In Vino A Better Writer

I don't drink all that much. I drink a fair amount on occasion, but in daily life, it's one drink here and one drink there. Certainly I make sure to curtail it when I need to be sharp, although needing to create and needing to be sharp do not necessarily coincide. Performing is a time when I can't drink. I know many who can, but I find that any gains that I make in loosened inhibitions are outweighed by simple biological problems like a dry mouth or a need for the restroom.

Writing is another story, and if I've said anything about this in the past, let's hope that something has changed or that I have some kind of fresh perspective. Interesting things happen when I drink and write. It's actually easier to focus. The alcohol slows me down, but I think it may be something like putting a wild horse in a harness. It maybe can't go as fast as it would otherwise, but its speed now can be directed to a purpose. Putting one hundred percent of reduced thinking power towards a goal is a net gain.

Then there's the loosened inhibitions. In the past, I have found it difficult to be really authentic in my writing- to be true to myself. This is because I fear what people will think about my true thoughts. Heaven knows that I fear them myself sometimes. I don't think, though, that I can reach my potential if I hold things back. There is a time and a place for every facet of a person's personality, but in my writing I feel I cannot shrink from any of them, and as they say, in vino veritas.

Another interesting thing that alcohol does pertains to grammar and spelling. You might think that they would suffer from the influence of booze, but I think they improve. The reason is that I grow very concerned that people will detect the hand of alcohol in my writing, and so I obsessively work at technically correct English so that no one will know. Of course I'm spoiling that by saying here that I sometimes write while drunk, but that is how my thinking works.

Writing and drinking also, as I'm sure I've said before, makes me feel like many of my writing idols. I feel more like a real writer with a drink on hand. I regrettably cannot add smoking to that, but the drinking is enough. I like feeling like a real writer. The drinking doesn't make me one- talent and dedication and opportunity do- but the drinking is a nice aesthetic touch that, in moderation, can serve me well. I will do it so long as it seems to.