Lots of people, struggling writers included, want to believe that alcohol and drugs will help them write better because it’s easier than the truth. But you have to have both elements in creation — the Apollonian and the Dionysian, or spontaneity and restraint, emotion and discipline. Let's figure out the right package for you. While Ernest may have been quite the boozer, the one thing he never did was write while he had been drinking. Write drunk, revise sober. De Vries isn’t a household name, but Hemingway is, and maybe this grants the saying a bit more weight in the eyes of the general population. When I mention this in my talks, I always point out that “write drunk” only refers to a state of mind, not an actual altered conscious. Maybe you’ve never known an addict or been one yourself, but I can tell you — it’s hell. The quote “write drunk, edit sober” is often misattributed to Ernest Hemingway who, as it turns out, never wrote drunk. As he told George Plimpton in the Paris Review: When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. Write without inhibitions. Instead, writing drunk means to imagine the kinds of things you would say if you’d knocked back a few to depress your inhibitions. I’ve seen addiction ruin more than one person’s life. Regardless of his schedule, he was usually at his typewriter by 6 or 7 am, and would work straight until lunchtime, often standing up. Kinda like how writers say you should just write and not worry about things until the first draft’s done. There's a quote that's often attributed to Hemingway: “Write drunk, edit sober.” The truth is that these are not actually Hemingway's words — thanks, Internet! Regardless of who said it, I still hold with the advice, but with a couple of caveats. Sometimes I write drunk and revise sober, and sometimes I write sober and revise drunk. What do you think? It doesn’t mean to eliminate and undo all the great work you did while “drunk;” it means clean up your work, remove errors, and fix typos. That’s how I interpret “write drunk.” Edit sober fits this analogy as well. Would you speak more poetically? After lunch, he would write letters, edit some past work, and then hit the sauce around 3:00. Let your imagination run riot and don’t worry about what people will think of you when they read your words." He was also the Spring 2016 writer-in-residence at the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, FL. The crappy film Limitless plays into this myth, and cult figures like Hunter S. Thompson perpetuate the idea. In truth, Hemingway probably never said that famous line which has been attributed to him for all these years. Instead, drink in moderation, and write to excess. Erik Deckers is the President of Pro Blog Service, a content marketing and social media marketing agency He co-authored four social media books, including No Bullshit Social Media with Jason Falls (2011, Que Biz-Tech), and Branding Yourself with Kyle Lacy (3rd ed., 2017, Que Biz-Tech), and The Owned Media Doctrine (2013, Archway Publishing). “Write drunk, edit sober” is bad advice for two reasons: It glorifies addiction. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Change ). Digging deeper into the quote, I believe there’s a potent kernel of truth hidden behind the myth. You have to sit down and do the work. What ideas would you express? The afternoons and evenings would be when ole Ernest got drunk and shouted simple sentences at the moon while shaking his fist. “Write drunk, edit sober” was Hemingway’s decree. Write drunk, edit sober. A lot of this ties into the myth that writers get their creativity from substance abuse. We have at least two sides to us when it comes to creating something. Hi, Jane, thanks for asking me about this. Brendan Brown from The Expert Editor writes that ‘the quotation was probably derived from a 1964 Peter De Vries novel, Reuben, Reuben where his main character said: “Sometimes I write drunk and revise sober, and sometimes I write sober and revise drunk. I read a meaning somewhere like its "Just write from the heart, drunk or not. ( Log Out /  He was famous for both writing and drinking, so it makes a lot of sense. Similarly, “edit sober” means to copyedit with a critical eye. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there. Write when you feel intoxicated with the idea. Instead of “speaking loudly,” would you “shout your barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world?”. You could take write drunk, edit sober literally or you could take it as meaning write without inhibition and edit with it. Don’t undo the good work you’ve put down. According to Hemingway’s granddaughter, Mariel, it is not a quote from her grandfather.“That’s not how he wrote,” the 51-year-old Manhattan actress says of The Old Man and the Sea author. Goins didn’t like it because 1) it propagates the myth of creativity as a whimsical activity, something that isn’t taken seriously, and 2) it encourages and possibly even glamorizes substance abuse. He wouldn’t let anything interfere with his writing, including a hangover. Peter De VriesIt may have been said by noted American novelist Peter De Vries, the author of The Blood Of The Lamb and Reuben, Reuben — which, as it turns out, is not about a fat guy at a deli. Never known an addict or been one yourself, write drunk, edit sober meaning he was right back at moon. 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