Skip to main content

Writing While Stoned

Some people find writing under the influence a breeze. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde during a six day, six night cocaine binge. Ken Kesey penned One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest while he was on LSD. British novelist Lee Child, author of Killing Floor and 61 Hours, admits he writes while high on cannabis.

   While it's true that using psychoactive substances can help bring your creative endeavors to life, it can also make you think something's a great idea, when in reality, it's just a random, nonsensical shit. In 2004, while on vacation in Boracay, I tried to write inside my hotel room after partaking in some dope festivity: five bong hits, two bottles of light beer and lots of pizza. This was the result:

I'm here at the beach, a mere mortal in boardshorts and sandals, breathing some fresh air while walking on a hot summer evening. You're inside your expensive hotel room, typing away on your laptop while listening to Kate Bush, or Mazzy Star, maybe Jeff Buckley. I am several meters below you, silently staring at happy faces with great grief.
Lucky girl, you nymphet of the southern isles, share your thoughts. Share your wisdom. Share your sorrows. My knees are weak. My back is aching. But I can't let the white whale win. My lips linger on the rim of the glass while some old guy screams. 
Fire breathers, jackasses and hookers everywhere. Neon lights blinking on and off. Welcome to hell. Welcome to paradise. Welcome to false epiphanies.
Calm waters take me now. I am going to wade in, for my final baptism.  
April 6, 2004

   Marijuana did not improve my motivation to write or my creativity because I wrote this awful piece of garbage for two hours while looking at some online porn. For me, weed is great for ideas and inspiration, but for a narrative to be composed I have to be sober.

   Do you write while you're high? I'm interested to read your comments regarding the matter.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Feast your eyes on the making of 'Heisei Mary'

This is a time-lapse video of  Japanese artist  Shohei Otomo drawing Heisei Mary  — a naked Sailor Moon-like figure completely covered in tattoos. The highly-detailed body ink features Spiderman, Darth Vader, Hello Kitty, Naruto, Street Fighter and Dragon Ball characters to name a few. It's really satisfying to see an artist's process, the way their illustration grows and grows out of nothing. Shohei is known for his hyper-realistic sketches using ballpoint pens. Born in Tokyo in 1980, he is the son of Katsuhiro Otomo, the creator of the manga Akira . He exhibits his work regularly in Japan and Australia as well as in Mexico and France.  Three weeks worth of work are sped up into less than four minutes.

Sayaka Ganz creates amazing art menagerie from discarded plastics

I could never get enough of Sayaka Ganz . The Japanese-born artist saves the planet from plastic, at the same time creates brilliant animal sculptures. Raised under the Japanese philosophy of Shintoism, she hopes to bring greater awareness to the condition of our environment through her art. When creating sculptures, Sayaka organizes the reclaimed plastic objects into color groups, constructs a wire frame, and then carefully attaches the fragments of waste until she creates the shape she has envisioned. Her work has been exhibited in many places around the globe, among them Parma, Tokyo, Denver, New York, and San Francisco to name a few. Sayaka's Reclaimed Creations is currently on view at the Asian Arts & Culture Center at Towson University in Maryland. She regularly posts on Facebook, so be sure to like and follow her page for updates.

Enigmatic Shapes and Psychedelic Patterns

To say that I love Sanagi 's work is an understatement. Looking at her art feels sort of therapeutic, and I find her drawings refreshingly intricate. They're trippy, psychedelic, and resemble something that you might see under a microscope. Not much is Googleable about Sanagi, but that's fine. There aren't many artists these days that still pull off the whole mysterious vibe, so I commend her for that. By the way... they're all hand-drawn with pen and ink.