I am currently writing about my drunk character. Snag its been 20 years since I consumed alcohol. Anyone willing to share how it feels to be umm a few beers down the line? My main association is an alcoholic parent and not sure that works lol
Depends on the person. Alcohol tends to reduce inhibitions and prevent a person from hiding their true thoughts and emotions at said time. If they're happy about something, it will shine through and if they're angry about something, that will come to surface. So it depends on how your character is feeling at the time of getting drunk, s/he might not even be aware fully how they are feeling either.
20 years since you last consumed alcohol, Charlotte? What a coincidence. It's 20 minutes since I finished my last beer!
yup lol have never had a legal drink tempted to this summer fancy a beer. Thanks Annuniel that was very useful does being cold ever make a difference?
Being cold make a difference how? Alcohol causes vasodilation, the expansion of blood vessels, which gives the impression of warmth even despite cold temperatures. This is also why people's faces tend to turn pink or red from drinking large amounts of alcohol. So if your character was cold before drinking, s/he will not feel cold when drunk. But this is just a trick the body plays on itself: his/her's body temperature will not suddenly rise from the consumption of alcohol. But there's also a reason why the Russians drink Vodka (40% alcohol by volume, one of the stronger types of alcohol you can buy legally).
Fair enough. What are you trying to portray? What is the context? Celebration? Depressed, bored drinking? It's hard to describe a sensation like that, but I'd say you feel warm, kinda numb & fuzzy.. Numb fuzziness, yeah that's about the best descriptor i can think of.
From what I have heard, most drunk people don't remember being drunk. So it might be hard to get information. I have never been drunk. I do know that drunkenness runs on common-sense, since the further along a drunk is, the less common-sense they seem to have. A word of warning, some people don't have a lot of common-sense to begin with, so just because someone does something extremely stupid, it doesn't mean they are drunk. On the serious side, I know someone who falls asleep if he drinks too much. People can react differently, so there isn't really a set result.
I very rarely can't remember being drunk. That said, it's not as easy to recall as it would be otherwise. Also, I'd like to echo Evelyanin's point: ppl take being drunk differently. I've known compulsively aggressive, contentious drunks, depressed & evusively loving drunks. It depends on the person's personality & mood quite a lot. When I'm stressed, drinking sometimes helps me to wind-down & relax. Other times it makes it easy to brood & ruminate over things. It sometimes facilitates introspection, other times I'm nearly ego-less. It really does depend quite a lot. Also, younger, party-hungry ppl seem to sometimes take drunkeness as an excuse to be a dick or act stupid. Conversely, a couple of my friends become particularly eloquent & confident debaters when they have a buzz on. Again, depends. You could always experience it first hand I imagine.
Remembering my student days here, when I did a lot of...um...research into this, I can say that a) you start to think how very, very, interesting, wise, sexy, you are, and what a great dancer to boot. Then, b) strangely, your head seems to be further and further away from your feet, which funnily enough get really adept at acting by themselves beyond the full control of your brain. Finally, the end approaches--you reach the point where you feel c) terribly sick and can't see much (maybe because the contacts have dropped out, can't dismiss that possibility, since I usually woke up with them missing). You vow never to touch another drop. I never had an all-out memory blackout, but other people would put a different...ahem...slant on the events of the evening sometimes. I never acted completely out of character or got into trouble, thank God. Unlike some girls I had an inate sense of self-preservation and was usually with a burly boyfriend (who was usually the DJ so he had to stay fairly sober). I don't think we drank quite as much as young people are purported to do these days. I am amazed to think I ever went though such a phase (which only lasted a year and a half; I sobered up enough to get a 2:1) and hardly ever drink at all now.
acting like an idiot slurred speech blurry vision dizzy room won't hold still wobbly on one's feet throwing up
Ideas seem brilliant, and impromptu humor seems hilarious, but when you've sobered up, what you remember (or are reminded) of it is embarassingly stupid.
Unless I have had a lot I don't feel that different in terms of personality, for instance I at least don't notice myself acting wild or aggressive. Mostly a loss of coordination and the ability to think deeply is gone. In conversation I find I end up talking loudly and stuttering, trying to say the same stupid thing over and over.
Two brothers having a few rotten days might start rehashing old wounds and could get into a useless argument or even a fist fight...depending on their relationship. They might go the other way and cry about how much they love each other... They could just laugh and act stupid... go skinny dipping, get swept away by the current, ya never know... It really all depends on what's going on I think. 'They' say that, one would not do anything drunk that one would not consider doing sober, I'm not sure about that but it does seem that our drunk behaviour is just an exaggeration of our sober behaviour, in most cases. But much sloppier...
I have a small glass of wine every once in awhile, and while writing, I've gotten some good ideas from the slight buzz. Ideas that I still thought were good afterward.
Like others have mentioned, a few beers down the line is going to be different for different people, as well as possibly different for the same person on different days. (Wow, that seemed like a lot of "different"s.) Anyway, something to consider may be alcohol tolerance. A light-weight may be sobbing about lost relationships after a few beers, while someone with a higher tolerance is just noticing the first waves of euphoria and relaxation. You mentioned that your characters have had a rotten couple of days. What's their mindset before they start drinking? Is one almost emotionally crushed by what they've gone through? Is the other filled with anger and vengeance? Are they feeling some other way? I'd take your characters' beginning emotional states into consideration as to how things play out. You may also want to look at their physical states beforehand. For instance, if one is physically exhausted and has some drinks, chances are they're going to nod off long before they hit a "drunk" stage. On the other hand, one's aches and pains may seem to fade into the background as the drinks go by, leaving them with a more buoyant spirit. And as someone else mentioned, the sensation of cold will lessen with an increasing amount of alcohol in one's system. Also, if they do drink regularly, what types of drunks are they? While doing some research for a story I came across the "De generibus ebriosorum" (hopefully I got the title right) on a website that sells old books. This one is from 16th century Germany and mentions: Their normal tendencies may have some affect on how they feel and behave as well. Of course, these are just some things to consider, for even sober people can surprise you with their actions.
Is your character a happy drunk, an angry drunk, a sad drunk, or a sleepy drunk? I'm a happy drunk, so I just feel plain good. I laugh too much, talk too loud, and get too close to people. I smile a lot and always feel like my cheeks are going numb. My mom says I get a really dopey expression on my face-not sure what that means though. Occasionally I've been known to trip or slosh my drink around and spill it. I've even been known to have a barking fight with a dog, though I don't remember the incident.
I was drunk only one and I hope of not repeating it ever again. What hapened when I was drunk... Let's see... I can't dance normally, but I could dance when I was drunk. Or at least I thought I could. I was happy. Too happy. I sent my crush an SMS saying "I love you", thinking he needs to know that. I began yelling out loud how much I love him, even in front of my mom (she was drunk too since it was the New Year). She claims she doesn't remember anything. I was dizzy, my head was spinning, but I kind of liked it. I told everyone around me that I loved them. I wanted to dance, even though I normally hate it. That's mostly it.
Alcohol definitely improves your dancing ability exponentially. I once won the " Best Dancer" award at a disco. I would normally have been happy, but I was only trying to make my way to the toilet!
Visit the local pub and down a few. Call it "research" to justify it When you finally realize that you actually do know everything and everybody is just dying to hear your opinions about life, politics, sex, climate change, sports, etc., that everyone around you, even the ones who say they don't (especially the ones that say they don't) actually DO want to hear you ramble on for hours, that you have the skill of oratory to keep your audience spellbound for hours on end, and...say, its getting a bit warm in here...and your tongue just won't cooperate, it just keeps twisting itself into a knot when you try to speak...and...um...I think I need another drink...then you are drunk. ...And when you finally stagger after the chap who is desperately trying to leave the pub and get him cornered, so you can explain your theory about global economics...for his own good, of course...and forget where you were in mid sentence...you probably won't remember exactly why you are waking up the next morning with a black eye...and no pants. ...for those that have been there...tell me I'm wrong?
I am also a happy drunk, when I do drink. I know I talk a LOT, but my singing goes downhill very quickly. (I also forget lines, which is embarassing enough, but when you're singing in a monotone?...) There is one key phrase that is true for any type of drunk: Immune to Criticism. Your two guys on the lake might start off surly, but will continue to talk, eventually drifting (WAY) off topic after enough drinks, and they won't care. Whatever's wronged them won't matter, because they are the best of the best and immune to criticism of any form.
