Coffee, booze- fuelled Muses?

[Katie-Ellen]

A familiar topic here. I tend to write early evening, myself, fuelled by cups of tea I then forget to drink.


And also, insulting publishers without justification, just because I saw this absurd cartoon -

 

[Matnov]

Tea is a definite for me although coffee will suffice if I am out and about on the cobbles.

As to the booze, well the dream was always to live a Hemingwayesque existence in which I was going to booze, brawl, bonk and generally be as boisterous as possible which would propel me to the literary infamy that was going to be mine for the taking.

Only problem was that whilst on the sauce, I barely wrote a word and whilst my Muse was as bigger fan of Bacchus as I was, sadly we got nothing worthwhile done.

Caffeine is about it for me these days.

 

[James Marinero]

Tea, although I find that when I need to loosen up the creative side a glass of wine helps - but never at the keyboard! (yet...)

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I love my morning coffee, though I'm no less productive if I haven't had it. Alcohol, not so much, as far as writing goes. I don't drink before 5 pm, and I rarely write after 5, so the two seldom mix.

 

[AgentPete]

View attachment 1657

Oh god, I now have to tell you my Heath Robinson story…

It was just after the McCartney book had come out, and I was mooching around their London office one day, looking at fan letters that had come in. One was from Norman Hunter, not the footballer, but the author of the extraordinarily successful Professor Branestawm series of books that I and my mates had worshipped as kids.

“Can I reply to this one?” I asked.

Certainly. One less letter for them to send a form reply to.

I replied. We met. We had an unforgettable day.

He had converted the entire top floor of his house into a scale model of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

He gave us a command performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. All of it.

I left blissed out.

And, yes, Heath Robinson* illustrated them.


* US = "Rube Goldberg machines"

 

[Katie-Ellen]

@AgentPete 'Oh god, I now have to tell you my Heath Robinson story…'


Yes, you do. You most certainly do.

I remember Professor Branestawm!

 

[Michael C]

I decided to stop booze a few weeks ago for no reason other than I couldn't be bothered with it. That said, if I ever have to go caffeine free I am not a happy bunny.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

One drink + and I don't feel good. A vodka tonic is the limit, very weak. Sometimes I think this is a most excellent thing. Other times, I blooming well don't.

 

[Michael C]

Coffee all the way.

 

[Geoff]

Sometimes, when I re-read a late-night / early morning wine-fuelled 'piece of brilliance' the next day, I soon realise that caffeine might have been a better option
That said, I have to say, champagne soaked words do sometimes sparkle

 

[Patricia D]

Two cups of coffee in the morning and one glass of wine in the evening - most but not all my writing is caffeine-fueled. Still, I have to agree with Geoff on the sparkle a little alcohol can lend.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Yes, the one exception to my normally alcohol-free writing is blog posts. I do frequent foodie posts, and they're often done after dinner (based on dinner). A glass of wine goes well with a food blog post.

 

[Carol Rose]

I've been addicted to coffee since college. But writing while drinking booze? Not possible for me. I'd end up re-writing everything I wrote and that's not an effective use of my precious writing time.