Before you say no, remember legal drugs count. Where I live that includes marijuana, but no, no I don't. I'm a casual caffeine user, not an addict like most of you, but I was about to pick up a Coke, and I stopped myself. I was afraid it would make my voice all frantic and hyperactive. Of course, being only an occasional user, it affects me more, so maybe you guys can handle it.
Do you use drugs when you write?
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Have you had that happen? I mean, caffeine making your voice become frantic and hyper?
Interesting!
Okay, back in the day, w a a a a y back, long before any of you were even born, surely, I did used to smoke marijuana and compose poetry under the influence. No, it wasn't legal then. Yes, it helped, I am sorry to say, but honestly it did. (No longer, been years.)
I have also written under the influence of alcohol. Intoxicated composing has its charms as well. I am a teetotaler now, but what both of those drugs had in common as a crutch to writing was to loosen something up, open a valve as it were.
I had to revise sober, however.
Interesting!
Okay, back in the day, w a a a a y back, long before any of you were even born, surely, I did used to smoke marijuana and compose poetry under the influence. No, it wasn't legal then. Yes, it helped, I am sorry to say, but honestly it did. (No longer, been years.)
I have also written under the influence of alcohol. Intoxicated composing has its charms as well. I am a teetotaler now, but what both of those drugs had in common as a crutch to writing was to loosen something up, open a valve as it were.
I had to revise sober, however.
I did all the drugs in the known universe in my youth. The world is now dry of drugs because of me. I only mainline lattes now. Quad shot raspberry vanilla Latte. Bam.
I drink coffee in the morning--but I would whether I wrote that day or not. Tea in the afternoon: ditto. Sometimes I write in the evening after a glass of wine or two. But caffeine doesn't make me hyper and I rarely drink enough wine to turn me into a babbling idiot, so the effects of both are minor.
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Do I deliberately choose to use a drug for the purposes of enhancing my writing? Nope.
Do I write when I have, for whatever reason, ingested a substance that is classified as a drug? Yes. Has it had any effect on my writing? There is no way to tell, as it is impossible to write the same thing twice under controlled took-the-pill vs didn't-take-the-pill circumstances, but I suspect not.
Editing to add: Pity I didn't try writing anything when I was on prescription opiates for a few weeks last year. Might have been interesting to read it afterwards..... At any rate, there's always the delete key!
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A Coke affecting your voice? Seriously?
I drink about two pots of coffee per day, and I smoke. neither has anything whatsoever to do with my writing, and neither affects my voice in any way. Never did, even in the beginning.
I also drink a small amount of alcohol, and occasionally put a bit of Jameson or spiced rum in my coffee.
But none of this alters my brain. None of it clouds my thinking. If it did, I'd stop using it. I also write at times and places where I can't use any of this. There's no difference. None.
Any kind of illegal or mind-altering drugs, no. Only a damned fool uses those.
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I'm ridiculously vanilla. Tea and the occasional coffee, plus diet pop. Do wasabi peas count? They're like flamethrowers into the sinuses. Great stuff.
Kuwisdelu, "phentermine",
Blast from the past!
Kuwisdelu, "phentermine",
Blast from the past!
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That is your opinion, JAR, and you are entitled to it, but I disagree. There are a number of mind-altering drugs that are prescription medicines, the usage of which is highly preferable to their absence for people who suffer from narcolepsy, anxiety, sciatica, Parkinson's, and a zillion other diseases.
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James, c'mon. A lot of people would say anyone who smokes tobacco and drinks hard liquor is a damned fool. I do both as well. After quitting for over ten years I am back on the evil sticks.
As for other drugs, the only thing I'll do now and then is take a few hits off a joint. It will never hurt me physically and at times I've gained insight that I can use. While I'm writing, however, I am stone cold sober.
As for other drugs, the only thing I'll do now and then is take a few hits off a joint. It will never hurt me physically and at times I've gained insight that I can use. While I'm writing, however, I am stone cold sober.
No.
Some coffee at times, though that's mostly in the morning.
If you do enough drugs, you may eventually assimilate them: then it becomes ridiculous to use drugs anymore: because you are drugs, so what’s the point?
Some coffee at times, though that's mostly in the morning.
If you do enough drugs, you may eventually assimilate them: then it becomes ridiculous to use drugs anymore: because you are drugs, so what’s the point?
That must be what happened to KTC.And possibly, myself. Years ago. Long before any of you were born.
ETA: I also used to smoke quite a lot of tobacco, and would sometimes, when composing, catch myself with two cigarettes burning at one time. It's actually very interesting, having done these things, and now, not doing any of them. There are some intriguing comparisons one can make, but it's all extremely subjective.
Seriously, I don't recommend or suggest that people use drugs. I am even pretty uncomfortable with pharmaceuticals that so many use to manage their mental and emotional health. (Though I'm not judging anyone; I do have concerns about it.) During the years that I did use substances, I had very different attitudes toward some things than I do now. I've learned a trick or two, since then.
Caffeine. One cup of strong coffee in the morning is it, for me.
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Actually, alcohol, caffeine, and even nicotine are mind altering drugs.
Caffeine and nicotine can focus the mind strongly. Alcohol can certainly loosen inhibitions and let the mind roam bit more freely for creative processes.
Just saw a little thing on CNN, an interview with a guy who used to take LSD with Steve Jobs in the early days. Jobs apparently felt LSD increased both his spirituality and his creativity. He was a lot of things, not all of them praiseworthy, but I don't think damn fool really qualifies.
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I drink 3 cups of caffeinated tea a day, often while writing. It has little effect on me. I occasionally have a coffee, which has a noticeable effect, though I'm often not writing when I have coffee. While it affects me, I don't think think it affects my writing much; it just affects how I feel while writing (jittery, wired). I have written while drinking a glass of wine on occasion, but not recently. Also I am currently taking a prescription med that has all sorts of fun side effects, including hallucinations...
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Generally the writing that I do while on coffee is technical in nature, for the dayjob. Though on weekends, I will write while drinking a cuppa in the morning.
I may have an adult beverage in the evening if I haven't been to the gym.
I do also occasionally take ibuprofen. Especially when I've been to the gym.
I haven't actually noticed my voice changed by any of these, unless I overindulge with the adult beverages. But generally, it takes me something like 4 hours to drink a glass of wine.
Oh! And I take vitamins.
I may have an adult beverage in the evening if I haven't been to the gym.
I do also occasionally take ibuprofen. Especially when I've been to the gym.
I haven't actually noticed my voice changed by any of these, unless I overindulge with the adult beverages. But generally, it takes me something like 4 hours to drink a glass of wine.
Oh! And I take vitamins.
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re: Coke
Have you ever wondered why Coke comes with a smile? Because it gets you high. They removed the cocaine almost 100 years ago. Why? It was redundant.
In the first 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor, allowing you to keep it down.
20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (And there’s plenty of that at this particular moment.)
40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate; your blood pressure rises; as a response, your liver dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked, preventing drowsiness.
45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production, stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
> 60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium, and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
> 60 minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium, and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolytes, and water.
> 60 minutes: As the rave inside you dies down, you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, evacuated all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like hydrating your system, or building strong bones and teeth.
Since the Dead have gone it's hard to find really good LSD anymore...so, just as well I don't do that stuff any more.
Unapologetically, yes I smoke pot sometimes when I write. Many times pot will allow me to think of things I had not considered before. I can't stand coffee, not a fan of alcohol, and quit tobacco over twenty years ago.
I have.
Particularly if I've recently partaken in any psychedelic amphetamines.
It seems to activate whatever substances are leftover in one's system.
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No drugs, but I do like to lick dart frogs after consuming a clump of well-aged ambergris inside the skin of a hollowed-out gulper eel.
I dunno, different strokes, I guess.
I dunno, different strokes, I guess.
Ooh, maybe that's why it's so popular.
Buz, I would expect no less of you. May your supply of gulper eel skins be ever abundant.
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I'm an incurable romantic. I use a different kind of eel.
When an eel bites your knee
As you swim in the sea
That's -- a moray....
When an eel bites your knee
As you swim in the sea
That's -- a moray....
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