It is a common held belief that alcohol stimulates creative expression. That the creative soul can only fully express itself with the help of alcohol or some other substance. Where has this idea come from and is it true?

This idea has firmly entered popular culture, been romanticized, taken root, and is backed up by fact. Some of the best American writers of the twentieth century had drinking problems or were alcoholics. Famous authors include Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Adela Rogers St. John, John Berryman, Raymond Carver, Edgar Allan Poe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dylan Thomas, John Cheever and Dorothy Parker.

William Faulkner, Sinclair Lewis, John Steinbeck, and Eugene O’Neill even won the Nobel prize in Literature despite their drinking habits.

“statistics show that, after bartenders, more writers die of cirrhosis of the liver, a disease closely associated with alcoholism, than people in other occupations.”

Donald W. Goodwin, Alcohol and the Writer.

Therefore, it is easy to conclude that alcohol “has come to seem a natural accompaniment of the literary life.” – Alfred Kazin, “The Giant Killer”: Drink & the American Writer

“After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.” – Oscar Wilde

Amelia Harnish: 10 Great Writers on Booze, Bustle

Why do so many writer’s drink?

“think about the job inherent to the writer, which is to see and feel things, and then weave those sights and emotions into art. This can be a pretty alienating experience, which is why so many writers have turned to drink to soothe.”

Amelia Harnish: 10 Great Writers on Booze, Bustle

Research has suggested there is a neurological link between drinking and writing, however there is no definitive proof of a connection between alcoholism and creativity. More likely, heavy drinking is due to other factors such as trauma, socioeconomic, upbringing and childhood experiences.

“I drink to make other people more interesting.” – Ernest Hemingway

Amelia Harnish: 10 Great Writers on Booze, Bustle

Research has proven that alcohol does damage the brain, whether this is long term or short term depends on the drinking. It is a fact, however, that drinking affects brain function, increases memory loss, lack of concentration and reduces planning and organisational skills, things that are essential to writing.

“Here’s to alcohol, the rose-coloured glasses of life.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Amelia Harnish: 10 Great Writers on Booze, Bustle

I have a difficult relationship with alcohol, especially in social situations. I use it to give me confidence, reduce anxiety and dull down any emotions, I do not want to feel or acknowledge too deeply. However, when I write I find alcohol does not inspire my creativity. I may have an idea, but because I am drunk, all I can do is scribble down the main gist of it till I can work on it when I am sober. Only when I write, sober, do I find relief. My self-expression through writing soothes my soul far more completely than alcohol ever could.

“No one, ever, wrote anything as well even after one drink as he would have done without it.” – Ring Lardner

“The Giant Killer”: Drink & the American Writer

I am not alone, many writers do not drink. Famous names include Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, Mary McCarthy, Tom Wolfe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Thoreau, Upton Sinclair, therefore (perhaps) proving there is no link between alcohol consumption and creativity or the need to drink in order to be creative.  

I think Edgar Allan Poe sums up drinking best:

“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some impending doom.”

Edgar Allan Poe: goodreads

Further Reading

Ann Waldron: Writers and Alcohol, The Washington Post

Alfred Kazin: “The Giant Killer”: Drink & the American Writer, Commentary Magazine