Over the influence

I’ve been asked many times what drugs I take to come up with some of the things I write about. The best thing is telling people I’ve never even smoked pot. I’m not saying I have anything against it, I don’t. It’s just I’ve never found a reason to try it. 

This invariably leads to the question of how often I write drunk, because if I don’t do other drugs, I should be getting my buzz on somehow to write what I do. 

The answer? Never. 

It’s not that I haven’t tried writing under the influence, it’s that I hate what has come out most of the time plus the fact that I don’t enjoy writing drunk. I like to be fully engaged when I write so when I let go and am swept up by the story or a the moment of a poem, I am completely immersed in my writing. Another reason is that I don’t like the concept of crutches.

You see, some people need pot to write. Others need alcohol to write. Others need cocaine, or sex, or heroin, or chocolate or coffee or countless other things.

I’m lucky that I don’t, because when it comes down to it, I have only one addiction:

Writing.