I've just made a strange discovery.
Apparently, it's a lot easier for me to write drafts for the book after I've had a drink or two. I wrote more in the last hour than I did on all of Saturday.
Perhaps this has something to do with the way alcohol affects the mind's inhibitions? After a few drinks it's often easier to talk to people because you're not as worried about how they'll react. You're not censoring yourself.
One of the things that slows me down most when writing (other than trying to get started at all) is the constant nagging in my mind about whether I'm saying what I really need to say, if I'm covering things in enough depth and so on.
Hmm. I wonder how this will all play out.
Posted by jzawodn at January 12, 2003 09:22 PM
"Drink frist, write second."
I love that title. What a way to start that subject. Very creative.
Secondly, what's the title of the book again, "MySQL for Lushes"?
Thanks for the chuckle!
Anyway, I really am looking forward to the book being published. You'll find your groove.
Mark Twain once said, "Write drunk, edit sober".
The idea is that you've got an internal writer and an internal editor; when you're sober, the editor can have too much power, and make it tough for you to write. Some alcohol loosens that up, and lets you get some writing done.
But don't forget the "edit sober" part. :)
i wish my students would have had that "nagging feeling" when i taught 111 and 112...then maybe the papers would have been readable.
my suggestion i that you get someone else to read it when you're done. i would probably try to get it all out first and then revise...you don't want the revision process getting in the way of your writing process. then take a small break from it...this will give you a little perspective and will make it like the you that wrote it and the you that are reviewing it are two different people. but definitely have other eyes take a look at it as well...they will always see things that you will miss.
Hrm. As I plug away on my rather late MySQL article for http://www.php-mag.com, this sounds like decent advice. I seem to just keep writing and re-writing and re-re-writing. :P
dam, I was going to quote Mark Twain on how he once said, "Write drunk, edit sober" it is so true and works very well for me.
By the way what is it your drinking? You only said that you had a drink or 2
I write drunk. My prose becomes incredibly poetic and sentence structure seems balanced while the writing flows naturally. My writing always has an uninhibited quality that I guess goes hand in hand with alcohol. Anyway, you should write as much as possible while intoxicated, then edit it with a clear mind. I find that though some of what I may write while drunk is poetic or pleasing to the ear, it doesnt always make sense. A side effect of the alcohol, I presume.
drunk writing is for new age beatniks.
