Random
Drugs (a guest post from the Tyrant, Giancarlo DiTrapano)
The Tyrant‘s got some questions:
You write, man? You do drugs, man? You do drugs and write, man? I don’t want to count drinking as drugs but I guess I will if you’re going to fucking make me. Man, those drinkers sure knew how to write, didn’t they? You know who they are. What happened to that? Did anything happen to that? I’ve tried to drink and write but I always want to talk once I’ve had a drink so I end up at my computer facing a blank word doc, but then I’m fast on the phone with a childhood friend or someone else I usually wouldn’t want to talk to. But (some) drugs are different. They make you think faster or slower or better. Maybe they allow you to think of things from your past that you can’t bear to think of sober. Some say they give you “Ass Power” and now I bet you want to know what that is. I heard an interview with Tony Robbins (that giant-mouthed guy) talking with Quincy Jones about Michael Jackson recording Thriller and all the “Ass Power” Michael Jackson had. “Ass Power” is the power to keep your ass seated and get some fucking work done. Do drugs give you “Ass Power” or “Word Power” or “Story Power” or whatever the fuck you think you have or had when you wrote that story that you think is so good but no one will publish? Let’s hear it. You get high and write? Snap tubes, brah? Pop Xannies? Bumpsters? What do you drink, smoke, snort, run when you write? Or maybe you do nothing at all. Let’s hear it, cokeheads.
P.S a) The Tony Robbins story is true.
b) What’s your guy’s number?
weird… I just read this article earlier today (http://www.slate.com/id/2118315/) and wondered why no one has essentially asked this question on HTMLgiant before.
Also, i want to “snap tubes, brah” but am not sure what this means.
weird… I just read this article earlier today (http://www.slate.com/id/2118315/) and wondered why no one has essentially asked this question on HTMLgiant before.
Also, i want to “snap tubes, brah” but am not sure what this means.
i have a drink or two but that’s about it. sometimes i have a coffee. sometimes i have some bourbon. that’s all. but i don’t do anything else anyway, so it wouldn’t much matter.
i have a drink or two but that’s about it. sometimes i have a coffee. sometimes i have some bourbon. that’s all. but i don’t do anything else anyway, so it wouldn’t much matter.
I’ll have a smidgen of a crushed time-release capsule and maybe a shard of Cpt Jack (if not cut with Lidocaine–I HATE that), but I’m not going to do drugs while wriitng. Please. That’s ridiculous. Sometimes I add a joint soaked in Lysol.
Also an episode of Maud, or I might dance, both drugs.
I’ll have a smidgen of a crushed time-release capsule and maybe a shard of Cpt Jack (if not cut with Lidocaine–I HATE that), but I’m not going to do drugs while wriitng. Please. That’s ridiculous. Sometimes I add a joint soaked in Lysol.
Also an episode of Maud, or I might dance, both drugs.
Or a gift card.
Or a gift card.
Good post. In general, I usually like to get smashed. Do a little coke. But never when I’m setting myself down with the intention to put words to paper. I think I cranked out four decent pages on Adderall once, but other than that, I’m shit when not sober. I remember Will Self saying something about how a lot of people think they’re so fuckin’ deep when fucked up, but that it’s really all rubbish. Or something to that tune. Weed might be okay, but for me, I’m at my best when I’m sober and writing about the aftermath of being a drunken lout, binged out his mind on coke and god knows what else.
Good post. In general, I usually like to get smashed. Do a little coke. But never when I’m setting myself down with the intention to put words to paper. I think I cranked out four decent pages on Adderall once, but other than that, I’m shit when not sober. I remember Will Self saying something about how a lot of people think they’re so fuckin’ deep when fucked up, but that it’s really all rubbish. Or something to that tune. Weed might be okay, but for me, I’m at my best when I’m sober and writing about the aftermath of being a drunken lout, binged out his mind on coke and god knows what else.
It’s probably better to start a piece of writing drunk, and then sober up by the time you are editing.
It might be fun to do the opposite though… write something sober and then get smashed each time you edit it.
It’s probably better to start a piece of writing drunk, and then sober up by the time you are editing.
It might be fun to do the opposite though… write something sober and then get smashed each time you edit it.
The only drug conducive to good writing is caffeine, which reinforces whatever talent and crazy ideas the writer has. The rest, whether legal or illegal, are all debilitating. If you cannot sit in your chair and come to terms with emotions transmuting into words and focus upon this sensation with a clear head, then you have no business writing. Let us be clear on this. Drugs, if you are so inclined, are what you do AFTER writing. If you have time management skills and enough stamina to postpone your addiction, and you can get up each morning and write with a clear head, and your intake is mostly recreational (and by recreational, we’re talking a snort every once in a while), that’s fine. But there’s a delicate line between recreational and high functioning addict. So be careful. I would advise not taking drugs while in the middle of a project. Research purposes? Maybe. But the ultimate drug is the blank page. It requires no other substance save what you etch through your nib or keyboard.
For the record, I have never done a line or shot up or smoked meth. Have no interest. I’m crazy enough without the stuff. Indeed, confronting reality is better than any drug. Pot gives you the munchies, helps you relax, and fills your head with stupid ideas that you momentarily think are brilliant. And I don’t begrudge it. But you can get much of the same from a good walk.
The only drug conducive to good writing is caffeine, which reinforces whatever talent and crazy ideas the writer has. The rest, whether legal or illegal, are all debilitating. If you cannot sit in your chair and come to terms with emotions transmuting into words and focus upon this sensation with a clear head, then you have no business writing. Let us be clear on this. Drugs, if you are so inclined, are what you do AFTER writing. If you have time management skills and enough stamina to postpone your addiction, and you can get up each morning and write with a clear head, and your intake is mostly recreational (and by recreational, we’re talking a snort every once in a while), that’s fine. But there’s a delicate line between recreational and high functioning addict. So be careful. I would advise not taking drugs while in the middle of a project. Research purposes? Maybe. But the ultimate drug is the blank page. It requires no other substance save what you etch through your nib or keyboard.
For the record, I have never done a line or shot up or smoked meth. Have no interest. I’m crazy enough without the stuff. Indeed, confronting reality is better than any drug. Pot gives you the munchies, helps you relax, and fills your head with stupid ideas that you momentarily think are brilliant. And I don’t begrudge it. But you can get much of the same from a good walk.
WELL SPOKEN. Or more precisely, well written.
WELL SPOKEN. Or more precisely, well written.
Let us be clear on this.
Let us be clear on this.
It’s cool if it doesn’t work for you, but I don’t understand how anyone can say that something will necessarily debilitate someone else’s writing. I think it’s naive, or at least simplistic, to say that writing is just about staring at a blank page. We all have methods to coax ourselves further into the deep mental states that we write from. Maybe for some people, a drink or a hit of some kinda shit opens up certain avenues, the way other people use silence or pictures or music or, to use your example, a good walk.
I do lots of my writing in my head, long before I sit down to actually write or type something. Sometimes I’m half asleep, or dreaming. Sometimes I’ve had half a bottle of wine. Some part of my brain is almost always struggling after language.
Also, what’s so great about having a clear head all the time? This goes well beyond the question of drugs. For me, sorting through the muck in my brain often leads to something worthwhile in my writing.
It’s cool if it doesn’t work for you, but I don’t understand how anyone can say that something will necessarily debilitate someone else’s writing. I think it’s naive, or at least simplistic, to say that writing is just about staring at a blank page. We all have methods to coax ourselves further into the deep mental states that we write from. Maybe for some people, a drink or a hit of some kinda shit opens up certain avenues, the way other people use silence or pictures or music or, to use your example, a good walk.
I do lots of my writing in my head, long before I sit down to actually write or type something. Sometimes I’m half asleep, or dreaming. Sometimes I’ve had half a bottle of wine. Some part of my brain is almost always struggling after language.
Also, what’s so great about having a clear head all the time? This goes well beyond the question of drugs. For me, sorting through the muck in my brain often leads to something worthwhile in my writing.
Wait, wait. What IS snapping tubes? Even ye olde urban dictionary doesn’t know.
Wait, wait. What IS snapping tubes? Even ye olde urban dictionary doesn’t know.
I’m guessing shooting up.
I’m guessing shooting up.
I always have dreams about doing that, but… I’m afraid that if I did… it’d like… be… like… a waste of talent and stuff. HA. But only “like,” though.
I always have dreams about doing that, but… I’m afraid that if I did… it’d like… be… like… a waste of talent and stuff. HA. But only “like,” though.
While it is certainly true that each writer approaches her craft in a different manner, what you describe, Amy, is fairly reasonable — in that you have devoted a clear head to thinking about something before writing about it. That is the mark of someone committed to writing. If it’s any consolation, I’ve written a few things half-asleep myself. But what you are describing is an entirely different sensation from obliterating your senses so hopelessly that you cannot even bother to grapple at the reality (or the verisimilitude required to create a plausible “reality” within fiction) before you. I’ve seen drugs do this to writers. But then I’ve also seen laziness do this to writers.
While it is certainly true that each writer approaches her craft in a different manner, what you describe, Amy, is fairly reasonable — in that you have devoted a clear head to thinking about something before writing about it. That is the mark of someone committed to writing. If it’s any consolation, I’ve written a few things half-asleep myself. But what you are describing is an entirely different sensation from obliterating your senses so hopelessly that you cannot even bother to grapple at the reality (or the verisimilitude required to create a plausible “reality” within fiction) before you. I’ve seen drugs do this to writers. But then I’ve also seen laziness do this to writers.
Does it bother anyone else to hear men use ‘her’ in conversation as a hypothetical gender? Do women appreciate that? I always feel like its an unnecessary catering. I always feel the most natural thing is for people to use their own gender in hypotheticals or ‘they’.
Does it bother anyone else to hear men use ‘her’ in conversation as a hypothetical gender? Do women appreciate that? I always feel like its an unnecessary catering. I always feel the most natural thing is for people to use their own gender in hypotheticals or ‘they’.
I’m amazed by the responses. I thought all American writers used the title ‘writer’ as an excuse to do drugs and philosophise about it.
I’m amazed by the responses. I thought all American writers used the title ‘writer’ as an excuse to do drugs and philosophise about it.
do you want something?
do you want something?
To snap a tube is to do a bong hit. Like the bong is a tube, and the smoke kind of snaps when you pull the carb.
It’s a pretty terrible phrase but I was going for that.
To snap a tube is to do a bong hit. Like the bong is a tube, and the smoke kind of snaps when you pull the carb.
It’s a pretty terrible phrase but I was going for that.
really? i thought you meant poppers. i heard they’re all the rage in nyc again, unfortunately.
anyway, as someone who’s done every drug except maybe pcp (i say maybe because i’m really not sure) and went to rehab at 18 because of such things, i’m personally a fan of the ‘hippie speedball,’ despite my general disdain for hippies and/or hippie culture.
really? i thought you meant poppers. i heard they’re all the rage in nyc again, unfortunately.
anyway, as someone who’s done every drug except maybe pcp (i say maybe because i’m really not sure) and went to rehab at 18 because of such things, i’m personally a fan of the ‘hippie speedball,’ despite my general disdain for hippies and/or hippie culture.
Pot gives me serious ass power. Makes me mean and focused.
Pot gives me serious ass power. Makes me mean and focused.
whip-its
whip-its
hannah on drink
INTERVIEWER
You’ve said you learned something from your drinking. Most people wouldn’t admit that, that it got them somewhere. What was it you learned?
HANNAH
It’s unfortunate that I learned something through booze. Everybody does, but ultimately on the level I was using, it was sickness. Jail, hospital, DUIs. Briefly it worked, to be frank, but that was on three beers and exactly where, if I was to appear on television today as a spokesman for anti-alcohol, I’d say, Listen, if you need more than three beers, worry.
INTERVIEWER
So it got your creativity going?
HANNAH
Right. Gosh, I hate to publish this, because young people will do anything it takes. But at first, yes. Teaching at Clemson was very hard work. I’d come home, put down the babies—and I was trying to be a good father and I think I was—but then that freedom, it was astonishing, my God. Every man or woman who comes home and takes a glass of wine or a couple of hits of bourbon on the rocks knows what I mean. Just this total loosening and release from the white noise of the day, so that you enter another zone. Instead of going to sleep I would hit the typewriter and sometimes write until four and teach my classes very haggardly. But I was often taught that everything is worth it for art. Everything. It was a cult.
Dude wrote RAY on a drunken binge and handed Lish like 600 pages of shit-smeared ridiculousness and RAY is a monster. BH probably could’ve or would’ve written RAY sober as fuck, but fact of the matter is he didn’t and it shows in the prose. To each his own, fuck this debilitating naysayer shit.
hannah on drink
INTERVIEWER
You’ve said you learned something from your drinking. Most people wouldn’t admit that, that it got them somewhere. What was it you learned?
HANNAH
It’s unfortunate that I learned something through booze. Everybody does, but ultimately on the level I was using, it was sickness. Jail, hospital, DUIs. Briefly it worked, to be frank, but that was on three beers and exactly where, if I was to appear on television today as a spokesman for anti-alcohol, I’d say, Listen, if you need more than three beers, worry.
INTERVIEWER
So it got your creativity going?
HANNAH
Right. Gosh, I hate to publish this, because young people will do anything it takes. But at first, yes. Teaching at Clemson was very hard work. I’d come home, put down the babies—and I was trying to be a good father and I think I was—but then that freedom, it was astonishing, my God. Every man or woman who comes home and takes a glass of wine or a couple of hits of bourbon on the rocks knows what I mean. Just this total loosening and release from the white noise of the day, so that you enter another zone. Instead of going to sleep I would hit the typewriter and sometimes write until four and teach my classes very haggardly. But I was often taught that everything is worth it for art. Everything. It was a cult.
Dude wrote RAY on a drunken binge and handed Lish like 600 pages of shit-smeared ridiculousness and RAY is a monster. BH probably could’ve or would’ve written RAY sober as fuck, but fact of the matter is he didn’t and it shows in the prose. To each his own, fuck this debilitating naysayer shit.
I’m high right now. I thought I would take a break from masturbating and let you know that I need drugs to get me up in the morning, get in my car and drive to work. l need drugs to go to sleep. I’m on something twenty-four hours a day. It would be very hard for me to sit down to do anything, let alone write, and not be high. Even that word, high, is the product of a drug-addled consciousness. High. I’m high. Wait, I’ll be right back. I just thought of something. I’m supposed to visit my cousin in the Philippines. He has a Filipino wife. Her name is Lu.
I’m high right now. I thought I would take a break from masturbating and let you know that I need drugs to get me up in the morning, get in my car and drive to work. l need drugs to go to sleep. I’m on something twenty-four hours a day. It would be very hard for me to sit down to do anything, let alone write, and not be high. Even that word, high, is the product of a drug-addled consciousness. High. I’m high. Wait, I’ll be right back. I just thought of something. I’m supposed to visit my cousin in the Philippines. He has a Filipino wife. Her name is Lu.
Oh, Americans don’t need an excuse, and if we did, writer would be like third on the list.
Oh, Americans don’t need an excuse, and if we did, writer would be like third on the list.
i like to take a few bowl hits before i revise drafts. the slight head change seems to help bring a fresh perspective to the job at hand.
if i smoke when i’m trying to write something new, i end up editing every sentence ten times before i go onto the next. that’s actually how i came up with the idea to smoke while i edit. the paranoia seems to lend some expertise.
i like to take a few bowl hits before i revise drafts. the slight head change seems to help bring a fresh perspective to the job at hand.
if i smoke when i’m trying to write something new, i end up editing every sentence ten times before i go onto the next. that’s actually how i came up with the idea to smoke while i edit. the paranoia seems to lend some expertise.
“Every man or woman who comes home and takes a glass of wine or a couple of hits of bourbon on the rocks knows what I mean. Just this total loosening and release from the white noise of the day, so that you enter another zone.”
Fuck, this hits hard.
“Every man or woman who comes home and takes a glass of wine or a couple of hits of bourbon on the rocks knows what I mean. Just this total loosening and release from the white noise of the day, so that you enter another zone.”
Fuck, this hits hard.
Just finished RAY and have an even better appreciatin for it.
Westy!!!!!
Just finished RAY and have an even better appreciatin for it.
Westy!!!!!
Hey Edward
(sorry for the fake name, but I dont like to admit to using drugs except in the past tense when put my name to it)
Have to say, I dont really agree with this. I have written books under the influences of a variety of substances, and some stone cold sober. It isnt that the drugs influence the writing at all really, its just that the writing happens despite what is going on with my chemical intake at the time.
As far as drinking goes, usually by the third cocktail I don’t want to write any more, and I find myself getting sloppy. But the first three are very good for getting the old motor running, and getting the brain to fire in a variety of interesting directions.
My first book was written on – well the first section was written a few years before the rest of it… and I was mostly using meth when I wrote. The middle / end section was written on methadone. The final three chapter were written sober.
The second book was written on a variety of substances most of which I cant remember – its old work so it was written when I was strung out on heroin and using any other drug I could get my hand on. I dont remember writing most of that book, and when I found those old files it was like reading it for the first time.
The third book was written mostly sober. Some stuff was written on uppers.
The fourth book – I was doing a lot of kratom then, which is legal and I’ve kind of gone off of using it now. But at the time I was eating about an ounce a week, so it was definitely fuelled by that.
Weed is very good for editing. Somehow, sentences that dont scan right suddenly become totally obvious when you are stoned. I personally cannot write stoned – I will sit there for an hour obsessing over the opening sentence and never get anywhere – but once you have a lot of material to get into shape, it suddenly becomes very helpful.
Its quite a sweeping statement to say that
“If you cannot sit in your chair and come to terms with emotions transmuting into words and focus upon this sensation with a clear head, then you have no business writing. Let us be clear on this. Drugs, if you are so inclined, are what you do AFTER writing.”
because there have been points in my life when I couldnt tie my shoelaces without some smack in me, and that didnt mean that I had no business tying my shoelaces. In a way its not about writing, and its about how you function as a human being. Some people can function perfectly well when loaded, some cant Some people can write perfectly well when loaded, some cant. Different strokes.
That said, I do disagree with the notion that drugs can be some kind of short cut to deeper thought, or that they can make your writing more interesting. A boring person of drugs is still a boring person. And a boring person on coke…. ugh.
Hey Edward
(sorry for the fake name, but I dont like to admit to using drugs except in the past tense when put my name to it)
Have to say, I dont really agree with this. I have written books under the influences of a variety of substances, and some stone cold sober. It isnt that the drugs influence the writing at all really, its just that the writing happens despite what is going on with my chemical intake at the time.
As far as drinking goes, usually by the third cocktail I don’t want to write any more, and I find myself getting sloppy. But the first three are very good for getting the old motor running, and getting the brain to fire in a variety of interesting directions.
My first book was written on – well the first section was written a few years before the rest of it… and I was mostly using meth when I wrote. The middle / end section was written on methadone. The final three chapter were written sober.
The second book was written on a variety of substances most of which I cant remember – its old work so it was written when I was strung out on heroin and using any other drug I could get my hand on. I dont remember writing most of that book, and when I found those old files it was like reading it for the first time.
The third book was written mostly sober. Some stuff was written on uppers.
The fourth book – I was doing a lot of kratom then, which is legal and I’ve kind of gone off of using it now. But at the time I was eating about an ounce a week, so it was definitely fuelled by that.
Weed is very good for editing. Somehow, sentences that dont scan right suddenly become totally obvious when you are stoned. I personally cannot write stoned – I will sit there for an hour obsessing over the opening sentence and never get anywhere – but once you have a lot of material to get into shape, it suddenly becomes very helpful.
Its quite a sweeping statement to say that
“If you cannot sit in your chair and come to terms with emotions transmuting into words and focus upon this sensation with a clear head, then you have no business writing. Let us be clear on this. Drugs, if you are so inclined, are what you do AFTER writing.”
because there have been points in my life when I couldnt tie my shoelaces without some smack in me, and that didnt mean that I had no business tying my shoelaces. In a way its not about writing, and its about how you function as a human being. Some people can function perfectly well when loaded, some cant Some people can write perfectly well when loaded, some cant. Different strokes.
That said, I do disagree with the notion that drugs can be some kind of short cut to deeper thought, or that they can make your writing more interesting. A boring person of drugs is still a boring person. And a boring person on coke…. ugh.
Weed is the worst for writing. Alcohol is worse than the worst. Coke is pretty debilitating, absolutely zaps all creativity out. Any prescrip downers are bad. Adderall is great. IF you already have everything well-thought-out in advance. All statements are the opinion of the author.
Weed is the worst for writing. Alcohol is worse than the worst. Coke is pretty debilitating, absolutely zaps all creativity out. Any prescrip downers are bad. Adderall is great. IF you already have everything well-thought-out in advance. All statements are the opinion of the author.
A lot of writers get up, usually exercise in some way, write, then get smashed on whatever. They write first though.
Norman Mailer said beer primed his engine.
Stephen King wrote his first novel obliterated on coke and alcohol.
You know, other professions drink and do their work. The writer mystique thing always gets started when you talk substances.
A lot of writers get up, usually exercise in some way, write, then get smashed on whatever. They write first though.
Norman Mailer said beer primed his engine.
Stephen King wrote his first novel obliterated on coke and alcohol.
You know, other professions drink and do their work. The writer mystique thing always gets started when you talk substances.
Whatever you do don’t try to write on LSD. You’ll just end up screwing your typewriter or or melting into the computer monitor or end up lying naked on the floor with a mouse cord hanging out of your bum trembling with regret.
Or so I’ve heard.
Whatever you do don’t try to write on LSD. You’ll just end up screwing your typewriter or or melting into the computer monitor or end up lying naked on the floor with a mouse cord hanging out of your bum trembling with regret.
Or so I’ve heard.
Alcohol, absolutely. Most often, I’m writing stone-cold sober, but alcohol does help grease the skids when I’m staring at the blank page with absolutely nothing coming. Of my favorite work, most has been written sober, but a couple have been written somewhere between tipsy and stinking drunk. Pot used to be fun to write on before something changed in the way my brain reacted to it, and I decided it was stupid to pay for something that made me paranoid every. single. time. Mushrooms, no, no, absolutely no. You think you’re this creative genius, and then you look at it the next day, and the bong-water-soaked cigarette burns that you thought were good substitutes for punctuation are just… bong-water-soaked cigarette burns.
Alcohol, absolutely. Most often, I’m writing stone-cold sober, but alcohol does help grease the skids when I’m staring at the blank page with absolutely nothing coming. Of my favorite work, most has been written sober, but a couple have been written somewhere between tipsy and stinking drunk. Pot used to be fun to write on before something changed in the way my brain reacted to it, and I decided it was stupid to pay for something that made me paranoid every. single. time. Mushrooms, no, no, absolutely no. You think you’re this creative genius, and then you look at it the next day, and the bong-water-soaked cigarette burns that you thought were good substitutes for punctuation are just… bong-water-soaked cigarette burns.
Stephen King wrote his worst novel, THE TOMMYKNOCKERS, when he was completely coked out.
Stephen King wrote his worst novel, THE TOMMYKNOCKERS, when he was completely coked out.
he also claims he doesn’t remember writing any of cujo–or even seeing it get published. not sure what sort of point that proves. i liked christine a lot.
he also claims he doesn’t remember writing any of cujo–or even seeing it get published. not sure what sort of point that proves. i liked christine a lot.
Whatever gets you rolling…I like to write first drafts on beer, second drafts on pot and third (final) drafts sober…I think a mix works…if something holds up sober and inebriated, it’s probably that much more universal…
Whatever gets you rolling…I like to write first drafts on beer, second drafts on pot and third (final) drafts sober…I think a mix works…if something holds up sober and inebriated, it’s probably that much more universal…
Here’s a section from ON WRITING:
“In the spring and summer of 1986, I wrote THE TOMMYKNOCKERS, often working until midnight with my heart running at a hundred and thirty beats a minute and cotton swabs stuck up my nose to stem the coke-induced bleeding.
“TOMMYKNOCKERS is a forties-style science fiction tale in which the writer-heroine discovers an alien spacecraft buried in the ground. The crew is still on board, not dead but only hibernating. These alien creatures got into your head and just started…well, tommyknocking around in there. What you got was energy and a kind of superficial intelligence (the writer, Bobbi Anderson, creates a telepathic typewriter and an atomic hot-water heater, among other things). What you gave up in exchange was your soul. It was the best metaphor for drugs and alcohol my tired, overstressed mind could come up with.
“Not long after that my wife, fully convinced that I wasn’t going to pull out of this ugly downward spiral on my own, stepped in. It couldn’t have been easy — by then I was no longer within shouting distance of my right mind — but she did it. She organized an intervention group formed of family and friend, and I was treated to a kind of THIS IS YOUR LIFE in hell. Tabby began by dumping a trashbag full of stuff from my office out on the rug: beercans, cigarette butts, cocaine in gram bottles and cocaine in plastic Baggies, coke spoons caked with snot and blood, Valium, Xanax, bottles of Robitussin cough syrup and NyQuil cold medicine, even bottles of mouthwash. A year or so before, observing the rapidity with which huge bottles of Listerine were disappearing from the bathroom, Tabby asked me if I drank the stuff. I responded with self-righteous hauteur that I most certainly did not. Nor did I. I drank the Scope instead. It was tastier, had that hint of mint.”
King also argues a page later against substance-abusing writers. He also notes that he wrote CUJO drinking a case of sixteen-ounce tallboys every night and barely remembers writing it at all. Although CUJO is actually a pretty good novel.
Here’s a section from ON WRITING:
“In the spring and summer of 1986, I wrote THE TOMMYKNOCKERS, often working until midnight with my heart running at a hundred and thirty beats a minute and cotton swabs stuck up my nose to stem the coke-induced bleeding.
“TOMMYKNOCKERS is a forties-style science fiction tale in which the writer-heroine discovers an alien spacecraft buried in the ground. The crew is still on board, not dead but only hibernating. These alien creatures got into your head and just started…well, tommyknocking around in there. What you got was energy and a kind of superficial intelligence (the writer, Bobbi Anderson, creates a telepathic typewriter and an atomic hot-water heater, among other things). What you gave up in exchange was your soul. It was the best metaphor for drugs and alcohol my tired, overstressed mind could come up with.
“Not long after that my wife, fully convinced that I wasn’t going to pull out of this ugly downward spiral on my own, stepped in. It couldn’t have been easy — by then I was no longer within shouting distance of my right mind — but she did it. She organized an intervention group formed of family and friend, and I was treated to a kind of THIS IS YOUR LIFE in hell. Tabby began by dumping a trashbag full of stuff from my office out on the rug: beercans, cigarette butts, cocaine in gram bottles and cocaine in plastic Baggies, coke spoons caked with snot and blood, Valium, Xanax, bottles of Robitussin cough syrup and NyQuil cold medicine, even bottles of mouthwash. A year or so before, observing the rapidity with which huge bottles of Listerine were disappearing from the bathroom, Tabby asked me if I drank the stuff. I responded with self-righteous hauteur that I most certainly did not. Nor did I. I drank the Scope instead. It was tastier, had that hint of mint.”
King also argues a page later against substance-abusing writers. He also notes that he wrote CUJO drinking a case of sixteen-ounce tallboys every night and barely remembers writing it at all. Although CUJO is actually a pretty good novel.
no, it is an allusion to amyl nitrate poppers i believe.
no, it is an allusion to amyl nitrate poppers i believe.
i thought they were poppers too.
i thought they were poppers too.
I concur.
And I like your writing very much. i haven’t read the latest one. on the list of shit to read.
I concur.
And I like your writing very much. i haven’t read the latest one. on the list of shit to read.
Remember when Larry David bought marijuana from Hurley from Lost? That’s what it would be like if I tried to buy drugs.
Remember when Larry David bought marijuana from Hurley from Lost? That’s what it would be like if I tried to buy drugs.
most definitely…
the infinite possibilities of a blank page are just too much to handle on heavy doses of psychedelics.
most definitely…
the infinite possibilities of a blank page are just too much to handle on heavy doses of psychedelics.
christine and the dead zone…loved those books
christine and the dead zone…loved those books
yes darby. it feels contrived to me.
yes darby. it feels contrived to me.
Ken, that is a vague question.
Ken, that is a vague question.
If you can write on drugs then you haven’t took enough.
If you can write on drugs then you haven’t took enough.
Sorry, gotta be anon for this one.
I love reefer. It can give you Ass Power like crazy. It essientially enhances whatever you are feeling. Most people are lazy fucks, so it enhances that for them, but if you are focused. Weed’ll make you super focused.
Unfort, I have not had a good supply of weed since I moved back to the DC area five years ago. My dealer got mad at me for calling about weed. Apparently, I didn’t ask about his aunt or his life before requesting ganja. Then he told me of other things he offers, like party hosting and shit like that. I so wanted to get off the phone and never called him again.
So if anyone out there knows where I can get some….
Sorry, gotta be anon for this one.
I love reefer. It can give you Ass Power like crazy. It essientially enhances whatever you are feeling. Most people are lazy fucks, so it enhances that for them, but if you are focused. Weed’ll make you super focused.
Unfort, I have not had a good supply of weed since I moved back to the DC area five years ago. My dealer got mad at me for calling about weed. Apparently, I didn’t ask about his aunt or his life before requesting ganja. Then he told me of other things he offers, like party hosting and shit like that. I so wanted to get off the phone and never called him again.
So if anyone out there knows where I can get some….