While at one of the retreats for my MFA writing program, one of the faculty said to us, the great writers, who drank, “succeeded in spite of the alcohol, not because of it.”   I’m not sure if I agree or not.   Don’t get me wrong.   I’m not saying you should run right out and get smashed to try and recreate War and Peace.   On the other hand, something could be said for getting yourself out of the way.
          Not being much of a drinker, I didn’t question it.   Today, I did.   I questioned what makes writers great.   Every person on this planet is a veritable Pandora’s Box of characters’ mental disorders and neuroses, bringing a full cast to their stories without so much as cracking the phone book, yet, unwilling to open up for fear of unleashing Zeus knows what upon the world.   So, they shut those personalities in and ignore the spark of creativity until it’s too late.   Perhaps, this explains much of what is wrong with the world.   I digress.   For the average, non-writer person, this might work, ( I wouldn’t know).   However, for us writers, silencing these… people might be good for socializing, but not so much for a career as a novelist.   I can’t tell you how many writers’ have said to let characters be themselves, as opposed to suffocating them.
          So many writers have made things unnecessarily difficult for themselves by second guessing all the time.   It really helps to be able to be a part of the story instead of on the outside looking in and scrutinizing every last word.   I say this with newer writers in mind, mainly.   I imagine writing comes as second nature for veteran writers like Stephen King and James Patterson, to name a couple.
          I still can’t say, definitively, that said faculty member was right or wrong.   My metabolism and the amount of food I eat make it difficult for me to get a “buzz,” (not bragging).   Drinking might make following the invisible trail of words easier than usual.   One’s ego tends to get in the way without some form of help.   I’m not saying that writer’s should get toasted every time they want to create.   The last thing you want is to write your novel in a quiet room at the Betty Ford Clinic.   There are plenty of other ways to get the same effect.   The best one, I think, is meditation.   Whatever your poison, I think it’s best to find a way to get yourself behind your own writing instead of in front of it.   You may just discover that the words will come out all on their own with little (mis)direction from you.