In Transition: World History, Politics & Current Affairs. Forum So Few?

I am cross-posting this on group 420 too:

So few (so far) at WC admit to using any substances in relation to writing--in brainstorming, outlining, creating, revising or other steps? Curious.

Actually...sometimes too many. :-)

Given today's culture of suspicion not only from the art side, but from the 'normal' communities at large, I'm not suprised at the lack of admission. Certainly artists and writers have explored altered states in collecting their ideas throughout the ages, but few are willing to cop to that reality.

Add to this, an American culture of hunting down, persecuting and/or prosecuting people who engage in such activities. It just seems that admitting to this method gets more and more dangerous every day.

In my years of writing, performance and art, I've met many, many, many people who use outside substances to enhance their creative abilities. My own personal curiosity led me to a book called:

"LSD, Spirituality, and the Creative Process: Based on the Groundbreaking Research of Oscar Janiger, M.D." (ISBN: 0892819731)

Anyone interested in reading about the effects of LSD on the creative process should read this book. Many may might find the results startling as the creative process can be inhibited by such powerful psychotropic drugs. It seems counter-intuitive to the accepted anecdotal evidence I have heard, but I feel that this is a very honest take on how the creative mind can be interrupted in its process. Also, there is a forward by Rick Strassman (author of: "DMT: The Spirit Molecule", another excellent read).

I think I'll check that out...
I think some of my most productive writing years were when I was under the influence...

But I agree, Carol, it's interesting - hell, most writers I know at least drink...and certainly imbibe often when they're writing.

Hmmm... now that I've met some writers...they are into something...if not mass coffee drinking, cigarette smoking, drinking, weed...something.

I think people suspect I'm addicted to sugar. I'm rather boring, I don't like coffee, and I don't drink alot, can't smoke. My mind likes to wander on it's own.

I can't deny having smoked a bit in my time -- it's there in my writing. I have written drunk before. I tend to find my brain chemistry is weird enough already. Love as drug is another interesting one. Caffeine is my main poison nowadays -- if I tell you that I was drinking enough to get migraines that were making me blind and giving me blood pressure nosebleeds then you can imagine it did something to my head that affected my writing.

under a wine buzz a few times.
mostly under the love drug. After an intense love experience, the endorphines are still flowing and the words flow.

too much alcohol puts me to sleep.

writing while drunk has proven interesting at times. Although a good run through the spell checker afterwards is needed.

Way back in the day (the 70's) I tried writing while tripping on acid. It was kind of impossible. Either the intense relevatory thoughts I thought I had proved to be only coherent inside my head, or I couldn't see good enough to write. And trying to write after coming down was very hard, because I was left with a barren field in my mind, as all of the enlightenment seemed to fade.

-Marc

under a wine buzz a few times.
mostly under the love drug. After an intense love experience, the endorphines are still flowing and the words flow.

too much alcohol puts me to sleep.

writing while drunk has proven interesting at times. Although a good run through the spell checker afterwards is needed.

Way back in the day (the 70's) I tried writing while tripping on acid. It was kind of impossible. Either the intense relevatory thoughts I thought I had proved to be only coherent inside my head, or I couldn't see good enough to write. And trying to write after coming down was very hard, because I was left with a barren field in my mind, as all of the enlightenment seemed to fade.

-Marc

Well hey William Wordsworth was an opium freak and Omar Khyyam was definately an alchie! lol, some of us here however are either a little to young or a little less foolish to endulge, but I won't say it hasn't been a thought. ::tongue::

"I don't need drugs, I am drugs."

--Dali

it tookmesolong to get over the thought that the drug was doing the writing, and that for very little experience and 40 years ago. and now i don't even use alchohol because i don't want my vision into the planitarium of my mind clouded by buzzy-buzz and screetch. i write from many points of view when i write and i sort of get drunk on poetry because of it: balance over the ripples. maybe chemicals are things you have to do when you're a kid to escape the earth's gravity, learn your own language and how to trust other people.

'why can't we not be sober, i just want to start this over'
--tool

To me (after fourty years I still get high) I get great ideas when I'm stoned...and a great story line, but it falls apart in the light of day.

I toke for ideas, if I need one, but write when I'm perfectly sober....cause most of what I write is simply written and based on fact anyway.

I can honestly say i have never got high or tried any drugs at all. Rarely even write when drunk. All weirdness and surrealness probably comes down to being knocked unconscious a few times as a kid.

I have been prying my third eye open for a long time now. I don't use drugs to write. Writing on drugs, just about any drugs, is difficult. I use drugs when writing doesn't help with the uglier aspects of life. I get a lot of inspiration when I'm high, and usually remember enough to write something of worth, even if it's not the whole complete idea I had come up with while high. God bless the people that don't use drugs in any of their artistic endeavors. I, on the other hand, enjoy and use to some positive ends. I've also found that not sticking with one substance helps. To this day the only thing I do everyday is smoke cigarettes. That's the romantic writer in me. I have yet to become addicted to any drug I've tried or continue to this day. LSD and mushrooms bring about a mind set that is exploratory, and just overflowing with humor and wit. Coke lets my mouth finally keep up the the speed of my thoughts. Grass mellows me out, and lets me focus on one particular thought. Sort of pinpoint what I want to say. Alcohol gives me all that sad, emo tortured love mind set, that seems to fuel most of my poetry these days. Variety is the spice of life. I don't do them for inspiration, but they oft times give me a gentle nudge toward inspiration.

That's my confessional. I don't really care if people know what I do, or how often I do it. If my writing isn't good, and not a soul enjoys it, I reckon it would be a problem. If you want, you can decide. That's why I posted work here. Let the words speak for themselves.