City - by Nicole He on Sunday, September 7, 2008 23:24 - 4 Comments

Paragraph: A Workspace for Writers That Aren’t Dead Broke

If Starbucks isn’t highbrow enough of a place for you to be spotted working hard on your newest screenplay or The Next Great American Novel, consider Paragraph, a workspace for writers located conveniently in a 2500 square foot loft on West 14th Street. From the website:

Paragraph was created by writers for writers, with an understanding that writers work best in a quiet, comfortable space away from the hurry and obligation of urban life.

The area has a writing room, with 38 “partitioned desks” (cubicles) where “members secure the right to a desk, a lamp and a power strip in a shared space where they can ply their trade day and night,” says the New York Times. There is also a kitchen and lounge area, where writers can presumably chat about Proust and lament the hardships of being a starving, struggling writer in New York City.

But there’s a catch - you can’t be too much of a starving, struggling writer to join: full-time membership for a year costs $702, or $117 a month. That’s more than it costs to maintain the obligatory writer’s smoking habit, so make sure you publish a book or two (like The Devil Wears Pradafirst to be able afford it. 

“Basically, it’s just a quiet place to write,” says one of the proprietors of Paragraph

Photo: Ruby Washington/The New York Times

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4 Comments

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Sam Zients
Sep 8, 2008 1:09

That’s less expensive than my gym membership, which I think is ridiculously expensive itself.

Ned Resnikoff
Sep 8, 2008 7:25

To all you struggling writers grinding away in shitty 9-to-5 office jobs: Finish that novel and some day you will be able to … work in a cubicle.

But this time, instead of getting paid for it, you’ll pay them for the privilege of having pretentious, self-gratifying conversations in the break room. Awesome!

Jessica Roy
Sep 8, 2008 9:13

This is a glorified version of Bobst and I bet they don’t give out free coffee during finals.

Nicole He
Sep 8, 2008 11:06

They do provide coffee, apparently. But YOU have to make it.

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