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Write drunk, edit sober?
I find I have to concentrate more when I drink and write which makes it more arduous. Sobriety all the way.
Maybe drunkness can be useful for brainstorming, for doodling and coming up with ideas. As Alex said, it's likely a good methods to remove filters and negativity against more unconventional ways of writing.I wouldn't expect any brilliant results from drunk writing though - if it's more than a glass of wine or two - but even if just one sentence or paragraph out of ten ends up useful and unique compared to your sober writing, then perhaps it's worth it.
I guess it comes down to what your family members and your liver thinks, really.
Not against one glass of wine, as I am a real lightweight. I would get one glass of wine in me and then be sleeping it off. So for me, it would have to be a couple sips and then write. I think the words would flow better after a couple of sips.
I definitely wouldn't drink while editing. Who knows what would happen.
When I try to write drunk... the 80s metal vinyl goes on, I talk to certain people and then I see it's 3am and I wasted an evening.
Well, not wasted if I had fun. Haha.
Well, not wasted if I had fun. Haha.
I've had a beer while writing. Not to enough to get drunk, but there was a study done back in the day that said alcohol in moderation helps with focus. Whether that was true it not, it does seem to have a placebo effect on me. Editing? Best not to touch the stuff or I'd be falling down drunk after my first chapter. ;-p
I'm not a big drinker, so I tend not to drink when I write, but it depends on the day and time of day. I don't feel like drinking alcohol during the day; it's tea all the way!
Based on my writing skills with drunk texts... I’d advise limiting it to one drink 😂
I've always been more productive earlier in the day, before a glass of wine saps my motivation and energy. And from what I've seen of the emails I've written later in the evening, I think I should probably stick with that practice! :)
Alex wrote: "I think it's because my filter is turned off by the alcohol so I don't stop and worry about what I'm writing, I just write."That's my experience too. Also I spend less time bouncing around internet searches to look up some obscure fact.
Sylvia wrote: "I am a real lightweight. " Me too. Cuts down on the expense. But I agree that "the words flow better after a couple of sips" (though in my case it's either beer or Jack Daniels).
Alex wrote: "It's definitely more of a 1st draft kind of thing, You want to be sober and thinking clearly when it comes to rewrites and editing otherwise you're likely to miss things."
Christina wrote: "Editing? Best not to touch the stuff or I'd be falling down drunk after my first chapter. ;-p "
Definitely. "Edit sober" is an important element of the equation.
Lukas wrote: "I guess it comes down to what your family members and your liver thinks, really."
I've reached an understanding with each of them.
Amy wrote: "Based on my writing skills with drunk texts... I’d advise limiting it to one drink 😂"Carmel wrote: "And from what I've seen of the emails I've written later in the evening,..."
As I read these two comments, I suddenly realized there's probably a potential Pulitzer-winning epistolary novel out there that's written entirely in angry text messages, Facebook posts, and blog comments.
I think this is a very personal thing. For me I think the answer is "no" and "maybe". I don't drink a lot anyway so I've never got to the point of writing drunk, but I do like a beer or glass of wine by my side. Ditto while editing.For me, the golden rule would read more like "write happy, edit focused." The important thing is to do what works for you.
Writing requires some disinhibition. If we were all perfectly rational the daft would have too much sway. Booze is the bonkers for the rest of us.
Mod
I don't really drink alcohol anymore, but I nearly always have some coffee at hand when I write or edit or ite or wredit.
Robert wrote: "Amy wrote: "Based on my writing skills with drunk texts... I’d advise limiting it to one drink 😂"Carmel wrote: "And from what I've seen of the emails I've written later in the evening,..."
LOL. Yep, maybe!
As I ..."
Not a big fan of alcohol, but have in the past written while on something I'm sure some writers would find less than pleasant while others would likely agree with me. Just as with any other art, altering your mind chemically can be beneficial when you know what to look for when you are no longer in that state. So, I do think it can be beneficial but editing you definitely need to be of "right mind" to ensure you are catching as many errors as you can, if you can avoid using others to edit for you (as it can get expensive). That being said, it can be just as rewarding not using any drugs to write. I just find my words flowed more freely that way, which made for some interesting results to say the least.
So long as you are staying safe, have at it.
If I drink while writing my productivity drops to zero.
Mod
Soft reminder that we're not here to tell one another what needs to be done. Sober, drunk, or high... whatever works best for the individual is what needs to be done.
Dwayne wrote: "D.M. wrote: "...but editing you definitely need to be of "right mind"..."Soft reminder that we're not here to tell one another what needs to be done. Sober, drunk, or high... whatever works best ..."
Oh, I didn't intend for it to seem that anyone needed to do it or not do it. I simply meant that it is up to the writer and what works best for them. I'm sorry if it was taken any other way. I do agree with you.
While I wouldn't promote it as a normal writing tool, nor advocate it as a lifestyle (I think about drinking a lot but rarely do it), drinking while writing has been effective for me in the past especially when I was at an impasse motivationally or story-wise. It's helped me blast through some rather constipated times, pounding out several dozen pages in a day when I'd been only able to write a page or two.When writing my first (probably never to be published) novel I used to sit down on longer writing sessions with a four finger glass of single malt whiskey, put 5 CDs in the CD changer and set it on shuffle mode. That worked pretty well for 5+ hour long sessions.
Last summer I bulldozed my way through a writer's block when I took my PC in a backpack downtown, riding on my bicycle ... ended up at a bar (not what I intended when I set out), and proceeded to write over 10 pages while drinking a mint julep, two margaritas, a bloody Mary, and two gin martinis--sequentially, not simultaneously!--making sure to keep my stomach full and drink plenty of water of course ... Needless to say I walked the 2 miles home from the bar (used the bike to shore me up and keep me from stumbling). And while writing I had to use a LOT of the old backspace button but it did put my story back on track. [NOT FOR REGULAR USE, CONSULT A DOCTOR BEFORE ATTEMPTING, YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY]
Micah wrote: "While I wouldn't promote it as a normal writing tool, nor advocate it as a lifestyle (I think about drinking a lot but rarely do it), drinking while writing has been effective for me in the past es..."I agree, music is by far the most motivational tool I have come across. Even just allowing it to take hold over you and going with whatever you mind tells you to write, it can flow better when you have the right kind of music for the tone you choose to set.
I will agree how a drink will turn off the filters and you can get more out, but it will require careful editing later and the typing will take a lot of time due to the fingers not doing what you tell them to do. The problem is knowing how much drinking is enough to make your writing better. AND you need to know the difference between a drink to get the filters down on occasion and when it has become a crutch. It might also help to remember Hemingway, who said to write drunk and edit sober was an alcoholic, so maybe there is something there some of us just don't get.
From the "Don't Try This at Home" column -- I had my wisdom teeth out while I was in college. I don't remember what pain meds the doctor described, but they weren't very strong. I was working on a screenplay for a script-writing class, and decided to have a beer or two -- forgetting all about the pain pills. Well, let me tell you -- I was a GENIUS. I wrote pages and pages of witty dialogue and solved many plot problems in a single evening.The next day, I was all excited to get back to the script. Until I actually read what I'd "written." Garbage, all of it. I wound up scrapping the lot of it.
Side note: thinking of that script now makes me cringe. The stuff I wrote while sober wasn't exactly Shakespeare either. Ugh.
No, my writing just looks like I've been drinking.
I've been known to have two glasses of wine and write my books or my short stories. I don't post any of my short stories on my blog until I edit them sober. Being sober while writing for me makes me feel restricted. But when I write intoxicated (or even high) I feel like things flow better.
Peggy wrote: "From the "Don't Try This at Home" column -- I had my wisdom teeth out while I was in college. I don't remember what pain meds the doctor described, but they weren't very strong. I was working on a ..."This was basically everything I wrote in my pretentious college days. Whether my brain was doused in alcohol, clouded in a haze of smoke, or vibrating like a hummingbirds due to too much coffee and lack of sleep, I always assumed I was BRILLIANT beyond measure. However in the harsh light of sobriety... 😂
I like absolute silence when I write, concentration like a fish. Would not consider alcohol. I prefer mood and emotion to affect my poetry
Mod
No such thing.
Dwayne wrote: "Christina wrote: "too much coffee"No such thing."
Dwayne, you are right!
You say that, but I once had a doctor tell me I was basically stressing my heart as much if not more than a habitual cocaine user. I've cut down to one pot per morning.
Christina wrote: "You say that, but I once had a doctor tell me I was basically stressing my heart as much if not more than a habitual cocaine user. I've cut down to one pot per morning."You know, I have found that I only get the heart palps if I have Maxwell House too much. Starbucks, one good cup, is so great and doesn't do that to me. But definitely watch the doc's advice! That's a lot of stress!
Mod
Lightweight!
Christina wrote: "in my pretentious college days...I was BRILLIANT beyond measure"I did none of those things in college, and yet all of my writing was similarly brilliant. Until, you know, I read it.
B.A. wrote: "The problem is knowing how much drinking is enough to make your writing better. "
Dwayne wrote: "Christina wrote: "too much coffee"
No such thing."
I've reached a point where now I keep my baseline intake of both low enough, that whether my goal is caffeination or inebriation, it doesn't take much of either liquid. Weirdly, both seem to help with writing (and it appears I'm not alone).
I've never written while drunk, since I don't particularly like alcohol so rarely will drink more than one glass at a time. I much prefer my tea.
I have, however, written at 3-4 in the morning. And at that time, I may as well be drunk given how I get. Everything becomes ten times more funny, and suddenly every idea is a good idea.
I've stayed up well beyond reasonable hours for the sole purpose of writing, just to see what I end up with in the morning.
In short, it's always horrible. The ideas are fine, but my writing gets sloppy and stops making sense. To the point where I can't even read it.
I have a feeling me+alcohol would have the same outcome.
I have, however, written at 3-4 in the morning. And at that time, I may as well be drunk given how I get. Everything becomes ten times more funny, and suddenly every idea is a good idea.
I've stayed up well beyond reasonable hours for the sole purpose of writing, just to see what I end up with in the morning.
In short, it's always horrible. The ideas are fine, but my writing gets sloppy and stops making sense. To the point where I can't even read it.
I have a feeling me+alcohol would have the same outcome.
When I drank, I dreamed of writing great things, but that’s all I did. Dream. I think it is a matter of degrees.
If you write "stream of consciousness" a la James Joyce, then a boozy pick-me-up might do the trick. I've never tried it, so this is a working hypothesis.
I think it could be an allegorical thing... write (with joyous abandon as if you were) drunk. Edit (like your sixth grade English teacher on her second cigarette and third cup of coffee) sober. How you get that way, is up to you.
Victoria wrote: "Writing drunk would be a mess, I fear. However, a glass of wine, a beer maybe, or one little drink would help to relax the mind and allow more creative juice to flow..."I agree with you, Victoria. Write tipsy, high, mellow, relaxed,.. whatever it takes! Than definitely edit sober! Hugs
When I was younger I used to think being in an "altered state" was a great place to be when writing. I liked doing it, just as I liked writing late at night, and I always felt that I was being brilliant while in the thick of it. Of course, in the light of day I was routinely shocked to discover it was all hogwash. The years have taught me better. My best writing comes early in the day, when my mind is freshest and when a part of me is still retaining my previous night's dreams.
Thinking back on it, I suppose writing drunk or half asleep was a tremendous exercise in self-indulgence, a quality that is most apparent in the worst kind of writing.
Writing sober is still fun. It's also hard work, and for me there's nothing more satisfying than taking inspiration and giving it its truest, most beautiful form through hard work (i.e., merciless editing and rewriting).
Hey, if it was good enough for Ernest Hemingway ;) I heard a TV doctor inadvertently say authors report they write better after a cigarette.
And I'm fairly sure some great composers were high/stoned/inebriated.
There may well be something to the theory.
I've not actually tested it, myself.
As long as it's a 1st draft, and doesn't go against your moral boundaries, go for it! :)
T.L. wrote: "Hey, if it was good enough for Ernest Hemingway ;) I heard a TV doctor inadvertently say authors report they write better after a cigarette.
And I'm fairly sure some great composers were high/sto..."
There's conflicting testimony, including from Hemingway himself, on his writing habits. He states he didn't drink while writing. That doesn't mean he didn't write while hungover.
David wrote: "T.L. wrote: "Hey, if it was good enough for Ernest Hemingway ;) I heard a TV doctor inadvertently say authors report they write better after a cigarette.
And I'm fairly sure some great composers ..."
Just referring to the quote in this subject which is attributed to him ;)
T.L. wrote: "David wrote: "T.L. wrote: "Hey, if it was good enough for Ernest Hemingway ;) I heard a TV doctor inadvertently say authors report they write better after a cigarette.
And I'm fairly sure some gr..."
I sometimes go to quiet pubs or cafes' to write and have a couple of drinks but not drunk.
My best writing is using music as a muse to my creative juices, every scene dictates a mood, what better way than inspiration from music. Example write a scene that needs anger use a good rock song or heavy metal song to create the mood in your head first before you can write it.
I tried writing whilst drunk, coming back on a train from London in the early hours of the morning. Seemed like a great idea at the time.However, when the cold light of the next day turned up, there were two main issues.
1. I couldn't read a lot of words I'd written in my notebook. My handwriting isn't great to start with, but this would have made any doctor proud.
2. What I could read was utter gibberish.
It won't be an exercise that I'll repeat.
As for coffee, that's no use either, it makes me sleepy.
starting a drink while i am writing, usually means that I have about 15 minutes of constructive time before i get sleepy. i wish it wasn't like a Nyquil for me!
Does anyone find they write more, better, or more better with a little liquid inspiration?