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My aunt told me to write drunk and edit sober, I tried it once
Marge, my 68 year old aunt who still types on a flip phone, swore that Hemingway wrote that way. Downed two IPAs before a flash fiction piece about a raccoon in a dumpster. Woke up with 900 words of pure garbage and a headache that lasted until lunch. Has anyone else actually made this work or is it just a dumb excuse to drink?
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cameron_owens498d ago
Honestly, it sounds like your aunt just wanted an excuse to have a couple beers. That Hemingway thing gets thrown around way too much, but people forget he was a functioning alcoholic who could probably write a novel in a coma. I tried it once with a glass of wine and ended up typing a paragraph about my cat that looked like a ransom note. The whole "write drunk" thing is just romanticized nonsense for most of us. You're better off just drinking the beer for fun and writing when you're sober, unless you really think a headache and 900 words about a raccoon is worth it.
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richardknight7d ago
Blame it on all the hustle culture gurus who tell you that your best ideas come at 2am in a panic. In my experience, most of the time that late night "brilliant" idea looks completely different in the morning. I've got a buddy who swears by writing angry emails at 3am and then deleting them before breakfast. That's basically the same thing as the drunk writing trick. Your mileage may vary but I've found that a clear head and a full coffee mug beats a hangover every single time.
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