Substance abuse and writing

john threat

john threat

Carbonite Member
Does anyone here writer while under the influence of liquor or weed or anything else?

I drank some whiskey and now I'm writing and stuff.

Ami going to mess up my script? Or my liver
 
I'm pretty sure that most 'greats' that you can name who drank heavily, became great before they started drinking heavily...

I think this is sort of putting the cart before the horse... get to town first, then drink, otherwise you may never get to town...

Unless of course you have aspirations that you know will never be realized... then drink to ease the pain, and perhaps liver failure will cure your condition.
 
I only write under the influence of coffee. I only drink beer when I can relax and not worry about anything else. Gotta keep your drinking pure!
 
Once you get into the habit of using alcohol and/or weed while writing, you'll come to need it in order to perform. I don't see that going anywhere good.
 
Batutta said:
Once you get into the habit of using alcohol and/or weed while writing, you'll come to need it in order to perform. I don't see that going anywhere good.
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Good point there. I think I'd be more the "small glass of [insert drink here] beside my notebook" than the "liver failure from excessive consumption" type. <grin>

Also, while a lot of the greats do drink heavily, few do that live long.

Ironically, heavy drinking seems to be a career-destroying habit as an actor and a career-building habit as a writer. It seems like the American public views writers as people who have an acceptable reason to drink, whereas actors are just having too much fun being part of the system, so their habit becomes unfounded (the "You've got it all, so stop complaining" thought process regarding celebrities).
 
love writing while I'm sipping on wine or scotch, now that's not to say I get blasted and begin trying to write a master piece. honestly if you get stuck only being able to write while abusing a vice then I highly doubt you had that much to say in the first place, or need to get better motivated or find something better to write (the mind is a powerful thing after all and if you don't control it then who does?). I have idea's and stories for days, but that doesn't always mean I'm in the mood for a big writing session, but at times when I've had just the right amount of this and that I'm off writing. The thing is I find it's not just drugs and such that cause this, it's a good day, a bad day, a boring day, an inspirational day, a power outage..... had a good sandwich, i don't know, anything... everything.

but yes don't become a wino on the street yelling at people in the name of your art chasing after some Hemingway style of writing. And don't begin to heavily drink (which is bad no matter the reason... though there is women) just so you can write, make sure you are drinking just to get buzzed if at all, a piss drunk writer is no good unless you are Hemingway.

best thing to do is keep on doing it, you don't like what you are working on trash it, or store it away to look at later and move on to the next, honestly no one can tell you your style of writing you have to find what works best for you, have fun creating.
 
occasionally, but typically only as a "reward" for getting a bunch done (beer per page, for example). usually if my friends and I are tossing ideas around we'll have a few cocktails but it has rarely, if ever, produced something amazing - but it doesn't stop us from having a good time trying ;)

Cheers,
Adam
 
In all honesty, I don't see how impairing your brain is going to produce your best work. That's like an athlete saying, I think I'll break both my feet before doing this marathon.
 
Batutta said:
In all honesty, I don't see how impairing your brain is going to produce your best work. That's like an athlete saying, I think I'll break both my feet before doing this marathon.
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While I don't particularly think drinking 'helps', I do think for some people some forms of 'substance use' may improve certain things temporarily. 'stimulants' for athletes do have an impact. Drinking may not be beneficial for an athlete... along with cutting off one's feet... but one of the reasons for not allowing stimulants is because they do work... for a while... and lead to significant health issues... but if we were to take a 'libertarian' view, why not... a person makes some sort of choice, perhaps given enough information, would not choose stimulants, but on the other hand some people may choose stimulants, despite warnings about health issues...

Opium/opiates were once popular in writing circles for their 'liberating' effects... The 60's had LSD and other psychotropic substances... William S. Borrough's works are heavily laden with 'drug use/effects/illnesses'... Would he have made a better clerk sober, living a life of quiet desparation??? Welll, you wouldn't be seeing many films based on his 'sober' life... had he had such... along with a number of 'beat' generation writers... and only a genius can capture the genie in the bottle for a moment...


The problem of course is the correlational nature of 'substance abuse' and 'genius'... the logic 'well great writer X drank/smoked/shotup/ingested Y drug, therefore if I <dosimilarly> I will become a 'great writer'... is flawed, because it posits a causal effect, when the use/abuse may just be 'along for the ride', or if there is some 'causal' element, in that the use of the substance allows the person to be at one more 'conscious' of certain relationships, etc. the effect is fleeting, and unless capitalized on quickly, it is gone as quickly as the drug has worn off... and it is only the genius that can capture the genie in the bottle...

On that happy note, I'll present one of my favorite sequences of a well known drunk of genius...

 
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It depends at times it can impair at others it can enlighten, and you really can't understand it if you have never experienced it(not saying anyone hasn't). Not to say that anyone's best work has come from intoxication but as I say getting intocicated is not what you should do (in my opinion), I enjoy a buzz while being creative, but that is only for part of the process. Plus it's not like you are blasted through the whole process, what I'm talking about is finding intial inspiration for a project through a more relaxed state of mind, and after the initial burst of the idea and getting it on the page, you go back and work it until it's what you want and for that I am rearely hampered by any drugs, besides perhaps coffee. but this is not the end all be all of methods for being creative.

And it really comes down to the person, different substances and states of mind effect people very differently, find what works best for you and go with it. Don't get caught up in what works for others, all that matter is that you are producing work that you are proud of it really doesn't matter how you get there (well it does if you hurt someone along the way).

but at the root of the issues, drugs and alcohol are bad, and no one should have to use them, as at this time they are very damaging to our health and social lives, unless you are a very strong person (knowing your limits, handling the intoxication, knowing when to get intoxicated and when not to etc...) which very few of us are these days. Any person who has the strength to live and not use any of them and still manages to respect and accept those that do have my utmost respect.

have a good one, and here's to being creative in whatever way works best for you!
 
CallaghanFilms said:
The 6 Million Dollar Man's feet were broken...
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Yeah, but he couldn't do sh*t until they were rebuilt. I'm not being moralistic. I just seriously don't understand how anyone can think impairing the function of the organ you are using to work is a good thing. Sounds like a myth that needs busting. There's an old boxing myth that you shouldn't have sex during the build up to a fight, but I saw this Sports Science show on discovery where they proved boxers actually functioned BETTER after having sex, as it released more testosterone into their bloodstream. But still people believe it.
 
The problem with drugs is a matter of take-give/take-take.

Take them for a little while and they can give you something good.

Take them longer and they'll take it back.

Take them too long and they'll take *everything*...

Tricky game, that...
 
Which subject is that?


Edit:
I only ask because this thread was (yet another) one about drinking while writing...


Edit 2:
...and by the looks of things, Matt may have been searching for many things at the bottom of the bottle...but creativity wasn't one of them.


Edit 3 (last one):
What I'm still saying is that not everyone who indulges is the same...and not all are on that path of destruction. The only thing that irks me more that hypocrisies are generalities...
 
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john threat said:
Does anyone here writer while under the influence of liquor or weed or anything else?

I drank some whiskey and now I'm writing and stuff.

Ami going to mess up my script? Or my liver
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Probably both. In the past I have had a few drinks and tried to write and the result started good...then you have a few more and your ability to focus on the task at hand diminishes...then you have a few more and think you have the greatest idea in the world(which it may be), and then start writing it...perhaps you doze off some where in there...and then the next day you go back and look at what you have done and typically realize that whatever genius you had discovered the night before was butchered by that fact that you were drunk...if it was even that good to begin with.

Don't get me wrong though...I do enjoy having a brew while listening to some music, and reading over my words. It's more of a meditation on idea's than an effort to write though.
 
I used to smoke while writing. Stopped smoking, kept writing.

Charlie Sheen is certainly funnier on any given substance.

Weed makes it difficult to concentrate IMO.
 
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