'Write drunk; edit sober' - Hemingway

Mmm...looks like I'm in minority.

For me? Nothing gets the words flowing better than a few glasses of wine. Must be that 'let your hair down' thing. Everything in my world stops but the story. Now, I don't do this every time I sit down to write. Nor will I say that everything is totally publish worthy, but those words keep coming, and coming, and coming...

I've been known to pound out 20,000 words in a sitting with a slight buzz. Sure, I carve off about 20-25% easy, but the core is there. I also tend to flesh out my characters better too.

Eh...this is me, and I'm in no way condoning the practice, but I find the experience more than productive the majority of the time.

scarletpeaches said:

I've written absolute shedloads while under the influence of mania ...

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Oh how I miss mine as well.
It's just a wee whimper anymore.

and yes, yes, I know, I know...
not having the 'spiral downs'
is a good thing

...but still...

nothing beats those wild high swings.

Devil Ledbetter said:

The phrase is "Perfect is the enemy of good." That makes more sense, doesn't it?

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It has been modified to fit my use in my approach to writing, and in particular, to science. There is a difference between the pursuit of perfection and the pursuit of excellence. One is folly in these arenas since it leaves to no room for further improvement.

Voltaire's original quote (which Devil has provided) is very different - that the pursuit of perfection is counterproductive due to its "diminishing returns" nature.

The one devil provided makes even less sense to me. I guess it's why I've never been successful in business. It goes counter to the way I think.

Anyway, my goal is, when I read my final product, is when I say, "Damn, that's good!" it's time to submit it. Any philosophical discussions beyond that just confuse me.

Alcohol does nothing for me. At best, I write in circles because I keep forgetting what I wrote some minutes ago and end up writing it again. As well, I find I'm extremely sluggish and slow when I drink, so it doesn't bode well for brainstorming or keeping myself on the task.

But coffee and energy drinks, on the other hand?

Magic

I always take that advice to mean:

Write drunk on the joy of the story; edit sober on the seriousness of clarity.

I get high on story and just fling 50K words at the page...BAM! Then I sit back and think---Okay, let's see what we got here.

maybe

Translated, this would mean write with the right half of your brain, edit with the left. Or stimulate your creativity for writing, stimulate your analytical ability for editing.

This could take many forms. Time of day, glass of wine, music, etc. Personally I like to trail run while listening to loud music - get some good ideas that I record on my iPhone, almost like dreaming.

aruna said:

One word: meditation. Practiced over years, you gain the ability to plunge into that creative side of your mind at will and shut off the noisy, nosy, analytical, judgmental editor. A caveat: you should meditate for its own sake, not in order to write.

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This is interesting, because I was recently on a morphine IV for a week or so, and I was STUNNED by how open and relaxed my brain was from it. It felt like my critical thinking was completely turned off, and I could just accept anything as not only possible, but probable, and more than that... all of the possibilities were perfectly LOVELY.

I wouldn't be able to do disciplined work in that state, obviously, but it seemed like it would be great for brainstorming and idea-having. So I was trying to think of a way to duplicate that sensation without the morphine and someone suggested meditation. Now there's another suggestion for the same solution!

I may have to look into this!

I don't use any substances to aid my writing process. However, I am bipolar and write when I'm in manic states. I can write at other times, but these states really help me get a lot of words down quickly.

As for editing, I definitely do it sober (and usually in any mood). I find editing is less mentally taxing than the writing itself, though also less interesting.

I've only ever tried it once, and that was when my roommate and I did something quite stupid to ourselves, and he pushed a pencil and a piece of paper across the table to me and said:
"Man, you gotta try writing...it'll be the greatest thing you ever do..."

I woke up the next morning to find that I had written two sentences before rolling across the floor and blacking out:

Vince Gill is dead in my book. Do you believe in books?

Not my finest work. Or perhaps it is.

RevanWright said:

I've only ever tried it once, and that was when my roommate and I did something quite stupid to ourselves, and he pushed a pencil and a piece of paper across the table to me and said:
"Man, you gotta try writing...it'll be the greatest thing you ever do..."

I woke up the next morning to find that I had written two sentences before rolling across the floor and blacking out:

Vince Gill is dead in my book. Do you believe in books?

Not my finest work. Or perhaps it is.

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VINCE GILL? Wow.

I think this has the potential to turn into something great. Now that you've started down this path, you have to keep going, or you'll regret it for the rest of your life.

Because, yes, RevanWright, I DO believe in books. And I believe in YOUR book. Your dead-Vince-Gill book. I believe.

Coop720 said:

That is the greatest story ever told. I think you should just publish that.

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*shrugs* I'd buy it.

Personally, I used to have a drink before writing love scenes - because it all sounded too painfully awkward in my head to put on paper - but now I don't seem to have that block anymore. I've never felt it improved my writing.

A note - I've read that it actually wasn't Hemingway, but some author who had a drunken playwrite character in his novel who said "sometimes I write drunk, sometimes I edit sober" and vice versa (which would follow with the earlier comment that Hemingway actually did his writing more or less out of the bag).

Not sure what the actual truth to it is, and far too lazy to investigate it further, but is fun to imagine Hemingway saying that, isn't it?

Personally I have no reason to judge anyone's creative process as long as it helps them churn out good material. Write on!

Had to look it up - several places state it's taken from "Reuben, Reuben" by Peter De Vries, but I don't have access to the actual book to double check that. Interesting, though.

Lots of the old writers were alcoholics though. Not something I want to emulate.

Once, when I got a rejection that particularly stung, I drank half a bottle of wine, but I didn't get inspired and rush to my keyboard. I sat about and cried and ate an entire french baguette. Not so good....

I heard that Stephen King wrote Cujo under the influence of cocaine and lots of booze. I think I read it in his book, "On Writing". He says he can't even remember writing it. That makes a lot of sense, because I always thought that Cujo was a bit different then the rest of his books.

RevanWright said:

I woke up the next morning to find that I had written two sentences before rolling across the floor and blacking out:

Vince Gill is dead in my book. Do you believe in books?

Not my finest work. Or perhaps it is.

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Love it!

I happen to love this quote from Hemingway. When I first sit down to write, especially on a new project, I'm paralyzed by all that empty *whiteness* on the screen. If I have a drink or two some of that fear goes away. Then the next day my inner editor can weed through everything.

Some of my most ambitious work is written in a rush or in the wee hours of the morning (like 2:00 am onward).

I would never recommend this, though, to any writer. Nonetheless, a clear mind, at whatever time, is generally the best. It just so happens to be that my mind is most clear during those periods...

I once drank a bottle of wine and then did all my housework. It was great; I just flew through all those chores I loathed.

But then I was done, and still drunk, and ticked off because I didn't want to be drunk anymore. Being drunk at home by yourself in the middle of the afternoon is kind of pathetic and irritating.

So I've never tried it for writing. Caffeine is more my thing (or should I say, more my cup of tea? Ba-doomp-kissshhh...) anyway.

I don't drink, ever. So I wouldn't know.

Anyway, writing-wise, I tend to get my better ideas when I'm tired. I don't know if I write better tired or under any type of influence but I definitely have an easier time coming up with (good, I think) ideas.

I'm much more productive with caffeine and more creative with enough alcohol consumed to consider myself pleasantly buzzed. Full out drunk though? I don't think so. I get really tired, so even if my creativity received a greater boost, I wouldn't get much done. My vote's no.

Strange thing is though, I watched a documentary on Stephen King recently.His early, and in my view best novels were written when he used to sit up all night with a case of beer and some coke.

Same with writing music.
Take some classic rock bands,Zeppelin and the stones and their ilk.

Bombed out their head, 70's Albums, far better than the cleaned up newer releases.

I wonder if the contrast between early King and late King, or early Zeppelin and late Zeppelin is the difference between young and old rather than the difference between drunk and sober.

James D. Macdonald said:

I wonder if the contrast between early King and late King, or early Zeppelin and late Zeppelin is the difference between young and old rather than the difference between drunk and sober.

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Ha! Yeah, wearied out and drained empty from all those years of drink and drugs!