It's always down to the individual. There's nothing in the universe capable of effecting every single human the same way. Some people do perform better with "drugs" (quoted as such since what is/isn't a drug is not absolute nor objective) in their system, and others just don't.
I love coffee, and drink around 4 (homemade) cups a day, but spaced out time-wise. If I drank more than one cup at a time my fingers would get too jittery to use a keyboard. Motyr fignpwr rails fin—deathless prose indeed. I've never tried to write anything drunk or on drugs. Well, in fact I rarely drink these days and haven't used any drugs for more than 30 years. Age...sigh...
If I drank ten cups of coffee in one day I'd be. . . well, dead. Not the most productive state. If I could find a drug that could make me physically better and allow me to write I would be taking it by the bucketful. Alcohol makes me sleepy, pot make me horribly paranoid and stimulants don't affect me - I don't know where to find any other drugs! Where do people get drugs from?? Do you just walk up to people and mumble 'D'you have any drugs?' until someone says 'Yes?' I can't afford to be a substance abuser anyway.
[MENTION=36654]MsScribble[/MENTION]: To me it sounds like you have one of those metabolisms that crave some regular physical activity to break up the writing and get some blood and oxygen in your brain, to stimulate creativity. Like a swim, a walk with a dog, half an hour of yoga and meditation, that sort of thing. It's just as addictive but it's actually good for you
If you're saying exersize will improve my writing I'm all for it! (Its winter here at the mo, I always seem to find an excuse not to walk my dog when its chilly.)
When I write, I just drink tea or soda. Cafe gives me too much of a buzz and makes me want to not sit down. As for drugs, I would never do them while I write. I have written about things I've hallucinated, but that's about it. Some of the best monsters I've ever come up with for my fantasy have been based on things I've seen while on LSD or Salvia. Hey, they don't call it "High fantasy" for nothing.
[MENTION=36654]MsScribble[/MENTION]: As long as you wrap up a shawl over your nose and mouth (so you breathe warm air) invigorating walk in the cold is very soothing to the nerves and quite inspirational. Alternatively, put on some tunes and dance with your dog for a couple of songs. It's what I do
I tend to agree with this. It's like when playing music: when you're drunk or high, you think everything you play sounds golden, but when you listen back to the tape... well, let's just say most people play much better when they're sober. I find the same goes for writing. For the past few years, I've done most of my writing under the influence of pregabalin and codeine or tramadol because I take them for chronic back pain (all prescribed an legal), but I much prefer writing "clean." I do vape most of the time I write, but nicotine and caffeine have never had any effects on me except the physical ones (both increase my metabolism a tiny bit). We did drink quite a lot with KaTrian when we wrote our first novel and while it's still our baby, we have revised the living crap out of it sober. Nowadays neither of us uses alcohol or drugs except for my prescription drugs and nicotine for me and caffeine for both of us even though nowadays we prefer non-caffeinated diet sodas over our previous favorite, Pepsi Max, but that's just because of the taste: we got bored with PM, but will likely return to it when we grow bored with 7 Up Free (or whatever the sugar-free version is called).
My brain's warped in such a way that if I'm intoxicated, whatever I write seems to be at least ten times worse than what I produce sober. I'm not smart enough to tell what it is with my receptors and transmitters and whatnot, but some substances have unpredictable effects on me, so I couldn't imagine taking something to "enhance" my writing. As for the other question, whether the experiences with substances have fueled stories... yeah, they have. But the documentation -- at least the final documentation -- is done sober.
For me it is caffeine and nicotine with a dash of sleep deprivation. I like to have a cup of coffee to drink between paragraphs as a reward of sorts and when I am stuck with where to go next, I step away and smoke which usually helps me come up with something. Although I do not write drunk, I have came up with several interesting stories while drinking which I would note down then attempt to work with at a later time. Sleep deprivation is more of a side effect for me. I could start writing at midnight and intend to only write for an hour before bed yet when I look round, it's 7am and the sun is rising. Dreams is another good source of inspiration. I've came up with ideas on numerous occasions during my sleep, with and without consuming alcohol.
Yep! Many a "I just do a bit of editing" session have lead to being serenaded by birds as the sun crept through my blinds. I saw an interesting info-graphic about beer vs. coffee - apparently alcohol activates a part of the brain that controls creativity and so after 1 beer, but before 3, your mind is very creative, and highly productive. I've often had a couple of beers while brainstorming projects (both business, and graphic design, though never writing) and I would agree that this is probably the case. The premise of info-graphic is that creatives should start a session with 1-2 beers and after moving to the production phase; switch to coffee, which in moderation does in fact improve productivity. Obviously ideas concocted after more than say... six beers... rarely amount to anything good (but I suppose that's depends on how you rate property damage). Just like after about six coffees you'll spend most of your time pissing and grinding your teeth, instead of working. EDIT: I'm not 100% sure if this is one I saw originally it seems different, but it's the same premise. Perhaps I saw the original, and someone dressed it up.
I just bought my high end coffee, now I'm waiting on my grinder to ship so I can enjoy it and buckle down and work. Which is especially important because I have ADHD.
Sobriety is the best for writing, in my opinion. Now, that being said . . . I've written while high on marijuana. I think that if you're going to write stoned, write a short poem, or vignette, and please, please, please stay away from that long novel(la) you're working on. My train of thought always becomes too derailed, and I find myself skipping like a stone from idea to idea. This is helpful, though, when you just want to brainstorm ideas and plots and new characters. Take a note on your phone/ipod/old school pen and paper, and see what you've got the next morning. It won't be the prettiest writing, but as long as you're not catatonically high, it'll be coherent enough, and there may be some ideas worth using. I wrote a fantasy story while high on acid after watching the end of season 2 of Game of Thrones. It was for school, and I ended up getting an A, lol. That story has since spurred on a novella, which in turned caused me to write a novel, the novella's sequel. I think drugs are useful -- sometimes -- in that they can open you up to new ways of thought, and can be highly imagistic, which can aid visual description. Hallucinogenic drugs are the best for this, as they not only cause visual effects -- patterns superimposed on everything, seeing glimpses of Athenian and Mesoamerican architecture in a subway system -- but also cause rapid cognitive shifts, causing you to contemplate the nature of the universe and life. I could honestly say that drugs like magic mushrooms can cause genuinely profound, aesthetic/intellectual experiences. Drugs, however, are not the be-all end-all of creativity, in fact, are far from it. I think people seek them for creativity, when creativity is found within, and by books you read, and films you watch, and critical analysis of the world around us. I've smoked my fair share of marijuana, and if you smoke it heavily, it makes your thinking foggy, and makes your memory and attention shot. This is reversible, I've found, with abstinence, but it's better to not even go there in the first place. Drugs can also be habit-forming, and distract you from writing and reading. And I am a coffee fiend, but in the scope of drug use, who cares about coffee? In short, erudition and an endless quest for knowledge and self-improvement are the greatest highs a man can achieve, for when he expands his mind, he expands his reality.
[MENTION=35110]jazzabel[/MENTION], great advice, before I injured my hip flexors I'd go jogging every day, and nothing generates ideas like the rising and falling of feet.
[MENTION=50955]mbinks89[/MENTION]: I too had some health trouble and can't do intensive exercise anymore (hopefully one day soon). I used to play tennis and cycle, and especially cycling is perfect for meditation. Love running, but since 8th grade, I have too much boobage to do it comfortably But now, I find that yoga and qigong are incredible in that respect (stimulating creativity). You should try them
[MENTION=35110]jazzabel[/MENTION]: I started cycling actually, much smoother than running. Also, I've begun swimming, which is amazing. I just have to be careful for my shoulders (hurt them too), so I'm sure to stretch before and afterward.
[MENTION=50955]mbinks89[/MENTION]: I love swimming! Unfortunately, here where I live now, the pool is so saturated with chlorine, it's unbearable. I end up wheezing with red eyes and green hair. Charming. When I get famous as a writer and finally earn my millions, I'm sure to dig up a swimming pool in my back yard. I'm sick of depending on public pools.
[MENTION=35110]jazzabel[/MENTION]: me too! There'll even be a marble colonnade leading to my decadence room.
[MENTION=50955]mbinks89[/MENTION]: Awesome, I like it! Mine'll be a tropical greenhouse with a Bora Bora style pool in the middle. Ok, I better shut up before the mod warns me about offtopic
What about goggles and a swimming cap? If I had to choose one sport for the rest of my life, it would be swimming; when I'm in the pool, I'm in my element. As for the topic: I do agree that exercise stimulates the brain much better than any drug I've ever taken. Then again, I suppose the drug in this case would be endorphin. We used to go on 10km jogs with KaTrian, discussing our stories while we ran, but right now my knee's busted (my doc suspects a cracked meniscus). A joint gym workout is also a good platform for bouncing ideas off each other. That being said, even a walk in nature beats drugs as far as improving your capacity for writing goes.
how on earth does this hash tag twitter @ mention stuff work? I got mentioned by erehb the other day and it just popped up in my notifications and took me straight to the post, brilliant.
[MENTION=53329]T.Trian[/MENTION]: I'm allergic to latex and chlorine makes me wheeze, so it's really unpleasant experience. When I lived in Australia, we had these UV pools (UV is used to disinfect them) and even salt water pools, and if you didn't like that, there's beach nine months of the year. Heaven.
It's great if you have options because swimming is such a healthy sport. My dad knew a yogi when he was younger and the guy said that whenever his students / clients said they wanted to gain a bit of muscle, he'd tell them to start swimming, and whenever they wanted to lose weight, he'd tell them to start swimming.
