Does drinking improve your writing?

[Benjamin Clayborne]

Your wit is utterly astounding. Do you wish to challenge my opinion , or are you going to waste time by making sarcastic remarks? In any case, I find it remarkable that someone can be directly offended by a subjective opinion that was not aimed at anyone specifically. I'm not stupid or naive, so get to your point. Words fail you? Why? Can you not convey your thoughts properly?

But... it's not a "subjective opinion," and declaring that it's subjective doesn't make it subjective. The idea that drink and drugs are for the "brain damaged and lazy" is absurd in a world that contained Aldous Huxley, Ernest Hemingway, Jimi Hendrix, and William Shakespeare. The list could go on and on. I suppose you could claim that all those people would have somehow been even more amazingly creative had they abstained from mind-altering substances, but that would be a pretty hard claim to back up.

 

[Xanados]

I find it absurd that one has to take drugs to be amazingly creative. This is what you are implying. No, I think drugs are for the weak, the people who depend on substances for creativity, relaxation, etc. I can't stand teenagers who talk about weed. They are fools who can do nothing with their lives except take drugs and mess around.

Edit: the thing that I can't stand the most is people who use drink and drugs as a means to escape from reality. Face up to your problems you spineless wretches.

 

[Steerpike]

One answer doesn't fit every situation.

I do know plenty of people who turn to drugs, including alcohol, out of weakness. No doubt about it - they just can't handle things without those crutches. I also know creative people who have fried themselves to the point they can no longer create anything of value.

That said, there is no doubt in my mind that were it not for drugs there are many creative end-products that we would not enjoy today - Cooleridge and Philip K. Dick, to add two additional literary types to the names mentioned above.

 

[Xanados]

One answer doesn't fit every situation.

I do know plenty of people who turn to drugs, including alcohol, out of weakness. No doubt about it - they just can't handle things without those crutches. I also know creative people who have fried themselves to the point they can no longer create anything of value.

That said, there is no doubt in my mind that were it not for drugs there are many creative end-products that we would not enjoy today - Cooleridge and Philip K. Dick, to add two additional literary types to the names mentioned above.

One needs to be in control of one's own mind. I believe that people should be able to focus, see clearly, and discipline their minds. Drugs are the antithesis of natural thought proccesses. Plus, drug culture is obnoxious and irritating. I feel too old to be in this body of mine.

 

[Steerpike]

One needs to be in control of one's own mind. I believe that people should be able to focus, see clearly, and discipline their minds. Drugs are the antithesis of natural thought proccesses.

As a general rule, I agree. But it seems to me there is incontrovertible evidence of great creative achievements while under the influence, so the idea that one can't produce a creative work of value while on drugs appears to me to be demonstrably false.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

I find it absurd that one has to take drugs to be amazingly creative. This is what you are implying.

No, as a matter of fact, it isn't. There have been plenty of great creative works produced while stone-cold sober; to claim otherwise would be foolish. Nothing I said implies otherwise; I was merely listing a few great artists who were well-known to make use of drugs or alcohol. But, again, the assertion that everyone who uses alcohol or drugs is "weak," "timid," "brain-damaged," or "lazy" is absurd on its face.

No, I think drugs are for the weak, the people who depend on substances for creativity, relaxation, etc.

As demonstrated, plenty of highly creative folks have used alcohol and drugs, both for relaxation and in some cases to help them with their creative efforts. As I also said, plenty of creative folks create only while sober, or simply don't use those substances at all. But the blanket assertion that someone must be weak or stupid in order to want to use mind-altering substances is absurd, because then you have to explain the very large number of intelligent, productive people who use mind-altering substances.

I can't stand teenagers who talk about weed. They are fools who can do nothing with their lives except take drugs and mess around.

I've known quite a number of teenagers who used weed occasionally and were otherwise productive members of society. Good grades, good colleges, good jobs, good families. I'm not sure what vast experience you've had that justifies painting all drug users with such a broad brush. Teenagers are annoying? No kidding!

 

[Telcontar]

It seems that you, Xanados, have a bit of a personal vendetta against drinking and drugs in general. That's fine. I'll never be so silly as to claim either one of these is a good thing. It probably would be preferable if neither habit had any place in the human experience - while both alcohol and other drugs can bring pleasure to a single user, they can cause tragedy for innumerable others as a result of that user's actions, and thus the net effect of their absence would probably be positive.

However...

That is never going to happen. People drink. They also use drugs. This will continue.

As to the question of any intoxicant on creativity, it is my belief - as somebody who has used them - that they have no net effect on creativity. As I mentioned above the only thing I find alcohol useful for in writing is to loosen my self-filters and help me get words on the page, which is a byproduct of the well document effect of loosening inhibitions. It could also be that the influence of alcohol has helped me to write more daring and risky things than I might have otherwise - but it didn't help me create them.

In the same vein, using intoxicants doesn't make you brain-damaged, weak, lazy, spineless, or any of the other colorful things you've used to describe users. Some drugs can indeed cause brain-damage if abused heavily, but I know a great many people who have been smoking marijuana for a great many years - and most of them are sharp as a tack. I myself drink a fair amount, and have experimented with some drugs (none of which I continued to use), and I defy you to say that I 'do not have the capacity for imagination.' I will provide you with a long and detailed rebuttal, and neither one of us has the time for that...

I understand that you find some drug users annoying. I remember being annoyed by the heavy-pot-smoking crowd in High School as well. But take care to remember that that is only one small subset of a population that might use these substances. Trying to generalize what you see in one to all the rest causes you to make very silly statements.

 

[OrionDarkwood]

How about other drugs? Christopher Hitchens, who passed away recently, felt that for him, drinking helped.

Christoper Hitchens claimed drinking helped his writing. Is that true? - Slate Magazine

Don't do drugs, I am actually crazier and more creativity when sober. However I have been know to have a nice glass of Scotch to slow my thoughts down so I can get my ideas and thoughts out before they disappear.

 

[The Blue Lotus]

*Tension Breaker*

To change the subject...
I heard that Stephen King does not remember writing The Shinning, and most of his early works because he was six sheets to the wind.

 

[Devor]

I can already predict that you are going to tell me that I'm being too harsh. No, I'm not. Your post is clearly plagued with sarcasm. You think that my opinion is so off the wall that it is laughable and should be displayed for all to see. Pathetic.

I'm not stupid or naive, so get to your point

I'm sorry, but it was laughable. There's no way around it.

It's not that you think drugs make people lazy and brain dead. They certainly can do that, among the very many things that they can do. I can respect that opinion to a point, although you've admittedly crossed that point, somewhere, repeatedly.

No, the reason your post was downright funny is this:

Drugs are for people who do not have a capacity for imagination. They need to seek an external source that will give them some sort of boost, some form of understanding of the world. Brain damaged, lazy people are drug users.
Edit: Oh and, by the way, before I get a warning from the Mods, I'm not insulting people who use drugs or drink. This is just my subjective opinion.

Err, yes, you ARE insulting drug users. How can you say that saying they're all brain damaged is NOT AN INSULT? That's ridiculous. You're being as mean as can be, but they're drug users so that's alright, we'll just wave it aside.

No. It's not. Knock it off.

 

[Xanados]

I'm sorry, but it was laughable. There's no way around it.

It's not that you think drugs make people lazy and brain dead. They certainly can do that, among the very many things that they can do. I can respect that opinion to a point, although you've admittedly crossed that point, somewhere, repeatedly.

No, the reason your post was downright funny is this:



Err, yes, you ARE insulting drug users. How can you say that saying they're all brain damaged is NOT AN INSULT? That's ridiculous. You're being as mean as can be, but they're drug users so that's alright, we'll just wave it aside.

No. It's not. Knock it off.

I'm glad that you found it amusing. You've read my opinion, now do you have any constructive argument against it, or does it just induce side-splitting laughter? What is your opinion on drugs? Thanks for increasing the tension in this thread, Devor.

 

[myrddin173]

Xanados, as far as I can tell no one in this thread is saying drugs are good. They are just disagreeing with your opinion that

Drugs are for people who do not have a capacity for imagination. They need to seek an external source that will give them some sort of boost, some form of understanding of the world. Brain damaged, lazy people are drug users.
Edit: Oh and, by the way, before I get a warning from the Mods, I'm not insulting people who use drugs or drink. This is just my subjective opinion.

which in fact is an insult to people who use drugs and/or drink. Members have posted a number of examples of imaginative people who have used drugs.

 

[The Blue Lotus]

Gee wiz guys,
Are we really going to get into a my thingy is bigger than your thingy contest?

No one is right and no one is wrong. What person A finds proper, person B might detest, while person C could care less, and person D is just sitting back laughing his A$$ off watching the others argue over moot points.

Can't we agree to disagree?

Now whos up for a rousing round of Kumbaya?

 

[Devor]

I'm glad that you found it amusing. You've read my opinion, now do you have any constructive argument against it, or does it just induce side-splitting laughter? What is your opinion on drugs?

Oh I don't know, I drink but I've never used drugs. I've known some pretty creative, bright, hard-working people back in college who've used marijuana regularly. I've never known anyone to use stronger drugs on a regular basis without getting a little messed up by them.

I think why you use them, how often you use them, what kind of person you are, and who you do drugs with all make a pretty big difference in how they affect you. And of course, some are more damaging than others, and might harm you in many serious ways even if they improve your creative skills.

Thanks for increasing the tension in this thread, Devor.

My post wasn't really about your opinion, but your insults. You were already making it extremely tense for everyone else, especially those who might have experiences with the subject.

 

[Steerpike]

Are we really going to get into a my thingy is bigger than your thingy contest?

Luckily, I recently received an email for a product that will make my thingy bigger than all of yours put together. You just wait. What's the shipping time from Taiwan?

 

[The Blue Lotus]

Luckily, I recently received an email for a product that will make my thingy bigger than all of yours put together. You just wait. What's the shipping time from Taiwan?

ROFL.. I want a copy of that Email I married an asian!

 

[Steerpike]

ROFL.. I want a copy of that Email I married an asian!

LMAO. I hope he does not frequent the boards!

 

[The Blue Lotus]

LOL, right...
I need my nap! I'm being silly now...
In answer to your q) No he does not, prolly a good thing too, if he did I'd be one dead lil blondie!

 

[Xanados]

You were already making it extremely tense for everyone else, especially those who might have experiences with the subject.

See, now this is the part of love. Thank you for reminding me about that particular aspect of drug use. I despise the "victimhood" of it all. If you're going to use drugs then "man up" and understand what they might do to you. It's the same with every serious subject from rape, to death, essentially. People always make such a big deal about it. Shoosh, be quiet. Don't talk about dying...Susie's mother died 10 years ago!
In this case it's "Shoosh, Xanados, don't talk about drugs. Person X had an awful experience with drugs."

 

[The Blue Lotus]

See, now this is the part of love. Thank you for reminding me about that particular aspect of drug use. I despise the "victimhood" of it all. If you're going to use drugs then "man up" and understand what they might do to you. It's the same with every serious subject from rape, to death, essentially. People always make such a big deal about it. Shoosh, be quiet. Don't talk about dying...Susies mother died 10 years ago!
In this case it's "Shoosh, Xanados, don't talk about drugs. Person X had an awful experience with drugs."

As a survivor of sexual abuse I resent your Victimhood statement in relation to rape.
I love ya man but... Really?