Drugs & Alcohol

[Angeleyes619]

So I took a few creative classes in college and all the professors (except one) stressed the importance of writing without the assistance of drug/alcohol. Do you think drugs/alcohol enhances writing or do they diminish the quality of writing?


I have too much time on my hands and no friends. Humor me.

 

[bospress.net]

All of your professors (except one) are ignorant.

Making a blanket statement like that will almost always get you in trouble. What works for one may not work for another. Sure, most people can't write well when high, but then most people can't write well when sober...

 

[CoffinDodger]

Maybe your professors never took their heads out of their asses long enough to hear of Jim Mirrison, the Beatles, Charles Bukowski ;), the ROlling Stones, Nirvana, Hemingway, etc and etc and etc. ...

A fresh pack of smokes, bottle of bushmills, some nice music and a good book will instantly cancel out the time/friends problem, trust me, i've been surviving that way for hundreds of years ;)

 

[mjp]

I don't think I would tell a roomful of college kids to go out and get really fucked up and then write. Their writing is likely bad enough without the assistance of those outside influences.

 

[Hosh]

Most people can't write well no matter what they are or aren't doing. I count myself among them.

I think a drink or two helps loosen the logjam, and sometimes it makes us just brash enough to say the damn thing instead of dancing around it. But if I'm shitfaced, and feeling really proud about not wetting myself as I lay vomitting on some stranger's porch...no, I probably couldn't write a lick then. To me, it's more about creating a comfortable place, free of silly distraction--so if a beer or something else helps the writer relax, then by all means, indulge!

 

[1fsh2fsh]

Moderation...(it's kept me alive)

 

[Black Swan]

Anything that can loosen the noose is good. Moderation keeps it good.

 

[Erik]

I'd put it this way: talent, endurance and hard, diligent work are more important than any chemical influence.
There isn't any shortcut.

 

[Bruno Dante]

Drugs and / or drink won't make you good, but they might give you a different perspective I suppose.

 

[whatsayjew]

I am unsure whether most of the 'Beats' wrote under the influence, it would however explain their warm diarrhea.

 

[Ponder]