Hemingway’s famous advice was to “write drunk, edit sober”.
Although there is a lot of debate as to whether Hemingway actually said this, it does raise an interesting question: does alcohol help with the writing process?
It is no secret that some of the greatest authors were heavy drinkers, including David Foster Wallace, Edgar Allan Poe, Truman Capote, and of course Ernest Hemingway.
Hemingway enjoyed a cocktail or two so often that another writer, Philip Greene, was inspired to pen To Have and Have Another, a book about Hemingway’s drinking habits.
The infographic below delves into the science behind “write drunk, edit sober”.