Haha so if i say no Mr. Wendig i honest to god don’t drink when i’m writing then i’m a sleepwalking alcoholic? Guess that would explain why i woke up one morning after taking a shower and found that portions of my hair on one side had been snipped about 5 inches. Guess that’s where the vomit dried and unconscious me needed to hide the evidence before i became conscious again? heheh

Ah, if only i really were joking.

But in all seriousness, music and caffeine. That’s what gets me through.

It may shock you to learn this, Monsieur Wendeeg, but I too like an occasional tipple. No more than a medicinal sherry or a teaspoon of port after dinner, mind you.

…okay, fine, I drink like a goddamn fish.

But at some point, possibly at the point where I started getting old, I stopped writing better/faster/more after a few beers or bourbons, and started writing slower/stupider/even less motivatedly. Now I have to use moderation when I’m on a deadline, and godfuckingdamnit does that annoy me.

Because yes, writers are supposed to drink. It’s good for us.

–
Patrick

We drink because how the fuck else do you tolerate the WAITING associated with the industry? Waiting to hear back from an agent, waiting for their edits, waiting for editors while on submission, waiting on acquisitions, etc.

Waiting. Forever.

Wine Mr Wendig. The finest wines available for under $10 per bottle. Which oddly enough can actually yield some rather drinkable sweet wines.
Either that or vodka and redbull. All the caffeine to keep me going and the booze to make me stop taking myself so seriously. I mean come on self, the first draft is never a best seller, have a drink and start writing.
Drinking stories: well the first time I drank I let a frat boy control the booze. This lead to him spiking my rum and coke until it was just rum. Almost a fifth of Sailor Jerry’s. Among other things we learned that:
I will urinate in public if I need to.
I have a countdown timer before alcohol hits the system, so I can drink until that point then suddenly go from buzzed to smashed.
Dry heaving isn’t fun.
My first thought upon waking is “Where’s my book/kindle”
Never let a frat boy control the booze.
I can never drink rum again.

Alternatively: A house mate once got so drunk we passed out. So I convinced two skinny drunks to help me (who was sober) move his entire mattress, with him on it, into our shared kitchen. We even moved his alarm clock, rubbish bin and glass of water. He was quite confused the next morning.

I confess I no longer drink and write at the same time – the booze makes me sleepy and unfocused. However I’m totally with you on the celebrate/commiserate cycle – the non-writing bits of being a writer are frankly far more stressful than the writing!

And yeah, writers in the bar. That’s where I spent the whole of Sunday at EasterCon. Unfortunately not drunk, as the prices were astronomical, but still…

As for favourite drink, it depends. Late nights in the convention bar, it’s hard to beat a good single malt, but I’ll settle for a G&T the rest of the time (ideally, Bombay Sapphire and Fevertree, as per my tweet). Or red wine with food. Any food. (Except oysters, which require champagne. Mmmm, oysters…) Sorry, where was I?

Yeah, alcohol. Crap for inspiration, but a necessary part of the writer lifestyle.

Nope. I don’t drink – I can’t even stand the smell of most liquor. I have no issues with other people drinking, though. I’d just rather not throw up on them.

btw — if writers are in the bar at 5pm, it’s because the agents got there at 4.

Oh you lush! Just wait till the doc says your Gamma-GT is supposed to be less than 50 and it’s 98 dear. I think you should lay off at least a month until we can get another blood test and then we’ll see if that is why the cholesterol is high too.

Sam Adams and Funyuns (your mention of Funions has me craving the holiest of snack chips). It also has the nice side effect of creating deadly burps that scare the normal people away from my office so I can write.

Oh, sweet mother of coffee — this was hilarious.

I do like a glass of wine. The other night, I had the most perfect mojito, which was made with the excuse: there are SO many mint leaves. They can’t just sit there.

Yeah, that was a little flimsy. But still. Delicious.

Every writer I know drinks. Then again, most people I know do. Not three bottles a wine a night, because that way leads to bad things — but I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t keep alcohol in the house.

But I don’t often drink and write, unless it’s a single glass of wine. Beyond that, and all I want to do is sleep, watch television, or make bad choices (like phone calls). I’m kind of a lightweight.

It’s always interesting to me to find out what people reach for first. Me, if I’m out? Margarita. Home? Wine, or some kind of mixed drink I found on the internet. (Bless the internet.) I know some who only drink wine or champange. Others, whisky or beer.

It’s fascinating.

First, let me say this. I can always count on you for my morning laugh.

I can’t drink when I write. I sometimes grab a beer if I’m writing later in the day, but honestly, I feel some strange guilt if I write while drinking. Probably because I know I won’t do my best work that way. Though, quite often I am tempted to drink something stronger to see if I can actually be more creative. Never works.

The drinking for me comes after writing. That’s where I forget that I just spend 12 hours glued to a chair writing down stupid words that may never make it out of my computer, where I forget that I must be anti-social to do what I do… And give me anything. I’ll drink whatever you put in my hands. Maybe not arsenic, but you get the point.

I *wish* I could drink. Because I’m a writer, and that’s what they do. But I can only occasionally manage a Jameson’s and soda, or a margarita (still trying to perfect the perfect mojito.) I can’t stand beer or wine, but I love the pretty liquor bottles…I love mixed drinks, the combinations of the alcohols, the fun names, the different glasses. I love all the tools of mixing drinks. I just can never really manage to drink more than one, really really slowly…

I guess I should drink more. Or less. I don’t know, you’re sending a lot of mixed messages here Chuckles.

Tell you a secret? I don’t drink much anymore. In college I was known as “The Tank” because, well … Use your imagination. My liver wasn’t just pickled, it was 100 proof. Then I slowly fell away from the sauce and I’m now at the point where I only have the occasional beer (or, lately, a glass of plum wine (because OMG it tastes like fruit juice!)). Naturually I don’t drink while writing because I usually write from 10-ish AM through 3-ish PM.

Though, tell you another secret? I’m craving a mint julep like nobody’s business.

You realize that you just proved SMeyer can’t be a real writer because she doesn’t drink, right? *starts a slow clap* Who knew it would be that easy…

Also, I’m fairly certain that I’m 74% liver, so I guess I’m a writer after all! Or I’m a liver transplant recipient to be, either/or.

It’s not morning unless Mama has some “sparkle” in her juice, you feel me? I need help.

Currently the drinks are: mojitos (it’s finally warm out!) ‘ritas (duh), RED WINE (never white), a bit of the bubbly, tequila, something with vodka in it, all of that and a straw and mattress under the bushes. It’s not sad if I wake up smiling. True, that smile is frozen there from the spittle on my cheeks, but it’s still a smile.

I am in dire need of TuB gin after reading this. Dear God, do I need a drink…

Beer and not that crap that comes out of the BMC breweries. If it’s not at least 5% ABV it doesn’t pass these lips (generally). The nice thing about beer is I can drink one while I write and it doesn’t impair me. They also tend to be cheaper than liquor. Now at cons… That’s another story and no I’m not telling.

I came here because someone said there would be drinks…

Maybe we write because we drink…it might just be leaking back out…

Probably not though.

Probably just thirsty.

I am a simple man with simple pleasures, so from day-to-day it’s beer all the way.

however, if I’m trying to get in the right frame of mind, and then it’s daddy’s old friend gin.

Daddy needs his medicine, you see.

Oh, and Long Island Iced Teas. Lots and lots of Long Islands.

(I can hear my liver screaming now. Shut up, or you’ll get more of the same!)

I’m a writer and full-time parent of two preschoolers. They recently built a new NH State Liquor Store in the next town, and there’s a gold plaque with my name on it at the entrance.

I agree with this post though I would like to add that I’ve had to cut back on my alcoholic consumption considerably. It’s due to dietary reasons but also because of depression. I don’t like to be depressed when I drink because I turn into an (even more so) whiny mess and it really doesn’t help my mood.

wine at first when the words flow like … wine. *headdesk*
gin and tonic when I edit and see all the sappy similes.

[Sob, sniff...]

[shuffles feet, dejectedly...]

This:

http://warnerkirby.blogs.com/clintonaut/2011/03/its-five-oclock-somewhere-drinking-and-the-culture-of-writing-and-politics.html

[...quietly downloads application for McDonalds.... wordlessly shuffles years of collected stories and essays and puts them in a low, dusty drawer.... gets out a ginger ale...

[sigh...]

Sweet, sweet Old Crow.

Unfortunately for me, I can’t drink any more. I’m on arthritis meds that nobble the liver; if I drink too, my blood cell count falls through the floor and then I go yellow and die. Which sucks.

But I do remember seeing a very persuasive discussion, by a (dry) alcoholic writer, who pointed out that male writers drink to seek an outlet for the emotions that, as writers, they can’t help but dredge up, but, as men, they cannot deal with. He provided some strong arguments and back-up. So, I guess a case of “Feelings! Dammit, I’m a _man_! WHERE’S MY SCOTCH AND MY SHOTGUN?”

@Tim: That might be a part of it, but I know plenty of the lady writer drinkers. But yeah. Shotguns.

@Ben: Damn, fatty liver? I am sorry to hear of this, but glad to hear you’re in good health otherwise.

@John: Well, see, that’s the thing, innit? The joke of the post is that writing and drinking are two acts that go together often but probably shouldn’t. At least, not outside moderation.

– c.

“Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.” I think that applies all over the place. Try not to do anything you’ll regret in the morning. And if you do… beard the fuck on.

In all seriousness, there’s one explanation for writerly alcoholism that seems to hold a lot of water. It’s not that writers crave booze: It’s that alcoholics find writing to be a job that coddles their drinking. Editors don’t care if you were three in the bag as long as you hit your deadline. Any prose you fuck up drunk, you can fix in the edit before anyone sees it: Try THAT doing brain surgery or driving a school bus.

-G.

Also: Gin+tonic in the summer, whiskey, brandy or aquavit in the winter, beer and red wine filling in the corners. Also a fair amount of thick, sweet, syrupy liqueurs added to coffee whenever I get that chill in my bones.

How much do I drink? I wrote an entire trilogy about wine, that’s how much I drink.

(no, really)

Look, I gave up smoking, and I eat healthily, and go to the gym regularly… the booze _stays_.

I’m drinking whatever you’re buying.

Mojitos,white and black Russians,martinis,whiskey-all types,red and white wine,sangrias

“I’m drinking whatever you’re buying.”

The mark (the maker’s mark?) if a true writer, indeed.

– c.

I know I’m a writer because…

When I read “Because Holy Fucking Shit, The First Draft, That’s Why,” I was actually expecting a description of how satisfying and heavenly the first daily sip of beer tastes.

Oops.

Um, well, there’s a drink named after one of my characters (Chastity Flame) — I guess that’s an indication. And yeah, to shut up the voices in my head has to be reason number one. Number two is how else would I have a chance to kibbitz with my fellow writers if I weren’t in the bar?

Not to make light of a funny post, but… Elizabeth Gilbert does a great TED talk on creativity/inspiration and the impossible things expected of artist of all stripes. Also that there are ways of thinking about inspiration that may not require such… chemical excesses.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

Plus I can barely afford my drinking habit anymore sour beers like lambics, sweet wines like muscats and froofroo cocktails make the bank account sad.

Ahh, I have apparently found, then, the Holy Grail of writerdom. I write about drinking. Well, OK, in a technical sense, I write about cocktails, but seriously, why make a cocktail if you’re not going to drink it? I want to write, therefore I must make the cocktail, following which I must drink the cocktail, after which I can immortalize the experience on paper. Well, OK, as thousands of bytes of information.

Damn, it’s just like that circle of life. But without the annoying singing animals.

For a writer’s conference, I donated an “inspiration box” for the raffle. Along with the usually plotting notebooks and idea generators, I included mini bottles of absinthe, scotch and whiskey. Because writers, you know, drink.

I also included a copy of Hemingway & Bailey’s Bartending Guide to Great American Writers. More proof that writers like their liquor.

A group of writers don’t drink any more or less than the average population, that I have seen. they don’t drink any more or less as any other stress filled career selection, in my personal experience. Some drink more, some less, some not at all.

(I a) live with a published author and b) I’ve been a investment banker, and c) I’ve been involved with event planning for both of the aforementioned type, as well as others.)

Can extensive pot smoking qualify you as a real writer?

Rum and Beer mostly, but not together because that’s gross. I like a good Hefe now and then until I get fat. Then it’s back to rum and 5-hour energy drinks.

PS – I fucking love profanity.

Linnea “What do you mean, you’ve never had a Long Island Iced Tea?” Sinclair sent me here.
I live in the UK, and I write romance. The RNA has a conference once a year, usually at a university. At Leicester University you could hear them thinking, “Sweet ladies who write kissy-kissy books, a bottle of sherry and half a dozen bottles of white wine will do for them.” We drank the bar dry in half an hour. They sent out for more, in more realistic quantities. We drank that, too.
I love single malt, but because I live here, the price is affordable. And red wine. And vodka, though I tend to take it neat over ice.

This should be required reading for anyone who writes, knows someone who writes, or has ever even tangentially MET someone who writes. Eleven in the morning and I’m thinking it’s Miller Time! Before I go back to trying to exorcise angels from my skull.
(Yeah, I said exorcise angels. If you DON’T exorcise them, they’re impossible!)
My favorite tipples are Budweiser, cinnamon whiskey, and Chivas Regal. But, alas, sometimes I have to go on the dreaded and much-maligned wagon. Then it’s Mountain Dew in quantities that would kill a small child.

I think ‘no-no juice’ means something different where I come from!

I love gin. And wine. And rum. And beer. And most cocktails. And that lemon flavoured floor cleaner.

I was going to post about one or two of the many hilarious misadventures which I have found myself swept up in whilst under the influence, but then I realised it just makes me sound like I have a problem!

Mostly I like a bottle of cider (I’m living in the UK now and the booze is SO CHEAP) or a G&T when I’m writing (prior to the spontaneous formation of my lactose intollerance, Baily’s in hot chocolate was a winter favourite), nothing when I edit.

I wrote Aigaion Girl sober to see if I could. I could, so now I’m back to my old tricks.

The idea that alcoholics writing rather than writers drinking is interesting… but I don’t know; a lot of wirters I know drink, but I wouldn’t consider any of them to have a drinking problem – but it is an interesting theory.

Brilliant. And so true.
Whiskey and Diet Coke is my preferred poison. I have to bookmark this to show my husband. He seems to think I SHOULDN’T drink. Whatever. LOL!!!

Scotch, Scotch and more Scotch. Single Malt please – and only from islands like Skye or Islay. Once had a bet with a boyfriend that I could write poetry while drunk – after most of a bottle sat down and wrote an Ode to Scotch – not great poetry but it won me my bet. I’ve found, sadly, that although one carefully measured shot sipped through and evening of editing will help any more and I start turning up the music and dancing instead. Sigh! The buggery first draft can be a different story… god I hate middles.

I drink because it quiets the voices inside my head…
My drink of choice is good vodka or Remy Martin.

Not quite sure how I wandered in here, but must add my voice to the faintly slurred concord of agreement. Scotch, for me. Good scotch when I can afford it, cheap scotch otherwise. Living in Beertopia, Oregon also comes in handy, but I find scotch easiest for medicinally maintaining that biochemical sweet spot where the words come easily, but they’re all still correctly spelled.

An aspiring writer might look at the lives of Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams and agree that there is a “price of genius.” In his heyday, Joe Eszterhas drank a bottle of Jack Daniels everyday… along with so many lines of cocaine… and so many bottles of beer… and so many packs of cigarettes. And yes, Eszterhas wrote BASIC INSTINCT within two weeks and sold the script shortly thereafter for $3 million. But, in reality, drinking, drugs, promiscuity and the like are just distracting crutches. Carl Jung made a valid statement when he wrote that the artistic complex is NOT a neurosis, but a freestanding complex in the unconscious. Lawrence Kubie’s Neurotic Distortion of the Creative Process makes the case that, for a writer (or any other creative person) self-destructive antisocial behavior is neither a requirement nor an excuse for creativity. I think the real lesson is: Be careful about what habits you marry to your writing process. If a writer cannot write without drinking… he is in deep sh*t. Because that is an unsustainable process. The documentary OVERNIGHT more than suggests that things could have turned out very differently for Troy Duffy… if he gave up drinking after selling his script. After Joe Eszterhas gave up his substance abuses, he has sold one or two scripts in the last 10 or so years. That is a far cry from the 1990s, when he was averaging two script sales and year and being paid big $$$ for high concepts he wrote on a table cloth. The “price of genius” is not drinking, drugs, promiscuity and the like. “Genius is the art of taking infinite pains.” For a writer… that means a lot of writing and lot more rewriting.

I learned young that drunk dialing was a bad idea. It just doesn’t work out well, no matter how good an idea it might seem at the time. As an extension of that hard and fast policy, I don’t write drunk either. Not even after one glass of wine. Because for all I know I’m a lightweight, and I’ll end up sending an editor something that suggests his or her lineage is questionable, their significant other bears a striking resemblance to livestock, or that I hated writing this piece.

Oops – where is that un-send key? Damn. Too late. I lost another outlet, and another check.

Yeah, drinking and writing might be expensive for me. So I draw the line. I don’t do it. Ever!

I have enough booze stashed at my house that non-writer friends can be a little surprised. Hey, a fella likes to have options, you know? Like gin (Tanqueray Rangpur or Aviation) with Jones Green Apple soda, or Royal Crown with Crown Royal (which I call a “Mirror/Mirror”), or Sauza Silver with Prickly Pear Lemonade, or Fireball whiskey with cola.

But let’s be honest – if it has booze in it, I’ll take a whack at it just to make sure.
It’s the professional thing to do.

You think it’s a myth until you live it.

Don’t all creative types drink?

I’m a Manhattan man myself. Rye if you have it, though I’ll settle for bourbon. And God help you if you forget the bitters. It’s all about the bitters.

Or I’ve been known to drink Irish. But I do that shit straight. Can’t do Manhattans with Irish.

I sense some condescension and mocking used here in connection with boxed wine. Fie on that mocking. I beseech thee, good sir, to show me another lovely boozy beverage that comes with it’s own spout and can be purchased for home consumption for under $15. There is none. Boxed wine rules.

@Elizabeth:

No grump towards the boxed wine, only that it is a less than romantic beverage. One has a hard time imagining Hemingway sipping on a box of grape.

One important note: you can remove the wine bladder from the box, then retrofit a backpack to either dispense the wine or use a straw to sup on the wine as it sloshes around on your back.

So, uhh, there’s that.

– c.

I have learned that if writing and drinking, some laptops are better suited to hold wine than others.

My favourite cocktail, the Espresso Martini, should really be renamed the Writer’s Delight – I mean, strong coffee and vodka, what could be better for cracking the back of that first draft?

I will confess that I wrote a portion of my newest manuscript, The Rogue Gentleman, completely bombed out of my mind (Bushmills–many shots of Bushmills. I killed half a bottle). I could not feel my tongue. But even drunk I have perfect penmanship (first drafts are long-hand) and it was quite entertaining to scribble those words while my head spun in circles.

But this is not routine, I assure you. It was a particularly bad night for reasons other than writing.

All true. Every word. XD

Try this experiment: go to a genre convention or writer’s conference, wait till… well, it’d be optimistic to say 5pm, but let’s go with that, and then ask around to try to suss out where the writers are.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

At NorWesCon I started BarCon early on Friday. I think around 2.

Well, early for some. I was too busy drinking my lunch to start earlier.

I think we held that table until at least 9pm.

- Ryan

ack!!! I have spiders in my gourd and my therapist wants to cut them out with Prozac and the Maury show. Save me! I need caffeine. Alcohol can wait.

When the bales are stowed and the horses watered, I grab my favorite Star Trek Spock tumbler, fill it halfway with ice, then attempt to drown the ice to death with Wooford Reserve Kentucky bourbon.

Then the world becomes my coaster.

You are clearly a genius, good sir, and I love your work.

For me, it’s honey mead, although I did find a very nice sauvignon blanc while on vacation that I will need to track down… mm.

That said, without caffeine, I can barely muster the strength of will to even switch on the computer. It is a mean, cruel mistress, but I need her, yes I do.

~Ashlee
http://theDragonsHoard.bigcartel.com
facebook.com/TheDragonsHoard

I have to disagree with your hypothesis – I think you should further qualify it. Disturbed writers drink to excess. Alcoholics can’t write for shit when they’re drunk. They shorten their lifespan and kill off their brain cells in the process.

I have to say I don’t see anything to recommend the process.

My recommendation would be don’t drink and write. And if you do, remember this: garbage in, garbage out.

Of course, this is just my opinion.

Grey Goose and cranberry juice. If I’m wrtiting a sex scene, I’ll have three. You’d be surprised what a heroine will do in bed when she’s drunk. Now There’s some hot stuff for ya!

I know I don’t *need* to drink to write successfully, but for me, I hit points in my stories where I feel like it needs to be a little punched up and I can’t quite get it right after multiple passes, so I turn to my liquid kami for guidance, wait for them to cast their buzzing spell on me, and I charge head-first into the prose like a bowled midget into ten pins. Then I step back, wait for the cartoon birds and stars to stop swirling around my head so I can read what I just typed, and more often than not, I go, “Huh. Yeah, that really does it. Why couldn’t I think of that when I was sober?” And then demon monkeys in my hair say, “To enforce the stereotype, asshat.” And I nod in agreement.

As for my weapon of choice, my bread-and-butter is rum & coke, but I always like to find that next weird spirit du jour. While browsing the boozemart, the demon monkeys in my hair point past my cheek and screech, “Cotton candy vodka? WTF? Oh, we HAVE to give THAT a whirl, boss…”

Oh Chuck, you have ascended to my personal heaven–right next to Steve the Intergalactic Fruit Bat. (have a Dorito.) And I need a drink… ANOTHER drink. No wonder my first draft is staring at me like a barn full of demented and slightly recalcitrant owls… NOT ENOUGH BOOZE!

It’s true, and the reason (or one of them) why pregnancy and breast-feeding has totally fugged up my writing schedule and creative genius.

Well, I’m split. I caffeinate excessively with Lipton tea. Hot tea, iced, straight out of the box, whatever. Stand back, Momma needs her caffeine. As the day wears on, and my nerves get frazzled, I may start to add some Jack into the mix.

But if there’s a reason to celebrate, like a first draft, or a second draft, or I wrote a great line, or I thought about writing all day, and someone’s buying, I drink Long Islands. Or Jack. Or a Long Island with a shot of Jack, which is actually quite tasty.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Jack Daniel’s is responsible for about 95% of my blog hits. Thank you, Jack. I love you.

[...]  http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/05/03/why-writers-drink/ [...]

The bread and butter work gets written sober. I need that job. It performs small miracles, like keeping a roof over my head and putting food in my stomach.

Anything I might theoretically enjoy writing (for a given value of enjoyment) is marinated in gin and sour defeat, or the occasional Stella if I’m feeling lowbrau.

Chuck, your post is LOL funny! Hmm…I think you were hitting the bottle a little bit when it was written?

Love this site & love this post. Cheers!

I started with only the finest of wines under $8.99 and now I just pour a shot of tequila into a bottle of diet citrus green tea. I call it The Writers Margarita.

Sobriety is overrated. But if you gotta do it let the brain wander back to the bad old days when destroying gray cells with alcohol and THC seemed like a good idea. You can do it. You’re a writer. If you can make up stuff about things and people that don’t exist you can create the mindset that you had when wrote those first deathless words.

Just a little *nod* to Lynne Connolly; romance writers are probably the hardest drinking bunch you’ll ever run into. Seriously. If you don’t believe Lynne, go hit a bar during any romance writing con, and you’ll see them, drinking like mad, laughing like lunatics, playing some sort of “plot” drinking game (think I’ve Never). Yeah…uh….don’t ask.

Myself, I’m a girly-drink-drunk. Love those umbrella toting drinks, but I’m a moderate drinker. Mainly because I gotta be, what with being in charge of kids and all. But let me tell you, those monthly strawberry daiquiris, I write for those. I focus on having a reason to celebrate with my girly drink, and that helps move me forward.

[...] http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/05/03/why-writers-drink/ [...]

Hilarius! I now know that I’m a real writer and there’s legitimate reasons for it…

Now, I really DON’T drink. But I do pop pills…that has to count for something.

[...] noted earlier this week in my “Why Writers Drink” post, I am not a man who shies away from profanity. In fact, I leap toward it, arms open, my [...]

I’ll drink to that!

Great post!

The first thing I thought of when reading this post was how much Joan Wilder drinks in Romancing the Stone. And I giggled like a loon.

And then I thought about how much Karina and I drink when we hang out with each other. And then I giggled some more. Which I really needed.

So I salute the fact that writers drink, and not only that, that writers also talk about drinking, laugh about drinking, commiserate about drinking, and are simply all around lushes.

Brilliant! And so true on so very many levels!

Yesterday it was whiskey; today it is mimosa; tonight rum. Sunday is all about wine. I drink and I write. http://bit.ly/lpkRws #amwriting

[...] read the other day that writing a first draft of a novel is a lot like drowning in a sea of bees.   [...]

Three weeks from deadline on my 5th book. Hoooray Scotch!

[...] Bull Energy Drink is a functional beverage and a really extraordinary formulation also amalgamation of ingredients. [...]

[...] Finally, something from outside the wine blogosphere. I love Chuck Wendig’s blog, which spews out hilarious yet wise advice for novelists and other breeds of writer. Here’s a friggin’ brilliant article of his (a few months old, admittedly) that I chanced upon, this week: Why Writers Drink. [...]

oops – that sort of gave it away. I was so hoping none of this needed to be true. After all I wrote my Master’s Dissertation unaided…what are my choices here? I can be sober and ultimately homeless because god knows I’m unemployable. Or I can surrender and alienate every sober friend I have and ruin my health. I wish there was another way. I shouldn’t have to depend on anything to connect with the words! Or put another way, myself. I am tragically & simultaneously sad and relieved to surrender…

Then again, I tihnk Julie’s got it sorted out.

Nothing beats pounding whiskey or wine or gin or whatever alcoholic concoction is on hand when the Muse fails to do her thing. Old Crow, Jack Daniels, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mead, Beer, or Rum, I’ll take it all. Cause one thing’s for sure. Either I whoop the Muse or the Muse whoops me. And I ain’t down to get my butt whooped. Now where’s my bottle of Johnie Walker?

I think the real question is do you write because you drink? Or do you drink because you write? For me, I think I’ll quote Mr. Brewster above. I drink and I write. What more is there to say?

First off, gotta say great post and loving the Chandler quote at the end. If anybody knew the pluses and minuses of drinking more than Hemingway it was Chandler….Truth is, I drink more than I’d like. But, like you said, sometimes you just need it. At the end, at the beginning, in the middle…it strikes without warning. But truth be told I think you, me, and Hemingway are all better without it. Do we need it? Damn right we need it…but we’re probably better without it…then again…what the hell do I know? Someone give me a drink.

“Stephanie Meyer’s no-no juice”

AHAHAHAHAHHA

*dies*

[...] but at least the information is out there. For me, this won’t change my personal views on drinking, but maybe it’ll be life-changing for someone else. Cheers to those [...]

Ha! Been thinking a while that it’s the only thing holding me back is sobriety.

Proost van Amsterdam meneer Wendig!

[...] with fewer hair products The Hunger Games, devoured in one train journey Family and fine friends rum and bourbon Monsters vs Aliens chestnuts and sprouts Sims 3 and Skyrim rosettes and ribbon toddlers and [...]

I only drink geek beer. You know, root.

I. I. I think I love you.

You’re funny.

I am not sure what came first, the drinking or the writing. Okay…I lied…..it was the drinking. No one looks at a writer pooring their soul out into a book with a large bottle of whiskey sitting next to them. But pull that same bottle out of your cubicle drawer and poor a shot or too and suddenly people are concerned and suggesting you attend meetings.

The truth is I am easily distracted by noise. I live in a house with three little boys and a husband who likes to share everything he see’s on TV, craigslist or ebay with me. The “hunny come look at this…” and “mommy, my brother just shanked me in Halo three…tell him not to shank me….” all night long makes it hard to think

When trying to write I am constantly pulled out of my world back into the real world by every sound and movement. Like a squirrel who has eaten a chocolate bar, I bounce around from limb to limb chattering at a high pitched and frantic rate until my heart explodes and I lay painting at the base of the tree, vunerable to every predator that happens to slink past.

A (one…errr three) glass(es) of jack daniels and coke…or a couple glasses/bottles of wine..create a buffer. I am now completey unaffected by my writing partner’s , “Bob Marley – the salamander”, beady eyes blinking at me from the book case next to my desk. I do not wonder if Bob needs more crickets. I stop worring if Captain and Tennille, our gold fish, need to have their filter changed. The boys fighting becomes mere background movement *unless someone starts bleeding or crying* and I can ignore Kali-girl’s big brown eyes and tell her to lie at my feet, I am not going to brush her right now.

I probalby should be on ADD medication…but Jack (or Jim or Johnny) work just fine. And honestly, my grammer, typos and spelling are awful when sober. My dyslexic tendencies to use words that sound alike (could, would, should, good, hood) intechangably happens when not drinking…so I actually write BETTER when I have had a few because at least I can focus and write.

It’s either a few drinks or I invest in duct tape and secure the boys to chairs in the living room…pretty sure CPS would frown on that.

I do love your blog. You write like I think, which probably means I need to A) see a shrink or B) have another drink. Thank you for your whit, intelligence and POV…when my corporate 9-5 gets me all twisted up, a refreshing skinny dip in penmonkey pond snaps right back into my perferred state of mind.

Tah
D.B. Dean – virgin penmoneky

The above typos are what happens when posting via iPhone at starbucks…plus I cant type worth shit. I am gonna need to find a GOOOOD editor.