Don't Write in Public Places

Don't write in public places. In the early 1990s I went to live in Paris. The usual writerly reasons: back then, if you were caught writing in a pub in England, you could get your head kicked in, whereas in Paris, dans les cafés . . . . Since then I've developed an aversion to writing in public. I now think it should be done only in private, like any other lavatorial activity.

GEOFF DYER