Writing Lesson

CD writes at his blog Writing Life II about a screenwriting student who came to his class today "wasted," which gives me pause to think about my own career with booze and academics.

CD pulled the student aside and sent him home early because the kid was talking too much and evidently making little sense.

As heavy as I've been with the liquid magic in days past, I can't recall ever once going to class hopped up on anything, beer or otherwise.

I might have taken a few pre-bout nips here and there, but nothing like what it takes to make me too talkative.  And let's tell it like it is. Everybody is a lot smarter after a few too many.

I always saved myself for after school.  That was when I did the writer/drinker turn justice.  That is when I talked my best poetry.

Even then, one thing I learned early on is that I couldn't write worth a damn when stoned on anything, and I've drank enough to ruin many a story.

Writing is a dangerous game when it involves alcohol.  Drink pretty much did in the sensational talents of Truman Capote and F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as many other brilliant and lesser lights over the years.

Maybe CD's warning to the kid will make him think again.  Eugene O'Neill had his last drink at age 29, and sobriety didn't treat him badly at all.

TS