Do you use drugs when you write?
- Thread starter morngnstar
- Start date
- Status
Hell, the only way I could write my first sex scene was by drinking a very strong vodka and coke.
For the day-job, I Must Have Coffee to get through the staff reports and legislative ordinances I have to write.
For my fiction, though, the strongest thing I drink most while writing is diet caffeine-free soda. I usually write in the evening and I can't have caffeine after 6pm or I'll be awake all night. If it's a weekend, I might open a bottle of wine.
Although... I've noticed I do still tend to whip up a couple of cocktails if I have a particularly, um... adventurous sex scene to write.
For the day-job, I Must Have Coffee to get through the staff reports and legislative ordinances I have to write.
For my fiction, though, the strongest thing I drink most while writing is diet caffeine-free soda. I usually write in the evening and I can't have caffeine after 6pm or I'll be awake all night. If it's a weekend, I might open a bottle of wine.
Although... I've noticed I do still tend to whip up a couple of cocktails if I have a particularly, um... adventurous sex scene to write.
Last edited:
My writing ritual begins with a couple of hits from my bowl while I'm outside taking in some fresh air. Then, I drink my warm cup of tea. It's awesome! It doesn't make me a better writer, by any stretch of the imagination. When I run out of pot, I have my cup of black tea and keep at it. I've always smoked pot; I don't know if I would call it mind-altering as much as it is mind-loosening. That said, I don't smoke potent strands or anything crazy like that. It's a nice buzz and I like the act of smoking and taking it into my lungs. I just hate smoking tobacco (if I did, I would mostly smoke that instead).
I might drink a GF beer when I write, but rarely. Alcohol's a depressant, so it doesn't give me the motivation or speed I need to keep going. I'd rather save that for socializing or when I don't want to think about my book or any work at all.
I might drink a GF beer when I write, but rarely. Alcohol's a depressant, so it doesn't give me the motivation or speed I need to keep going. I'd rather save that for socializing or when I don't want to think about my book or any work at all.
Snactually, alcohol does this to me. In vino veritas! I guess I have a lot to say, but my internal editor is pretty strong. The booze knocks him right out.
Not sure I could use it much for writing, though. It would slow down my fingers too much to keep up with my brain (even my mouth can never keep up in this state). Guess I could use one of those voice recorders. But it seems like a bad habit anyway. Needing drugs to perform at your peak sounds like a recipe for substance abuse. This has been a public service announcement.
I'm drinking a beer as I write this. So sue me.
I haven't smoked marijuana in over a decade. I want to, but I don't.
I like how one guy's bad habits are superior to somebody else's bad ones.
As far as using illegal or mind-altering drugs go...
“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.”
― Hunter S. Thompson
...there's some pretty good writing by some "damned fools" which has come courtesy of drugs.
I haven't smoked marijuana in over a decade. I want to, but I don't.
I like how one guy's bad habits are superior to somebody else's bad ones.
As far as using illegal or mind-altering drugs go...
“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.”
― Hunter S. Thompson
...there's some pretty good writing by some "damned fools" which has come courtesy of drugs.
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2010
- Messages
- 7,063
- Reaction score
- 1,642
That's interesting! I could see an uptick in heart-rate doing that. Ever notice a similar effect with exercise? (Although exercise can cause some pleasant endorphin effects all on its own.)
Someone my brother knew in high school accidentally overdosed his cat with marijuana (kitty ate a full baggie.) The cat survived, but after that, whenever the owner forgot to feed his cat in a timely fashion, the cat would get high again.
THC is stored in your fat cells. Apparently kitty wound up with a lot of it stored there.
Ahem. Back to the thread topic. I've never done recreational drugs, and I don't drink, but I actually love a nice, moderate (i.e. non-jittery) caffeine high. I think I do get better ideas, and faster, in that state.
I don't notice any quality issues in that state, exactly, other than the fact that when my writing is rushed, I usually find I have to go back and flesh it out later. However, that happens when I'm merely excited, too, not just when I'm jazzed up on a pot of tea and a house-brick of dark chocolate.
Last edited:
Not personally, no, since I'm a lazy ass, but I know other people who have, yes.
Aside from the can of Coca-Cola I drink every day and the anti-depressants prescribed for me, I don't take any drugs.
Thing is, I'm kind of curious about drugs. I blame my DARE education I got in elementary school. The way they talk about drugs, like how you'd become instantly addicted and die...yeah, I laugh now, but at the time, being a gullible child, I believed them. I did eventually stopped when I got to high school. Granted I never did anything wild in high school--I was the weird bullied kid who didn't get invited anywhere--but y'know I started hearing stories about kids who did do wild stuff.
Here's the interesting part: the most common drug abused by said high school kids was alcohol, which when you think about it, makes sense. Alcohol is legal. All you need to get it is to have someone older buy it for you, get a fake idea and hope the cashier doesn't check too closely, or raid your parents' stash. About the most out there substance I heard talk about, outside of legal stuff, was pot.
After awhile of hearing these stories, you start noticing a curious lack of people dying as a result of cutting loose. In fact, most of the kids I knew were able to confine their partying to the weekends; they'd cut loose then and function normally the rest of the time. The ones that got really messed up as a result of drugs and alcohol...usually they were the ones who were already kind of messed up to begin with. The drugs/alcohol didn't help, but they weren't the sole cause of said user's dysfunction.
Where am I going with all this? Thing is, I've kind of become curious about drugs. Kind of wanna see what the fuss is all about. Trouble is, because I'm a total square, I don't know the first thing about getting drugs. It's not like I can walk the streets of the nearest city asking, "Hey you wouldn't happen to know where I can score some pot?" In all likelihood, they'll just assume I'm a nutbar or I'm wearing a wire or worst case scenario, I run into an undercover cop who happens to be wearing a wire and I'm screwed. So yeah, I've kind of resigned myself to the fact that I'll never experience what it's like to get stoned and put on a Pink Floyd album.
One final fact for the road: I've read that the DARE program is such a failure that graduates of it are more likely to use drugs than non-graduates.
Thing is, I'm kind of curious about drugs. I blame my DARE education I got in elementary school. The way they talk about drugs, like how you'd become instantly addicted and die...yeah, I laugh now, but at the time, being a gullible child, I believed them. I did eventually stopped when I got to high school. Granted I never did anything wild in high school--I was the weird bullied kid who didn't get invited anywhere--but y'know I started hearing stories about kids who did do wild stuff.
Here's the interesting part: the most common drug abused by said high school kids was alcohol, which when you think about it, makes sense. Alcohol is legal. All you need to get it is to have someone older buy it for you, get a fake idea and hope the cashier doesn't check too closely, or raid your parents' stash. About the most out there substance I heard talk about, outside of legal stuff, was pot.
After awhile of hearing these stories, you start noticing a curious lack of people dying as a result of cutting loose. In fact, most of the kids I knew were able to confine their partying to the weekends; they'd cut loose then and function normally the rest of the time. The ones that got really messed up as a result of drugs and alcohol...usually they were the ones who were already kind of messed up to begin with. The drugs/alcohol didn't help, but they weren't the sole cause of said user's dysfunction.
Where am I going with all this? Thing is, I've kind of become curious about drugs. Kind of wanna see what the fuss is all about. Trouble is, because I'm a total square, I don't know the first thing about getting drugs. It's not like I can walk the streets of the nearest city asking, "Hey you wouldn't happen to know where I can score some pot?" In all likelihood, they'll just assume I'm a nutbar or I'm wearing a wire or worst case scenario, I run into an undercover cop who happens to be wearing a wire and I'm screwed. So yeah, I've kind of resigned myself to the fact that I'll never experience what it's like to get stoned and put on a Pink Floyd album.
One final fact for the road: I've read that the DARE program is such a failure that graduates of it are more likely to use drugs than non-graduates.
By your definition, anything that might potentially alter your physical state of alertness is a drug. Chocolate is a drug. Ice water is a drug. Fresh air is a drug.
caw
caw
You could always take a trip to Washington state or Colorado and try pot legally.
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2010
- Messages
- 7,063
- Reaction score
- 1,642
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2006
- Messages
- 17,873
- Reaction score
- 4,664
- Location
- dunking doughnuts at Dunkin' Donuts
Grace Jones thinks so, too.
I really can't use too many things recreationally any longer. Too many adverse reactions and too much potential for addiction. I'm just happy with my coffee, water, or diet Mountain Dew.
I really can't use too many things recreationally any longer. Too many adverse reactions and too much potential for addiction. I'm just happy with my coffee, water, or diet Mountain Dew.
dondomat
Banned
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
- Messages
- 1,373
- Reaction score
- 225
Lee Child smokes pot after the writing for the day is done, to muse about what comes tomorrow.
I remember a Martin Amis interview, where he states that hash is good to think up characters and bits of plot, but writing as such should be done sober. I remember him also saying something along the lines that the high from drugs (in the weed/speed/acid sense) releases pent-up mental and nervous energy and in essence depletes today's reserves (and learning to not waste this is what differentiates artists from losers and abusers) and one should allow the mind and body to collect another batch for some time, before depleting it all in one burst of high again.
I find this logic persuasive. It's one thing to approach visionary plants and artificial alternatives with respect and only on occasion, like the shamanic ancestors did, quite another to approach them like just another market product like skittles, to be popped all the time.
In this sense always being stoned is running on empty, even if it's a jolly and wacky empty.
I personally go into This Is Spartaaa! mode when writing--teetotaler vegetarian jogging health Nazi--and only morph into a pizza-imbibing degenerate on weekends.
...Back when I was a smoker, cigarettes helped focus, helped relax, helped wake up, and helped go to sleep. They were a measuring unit of time, of space, of productivity, of laziness, of moodiness, and of happiness.
I remember a Martin Amis interview, where he states that hash is good to think up characters and bits of plot, but writing as such should be done sober. I remember him also saying something along the lines that the high from drugs (in the weed/speed/acid sense) releases pent-up mental and nervous energy and in essence depletes today's reserves (and learning to not waste this is what differentiates artists from losers and abusers) and one should allow the mind and body to collect another batch for some time, before depleting it all in one burst of high again.
I find this logic persuasive. It's one thing to approach visionary plants and artificial alternatives with respect and only on occasion, like the shamanic ancestors did, quite another to approach them like just another market product like skittles, to be popped all the time.
In this sense always being stoned is running on empty, even if it's a jolly and wacky empty.
I personally go into This Is Spartaaa! mode when writing--teetotaler vegetarian jogging health Nazi--and only morph into a pizza-imbibing degenerate on weekends.
...Back when I was a smoker, cigarettes helped focus, helped relax, helped wake up, and helped go to sleep. They were a measuring unit of time, of space, of productivity, of laziness, of moodiness, and of happiness.
Last edited:
I drink tons of coffee. I absolutely love the stuff. I can't quit! I always have a pot ready when I write. That might explain why I go on 12 hour writing binges. Folger's has me geeked out of my mind and beating the hell out of my keyboard.
I haven't touched weed in years. I drink alcohol maybe twice a year. I quit smoking over a decade ago,but still have the urge to smoke when I am stressed.
I haven't touched weed in years. I drink alcohol maybe twice a year. I quit smoking over a decade ago,but still have the urge to smoke when I am stressed.
Strange, I always thought love was a battlefield... but, then, I was raised in the 80's.
Personally, the hardest drug I hit is chocolate, and I rarely do it while writing - it's a pain to clean off the keyboard. I've always had such a weird, easily-triggered imagination that I never saw the point of using drugs. (I also have few enough brain cells that I can't risk toasting any more.) Plus, there's alcoholism and addictive behaviors down both sides of the family tree, making me very reluctant to dabble in the stuff. If I want to play Russian roulette, I'll use a gun; it's quicker and cheaper. And less likely to take out other people.
And, because I've been thinking of it the whole thread: Drugs Are Like That (Drug "educational" short, Rifftrax version, via Hulu)
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2005
- Messages
- 16,339
- Reaction score
- 4,110
- Location
- East O' The Sun & West O' The Moon
- Website
- www.jlevitt.com
And of course Philip K Dick was well known for his massive use of amphetamines which enabled him to crank out his novels at an astounding rate, staying up for days at a time and pounding on the typewriter.
dondomat
Banned
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
- Messages
- 1,373
- Reaction score
- 225
Dick later claimed it was placebo effect; that he needed to believe something helped him be so productive. I personally find it difficult to believe anything he says after circa 1965
Time Out of Joint is one of my all time favorite sci-fi novels ever.
Time Out of Joint is one of my all time favorite sci-fi novels ever.
I once tried writing while drinking. I couldn't do it. I can handle alcohol very well, but it relaxed me and I need to really concentrate when I'm writing.
I'm a habitual tea drinker. I can't handle coffee very well. It makes me jittery.
I'm a habitual tea drinker. I can't handle coffee very well. It makes me jittery.
dondomat
Banned
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
- Messages
- 1,373
- Reaction score
- 225
The great Kingsley Amis (dad of Martin), one of literature's last great lovers of alcohol, only started drinking after finishing writing for the day, in the early evening, like Lee Child's pot.
And me too, if I drink a glass of vodka or brandy in mid-scene--that's all for today, folks. Complete demoralization and the only desire remaining is to curl up in front of the TV and doze off.
And me too, if I drink a glass of vodka or brandy in mid-scene--that's all for today, folks. Complete demoralization and the only desire remaining is to curl up in front of the TV and doze off.
Last edited:
God, no. Anyone who has tried to write while taking anti-depressants knows my reason why.
I drink a lot of coffee, but that's just me and not related whatsoever to my writing.
I drink a lot of coffee, but that's just me and not related whatsoever to my writing.
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2012
- Messages
- 5,448
- Reaction score
- 2,980
*groan*
I sometimes have caffeine. And carbs. And protein. Basically, food. I have food.
I can't write when tipsy because I mis-type everything, and as for drugs...well, when I was in college, I ate a weed brownie and I was suddenly sooper inspiredballs, so I started scribbling down random stuff which I swore were the most brilliant things anyone had ever written down in the history of the world. The next day, I looked over what I wrote.
"My hands are mountains. Woooowwww. They are like totally mountains. Whoaaaaa. I am moving mountains arounddddd crazyballs!"
So that didn't really work out.
Tea.
I love tea. I'm one of those people whose workday is over if they so much as pour a glass of anything stronger than tea. But tea is very good.
On the other hand, I do enjoy a glass or two once I'm finished. I'm not a total teetotaller.
I did purposely get drunk and try to write once. I ended up with half a page of nonsense and had to have a little sleep on the hallway floor.
I'm just not cool enough to be Hunter S. Thompson.
I'm just not cool enough to be Hunter S. Thompson.
- Status