Why am I so much better a writer when I'm drunk?

whether you realize it or not, you most likely have something of an inhibition while sober. most writers out-think themselves at least some of the time. some do it all of the time. it's why "writer's block" is so infamous.

hemingway didn't usually write drunk. (that i'm aware of) he was an alcoholic but he kept his art sacred. even jack kerouac didn't drink and write (though he did take drugs).

when you're drunk you have no filter. it's exactly like talking to a hot girl you'd be nervous around sober. you say exactly what you really mean and don't worry about external pressure. as much, anyway.

i've had similar experiences - i've written 2 pretty decent/unique short stories while drunk. personally it depends on my mood. it doesn't always work - i've gotten drunk just to write well, and it was a horrible idea. i'd recommend avoiding that route. let it happen coincidentally - you'll have even less of a filter if it's unplanned.

This is a common thing for many writers and I think there's several factors.

One is that good writing is almost never happy. Alcohol can help you dig to some darker places in your mind.

Two is that you're more liberal with what you write when you're drunk. You don't think as much about what is good and bad, you just write. The more you write, the more good things you'll write.

Three is that alcohol can actually help motivate you to write. A lot of writers are very ritualistic. Turns out that alcohol can be a very useful part of a ritual.

Everyone thinks things are more interesting when they're impaired. It's part of being drunk, stoned, high, whatever. People typically don't like being sober or how they think when they're sober because it's "normal" and typically people associate the known with boring. Your writing is just an extension of that fact.

The first draft is all about getting your ideas on paper. One of the most important things to understand as a writer is that a piece doesn't have to be perfect from the beginning. A lot of the time, you'll start with a half-baked idea and it will develop into something really good as you write. You'll start with a fragment of an idea and the details will materialize as you go.

It's easy to dismiss half-baked ideas that occur to you just because you can't really see where they will go. You want to figure out exactly what you are going to say before you say it and you sit there staring at a blank page trying to put the ideas together. Really, the best thing to do a lot of the time is to just start writing and see where the idea takes you. This is a bit easier to do once you've had a few drinks to loosen you up.

It relaxes your mind.

Makes you more emotional

Interesting and good thread. I am certainly not a good writer or intend to be but have been fascinated to write in journals or my deepest thoughts on paper.

I find for me, not only with a few drinks--I need to be in the mood or have some type of music in the background to help me collect my thoughts. Sometimes it just takes a quite room in the middle of the night and all my senses come to live to write.

Since I am not a good writer on paper, I always wondered if I tape record what I was thinking or had a creative story that I could translate it on paper? Any writers do that?

The alcohol lets the "gay" in you shine through. It's well understood that gays are better writers/poets.

I dont know how true it is but Stephen King wrote "The Shining" during a period in his life when he was struggling with alcoholism. It just goes to show you that sometimes it may bring out the scary best in us.

Stephen King wrote most of his books during a period he was struggling with alcoholism (and cocaine, too). He claims that he doesn't remember writing Cujo. This bums him out, because he thinks writing that book must have been satisfying.

You're probably a better writer when you're buzzed not only because it decreases inhibitions, but also because you view things slightly differently while slightly altered, and this can create some interesting insights. Ideally, though, you can find a way to get yourself to this place without needing substances. Dependencies can cause a lot of trouble

Many of our greatest writers were drunkards and smoked like fiends. The list is so long I don't even know where to begin.

Can't sleep... wrote:

Since I am not a good writer on paper, I always wondered if I tape record what I was thinking or had a creative story that I could translate it on paper? Any writers do that?

I've written several books. What works best for me is to outline my ideas, do any basic research if I need to cite something, and then I dictate that chapter or section using Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

It takes a while to get the knack of dictating, but it allows you to be creative because you can speak a lot faster than you can type. I go back afterward and correct typos. If I mess or in a sentence. If I mess up a sentence (like this example), I just start the sentence over and keep going.

I've had readers tell me, "It felt like you were across the table talking to me!" That's because I was sitting and talking to an imaginary audience across the desk.

Voice recognition has come a long way. Now, it's free in Macs and PCs, but I still prefer Dragon.