I hear Ernest liked his whisky...

[burntpunk]

and the Beatles wrote their best material stoned. How much of a part do you think alcohol and drugs have played in creative minds? Let's not turn this into a Drugs and Booze are evil thread, I'm just generally interested in which authors have cracked on crack, and how it affected them.

Any ideas, geezers and girlies?

[Veva]

Well, if you are asking, I always thought that Heart-shaped box by Nirvana was quite a poem and I think that their lyrics {some of them are masterpieces} would not be that good if not under the influence of crack...

[alestar89]

It's all, if used for "artistic purposes," a way of liberating the mind from common restraints. Often times, like with Ernest, I'd say it was simply a vice. You could argue differently for Hendrix, though.

But the way I see it works is like this: an artistic temperament almost requires a tragic habit to go along with it. It's just almost boring to feel crappy and not have something that will lift you up, albeit momentarily, to make the days go faster.

I think most of the work of an artist truly does come from inside their minds and hearts, the drugs and alcohol are merely the catalysts that allow them the freedom to explore and write who they are on paper.

[*Classic*Charm*]

It's all, if used for "artistic purposes," a way of liberating the mind from common restraints. Often times, like with Ernest, I'd say it was simply a vice. You could argue differently for Hendrix, though.

But the way I see it works is like this: an artistic temperament almost requires a tragic habit to go along with it. It's just almost boring to feel crappy and not have something that will lift you up, albeit momentarily, to make the days go faster.

I think most of the work of an artist truly does come from inside their minds and hearts, the drugs and alcohol are merely the catalysts that allow them the freedom to explore and write who they are on paper.

I disagree with you here, or maybe it's a misinterpretation of your use of the word "catalyst".

The way I'm interpreting your post, it sounds as though you're saying that if there's nothing particularly worthy of writing a novel/poem/song about happening in the writer's life, he or she could drink or smoke up or whatever in the name of creating a different emotion or situation, or some kind of drama, whatever it may be until there's a new inspiration. If there's nothing happening in a mind or heart, this is a means of speeding up the process instead of waiting for something legitimate to be an inspiration.

That sounds kind of like cheating to me. It sounds as if the artist is creating an artificial feeling to write about.

[Sapphire]

I stumbled upon this thread and think the question is also touched upon here: Alcohol and Literature (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42532)

*Classic*Charm*, what you say about cheating - why should the use of alcohol or drugs be "non-legitimate"? Is it legitimate to use a dream as inspiration, but not a vision while under influence of drugs?
Or do you refer to "really happen" as in happening in daily life, under influence of stumulus from the outer world?

Is what you feel under influence of alcohol or drugs less real than while you're not intoxicated?

I do not know the answers to this questions. I just wonder ;) And I think that for artists... I guess it works for some, but not for most others. You just don't hear about the ones it doesn't work for, as they don't get famous :p

[Scheherazade]

Any ideas, geezers and girlies?Have some ideas but neither a geezer nor a girlie so not telling.