The myth that drugs & alcohol can improve your writing
There is a myth that still prevails among writers and other artistic types: That in order to produce quality, creative work, one must be under the influence of drugs/alcohol. I don’t buy it. Rather, I believe that good writing is a combination of a little inspiration and a lot of perspiration. Hard work is often the key.
I’ve never written under the influence of any drug (except for the caffeine I get from my morning coffee), so I can’t speak from personal experience. However, I have talked to people who have written while high on marijuana and they say at the time, they think their writing is pure genius. But after sobering up and reading what they wrote while high, it’s mostly gibberish.
Yes, this is anecdotal evidence. But it seems to be backed up by a doctor who specializes in addictions. The article Drunk writers were better sober, gives the reason that drugs are ineffective at increasing the quality of one’s work.
Dr Smith, an addiction expert from Gartnavel Royal Hospital in Glasgow, said: “The reason why this myth is so powerful is the allure of the substances, and the fact that many artists need drugs to cope with their emotions. Artists are, in general, more emotional people.”
He goes on to say:
“The idea that drugs and alcohol give artists unique insights and powerful experiences is an illusion,” he said. “When you try and capture the experiences [triggered by drugs or alcohol] they are often nonsense. These drugs often wipe your memory, so it’s hard to remember how you were in that state of mind.”
I think having a clear head, being observant of the world around you and the ability to look at the world in different ways are much more of an asset to a writer than drugs. Like I said above, caffeine is the only drug I have written while under the influence. But I don’t credit caffeine with writing better or being more creative. My coffee only serves to help wake me up in the morning. Nothing more.
More effective than any drug is meditation. Meditation clears the mind, relaxes the body and is able to offer deeper insights than one would normally get. More important though, meditation won’t ruin your health (quite the contrary, meditation is credited for lowering blood pressure, reducing stress and a handful of other benefits).
In closing, I’ll add one caveat. Creativity and what constitutes “good writing” is very subjective. This makes it hard to give a definite “yes” or “no” to the question of drugs improving your writing.
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