Have you ever written drunk? Wait. Let me rephrase that … have you ever written anything “worthwhile” when you’ve been drunk? And yes, yes, I know “define worthwhile.” Because it’s subjective. Right? I get that.

Alas, I pose the question again: Have you ever written drunk? And if so, what did you discover, if anything?

We’ve all read stories about how a number of literary greats used to write while under the influence. Hemingway. Fitzgerald. Capote. Joyce. To name a few. Of course there are, or were, others. I once read that Louisa May Alcott supposedly had a thing for opium when she wrote. And King, it’s widely known that he barely remembers writing Cujo due to his addiction(s). As for Bradbury … I think his advice to relax when writing is exactly why some people write better when drunk—because they are relaxed. Because they aren’t thinking. Because they are just writing.

“Write. Don’t think. Relax.”
― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You

I have found that yes, writing drunk sometimes can be a good thing. It releases inhibitions and allows for the mind to float into an uncanny stream of consciousness one cannot always find when sober. But how drunk, is too drunk? I have a folder where I store musings I’ve penned after a cocktail (or two). Why? Well, sort of like journaling, I’ve found that my mind needs the artistic release—-the act of putting thoughts to paper/screen helps me define just exactly what it is I’m thinking. But, there is definitely a difference between what gets produced after two martinis vs. the far-from-legible scribblings after a night of over (way over) indulgence. Case in point … you tell me which “paragraph” I composed after one, vs after many …

It s ta   constant battle and eberyth ig I do wod-eone t  seem to matter int  jeust keeps hanning tins ge reglreld  t ot wha thya I say what I thnink what I doo   It s a contest and  summary of me life   of my ady  of my entire existnade   eber eryhtn kd  

One bag flew off hos cart. He picked itup, And honestly, it would have been just as easy for hom to ignore it. Blame it on the wind. The weather. Move on. But he dint’t/ He picked it u.

Anyway, while I do strongly agree with the sentiment behind Bradburry’s statement, ” … stay drunk on writing so reality doesn’t destroy you …” I also strongly encourage anyone who’s written while drinking to also honor the famous advice often attributed (though possibly not correctly) to Hemingway: