Drunk Writing

I don’t know what it is about writers and drinking, but if you gaze out over literary history you can find many writers who just can’t seem to get anything down onto paper unless they are seriously smashed. Back during my freshman year of college, I asked on of my literature professors about this strange phenomenon and he told me that the answer everyone likes to hear is that a writer with a drinking problem is seen as romantic (as seen by others and themselves). But the professor’s theory about the true reason why many writers drink so much, aside from having very addictive personalities, is that the have an uncontrollable desire to escape the reality of the everyday world. And when you strip drinking alcohol down to the skin, that’s all it is, the attempt to escape reality.

No matter what your theory is for why many writers drink, there are many famous authors who have taken up the bottle. One of my personal favorites is F. Scott Fitzgerald. He drank a lot, but unfortunately for him, didn’t hold his liquor very well. While intoxicated Fitzgerald would become unruly and sometimes even violent. He always made a fool out of himself and lost many good friends because of his drinking. Yet alcohol and cigarettes fueled his writing and he turned out some amazing work (I’m still a huge fan of The Great Gatsby (aff link)). I’m not about to say that his writing was great because of the alcohol, but it certainly didn’t appear to hurt.

During my research for this post I came across what looks like an archived newspaper article from 1989. So yes, it’s a little dated. But the writers I’m talking about are also a little dated. The article makes a few interesting points, however:

In 1939, Hemingway was ordered to cut down on his drinking. He tried to hold himself to three Scotches before dinner but he couldn’t do it and, in 1940, he began breakfasting on tea and gin and swigging absinthe, whiskey, vodka and wine at various times during the day. He even let his boys drink hard liquor when one of them was only 10.

Then there’s Jack London:

In 1913, Jack London published a book called John Barleycorn, which his wife suggested he call Alcoholic Memoirs. In it, he tells how he got drunk the first time. He was 5 years old and drank some of the beer in the bucket he was carrying to his stepfather at work in the fields. In his teens, he learned to drink strong men to the floor. For a long time after he turned to writing, he refused to drink until he had done his thousand words a day. Soon he learned to get a "pleasant jingle," as he called it, after the 1,000 words were on paper but before lunch.

And the list goes on:

William Faulkner, who won the Nobel prize in literature in 1950, was hospitalized innumerable times for alcoholism. Then there were Allen Tate, Caroline Gordon, Ring Lardner, Dorothy Parker, Robert Lowell, Eugene O’Neill, John O’Hara, O. Henry, Conrad Aiken, John Berryman, Edmund Wilson–all acclaimed writers in the 1930s. All had trouble with alcohol.

There’s a lot more to the article so make sure you read it in its entirety: Writers and Alcohol.

I will point out, however, that the article also says that aside from bartenders, writers tend to suffer the most complications from chronic alcohol use than any other occupation. However, like I said before, the article is from 1989, so who knows what the latest and greatest research is into this subject (if anyone out there does know, please enlighten us all by leaving a comment).

I found this interesting link that list the Top 10 Drunk American Writers – it’s worth a look!

The subject of writers and alcohol is interesting because it’s a glimpse into the psychology of creativity. I’m in no way trying to glamorize the boozing lifestyle of many writers, as many of them met painful (physically and otherwise) and tragic deaths at an early age. I’ve never felt the need to write while drunk, so I can’t say if I’d be a better writer or not.

This brings up the larger question of using any kind of drug to help you write. Do drugs really inspire a writer more? Or do drugs only make the writer think they are inspired (kinda like the placebo effect)? Let me know what you think about the inclination writers have towards alcohol and leave a comment!

P.S. Wanna win a $30 Amazon.com gift card? Then all you have to do is leave a comment and you’re automatically eligible! Just make sure to read my simple contest rules.

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