Very true. But I dislike having to go somewhere to exercise, and in the UK, pools are the only option. Sea is too cold even in the summer (for me). I love nature, but gyms, pools etc aren't my thing. I much prefer walking in the park or swimming in the sea. I don't like busy places, people tire me. My worst nightmare is a packed yoga class. Doing it in my garden, however, is bliss.
[MENTION=53329]T.Trian[/MENTION]: And perhaps a healthy oxygenation of those neurons. Some of my best writing is done while I go run/walking. Some Jai Uttal in my ears, some sun on my face and some path under my feet. The whole "this is my little writing nook" is a foreign experience for me. Regardless, oxygen and endorphins are plentiful, free, and completely legal.
I hear ya, I absolutely hate the part where I have to pack the gym bag and head out, especially if there's going to be lots of people at the gym or the swimming hall. When I get there and start training, it's always fun though. However, I'm the exact opposite of you when it comes to swimming: my dream is an Olympic size pool with nobody else in it. The endless repetitions of swimming from end to end puts me into an almost meditative state and I can focus fully on improving my streamline, strokes etc. Plus, I count my laps, so I always try to outdo my previous session by at least one more lap or perhaps swim the same distance but a bit faster. I also hate full gyms, but once I get into "the zone" with the heavy bag, I forget everyone around me. Once I did a longer warm-up which consisted of ten 5min rounds on the heavy bag with 1min breaks, an hour total, and I focused especially on roundhouse kicks, so it looked quite repetitive to onlookers. There was a young couple training at the gym and they had their daughter with them, perhaps 8yo or so, and after about half an hour or so of wondering what the hell that weird guy was doing with the heavy bag, she pointed at me and whispered to her mom "that man never does anything else." (and she used the word "setä" of me which translates directly into "uncle," but in this context means an older man. Gee, thanks, I was 27) We have our writing nook, but we do most of our planning on walks, jogs, or at the gym. Exercise just makes the brains more... lucid?
[MENTION=53329]T.Trian[/MENTION]: ^ children have the funniest ways of telling the truth, even if they aren't supposed to, aren't they? When I was little, my mum scalded me for being embarrassing (like that girl in the gym) so I was determined to behave. I was about 4, and we were at the doctor's and the guy had a really huge ugly nose. So I pulled mum's sleeve and she looked me, and I said, "Mum, isn't it true that this man doesn't have a nose like a witch?" Awful stuff
I'm trying to quit (as in, I'm in therapy and everything), but I used to do a lot of writing while on weed. I don't know if it's because I have ADHD or I'm just imagining it, but it DOES make it easier for me to relax and let my ideas flow. I do, however, always have to proof-read the next day, as it does seem to hinder my ability to spell and be coherent a bit. I also used to use it for making art, not because it made me more creative, but because it somehow changed my abilities. My proportions are better when high, but my attention to detail is worse. I realize drugs have blurred my creativity at some points quite a bit - the longer I'm sober, the more I draw and sing, but I still hold onto my belief that it makes it easier for me to just relax and get it done than normal. Normally, I keep stopping myself when I write, I can't seem to get a good flow most of the time, and I'm generally too critical of myself. But when I'm high, I just go "derpaderp let's just write this and see where it goes" To contribute more to the topic, I feel like I do my best work, especially when it comes to poetry, when I'm sleep-deprived and/or in a bad state mentally for some reason, I don't know why.
I get that. I talked about this with one of my former band mates and we agreed that when we're miserable, we produce much more material than when we're happy. In a way, happiness gets in the way of my creativity because then I don't have anything to bitch about or, since there's always evil in the world, you're too happy with your lot to care about the suffering of others. When you suffer with them, you tend to care much more and it'll pop up in your writing, songs etc. Conclusion: misery is my muse. I even wrote a song for my band called Misery and Muse. It's about how misery always comes before muse, i.e. creativity, it makes you want to vent, voice your anger and frustration. Misery is a friend, the dark sister of muse (in my song they're actually twin sisters, one evil, one good). The same goes for my writing: when life sucks, I have a lot to say, to comment on the wrongs that exist in our lives, our society etc. and I say it through my art. If I'm content... well, I've made a sacred vow to myself that no matter how happy I get, I'll never, ever write a song (much less a story) about a new baby or about how wonderful my love life is or something equally cheesy and, frankly, boring. I hate it when previously cool bands get their lives together and suddenly write an album full of happy-happy-joy-joy songs about goddamn babies in diapers and fucking daisies and posies (*cough* Blackmore's Night *cough*). Whew. See? I was annoyed by something, so it inspired me to write this long-ass post.
Interesting topic. Can I state from the off that I'm new to writing? This is my first post on the site, introduction not included. As it stands, I've spend more hours tripping on LCD than I than I've spent on my new-found hobby. That is not to say that I condone drug use. I do not. In my youth I could not deal with my reality and sought to escape. Perhaps if I'd been able to channel my fears in other ways, drug use would never have occurred to me. If there's one thing my years on this planet have taught me, the difference between positive and negative all comes down to one's own perspective. Did I learn anything from my experiences? Yes, I did. Would I do LCD now? No I would not, and I'll you why. Anything it had to teach me has already been scrutinised and pondered over in the years since. It's usage has been made redundant. I'm sure anyone who has been warned of the dangers of LCD, will recall being told of flashbacks. In my own case, I experience them but never as they were described to me, never involuntarily. It seems my attempts at self-comfort have provided me with a kind of mental map that helps me find my way back into that state of mind at will. We've all heard the adage, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." I don't think it's by chance that my aspirations are to to write sensual, erotic fiction. LCD is not all about the freaky visual goings on, that is just a part of it. It is also a tactile, aural, olfactory experience, and I've come to realise that that it is possible to integrate this idea of heightened sense of awareness into my writing. If I require a lyrical description of a wisp of smoke, I find my way back and describe what I'm feeling and seeing. What does the big "O" feel like when at its most heightened? I need only remember. I'm making this sound quite alluring; it's not my intention—there is always a Yin to the Yang. I feel I can never take full credit for my own creavity, and it irks me. In short, I feel like I've cheated, and in doing so I've robbed myself of the satisfaction of knowing that I'm achieving my goals under my own steam. I can't make this point strongly enough. As for writing under the influence, I think it's a poor idea. How does the writer know that the reader has the ability to make the same leaps? How can you tell when you are waffling? And honestly, could you even be arsed following basic grammatical rules, never mind knowing whether you are, or aren't. Even if the under the same influence, the reader's(') experience will never mirror your own. If you want your work to affect a wide audience, it just doesn't make sense. Not to me, at any rate.
The nature of a relationship with drugs and creativity is subjective to the user/writer, I think. Always.
It's probably different to all writers, but for me personally, drug use has greatly enhanced my writing. Now don't get me wrong. I do not condone the use of illegal drugs, nor do I think anyone should use them lightly, but they do have certain effects that cannot be overlooked. When I sit down to get some actual writing done, I find that my ability to focus is the highest when I am completely sober, or at least keep my intake of caffeine to a maximum of one cup every hour. In order for me to write effectively I would have to sit down somewhere in complete silence, turn off my internet access, and visualize the world my characters are going through. This is what I call the work phase of my writing. However, this approach fall short when I need to come up with new ideas, character backgrounds, settings or plot devices for my story. If I am sober I generally find that I spew out all sorts of garbage that is basically a copy of other works of fiction that I have read or watched on TV. I do however have a nasty Cannabis habit, and although it completely fogs my mind at times, I feel it is essential in the creation of not only the world in which the story is set, but the story and people in it themselves. Occasionally I drink alcohol, but considering the dangers of this drug, aswell as the fact that I despise the effects it has on my body, I normally avoid drinking more than a single glass of wine at a time. So that leaves me with cigarettes and coffee as my main drugs of choice for when I need to focus and actually write, while cannabis and occasionally, LSD, serve as my muse. I do realize that most of my ideas on those two drugs are completely shit, but more or less all of my good ideas have come to me while under the influence of them. I assume this is the case because of how such drugs have a tendency to let you make new connections between what you would previously consider to be inconsolable ideas, and thus completely changes your perspective on things. It is only important that I later, when sober, go through what I have scribbled down so that I can filter out all the rocks and mud from the gold itself.
I smoke weed, have been for about twelve years now. I do my writing both under the influence and not. The quality of my writing isn't affected by it, I feel. I don't write unless I'm focused on it, being sober really has nothing to do with anything. I feel like i analyze things more when I smoke, so a lot of my mental story developments happen then. But I also work on details while I'm walking around the my store (I always have a folded piece of paper in my back pocket for ideas), and I'm not stoned at work. I may like to get high, but I'm not an idiot about it. I hate drinking, so I smoke instead. Is it my crutch for writing? No. Do I use it to help me? Occasionally.
I drink a lot of caffeine and I use nicotine, but that isn't directly linked to my writing. I would use the substances either way, though I don't doubt it affects my writing somewhat. King used to be an alcoholic and cocaine addict. I don't think it's a coincidence that some of his best works were written during the peak of his addiction. I've never written while wired on coke but I think it would probably benefit the work. That's not a road I'm prepared to travel, though, not to mention I'm still way too green to start using "supplements." Of course whether a drug could benefit a work depends on the writer in question, but I would liken it to something like steroids. Some guys reach genetically imposed (talent) limits and choose steroids to reach that next plateau. I'm not advocating drug use here, but I think that some naturally gifted minds may reach a peak in their writing that can be transcended through chemical use. Perhaps transcendence isn't even sought but merely a fresh perspective. The dosage and chemicals in question depend on the mind, as does the effectiveness. In any case, I don't think it's a good idea for someone to try writing under the influence if they're still breaking out. They may come to rely on the substance for their craft before they've developed naturally as a writer. To those who are already proven, published, and possess a substantial will, I wouldn't frown upon the experimentation with drugs to see how it affects the work. Keep in mind, however, that Stephen King nearly ruined his life with his drug use (not to mention other well-known authors) whether it benefited his work or not.
Being in Australia would be enough of a drug for me. I have been there a few times and it is (too me) such a wonderful elixir that I end up wondering why I ever leave. I spent 4 years there the first time I was there and continuously breathed in the wonderfulness of the country. It is the only place that I was ever HIGH ON LIFE. I thought of returning there recently but upon researching, I found that I could never afford to live there for any length of time any more because accommodation seems to be so expensive now. I know far more about that beautiful land than I ever will know of the land I grew up in and my heart still longs for King's Cross the way it used to be.
I will break the sacred rule of not editing a quote here and say I greatly agree with this part. Whatever the viewpoint on mind altering substances in general, developing your skills as a writer can only be achieved through practice and work. This is definately done best sober.
