between two and five hours there, depending on my productivity. Then I could leave that work there, and really be at home when I needed to be at home.
Now, I live where I work, and while I love it, it's a constant balance -- my work vs. their work vs. my life. Invariably, it's my work that suffers in the equation.
With the regular full-time work and pay, $70 a month was a steal for what I got in return. Now that I have part-time/freelance work, that $70 is better spent on, say, groceries.
And by the way, this was all over four years ago. I was talking to a Writer's Room member who said that the prices have gone way up, and the facilities haven't gotten any better (they moved shortly after I stopped going). He's joined one of the others. He says it's not outrageously expensive.
But (and you've written about this, Ali) New York is full of rich people. Many, many writers in our fine city come from means. Those people get their needs catered to because, well, it pays to cater to them. You literally cater to them, so you know this.
And I will say this: the day I have the money is the day I pay to do it again. In the quiet surrounded by other earnest workers, I did, in fact, get more done in two hours than I do now in a typical eight-hour day, with the interruptions of home.
Thanks for doing the equation.
Good commentary, Dan. (I still can't get past the $600 a month.)
So the guy from the Midwest has to be sarcastic and say, "If you don't want to be around people, then why in the heck would you live in New York?" There, I feel all better now.
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