Did Hemingway really say ‘write drunk, edit sober’? The science behind the myth (Infographic)
Editor’s note: This article was reviewed and updated in July 2026 to meet Expert Editor’s latest editorial standards.
Ernest Hemingway’s famous advice was to “write drunk, edit sober”. Alcohol and writing certainly have a reputation as bedfellows, with famed authors Edgar Allan Poe, Truman Capote, and Hemingway himself, being heavy drinkers.
In truth, Hemingway probably never said that famous line which has been attributed to him for all these years. It was probably derived from a 1964 Peter De Vries novel called, Reuben, Reuben where his main character said:
“Sometimes I write drunk and revise sober, and sometimes I write sober and revise drunk. But you have to have both elements in creation — the Apollonian and the Dionysian, or spontaneity and restraint, emotion.”
But the question remains—is it true? Should you write drunk, and edit your work sober? We delve into the science behind this in the infographic below.
Albert Einstein once said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Is it a good idea, then, to “write drunk” and “edit sober”?
There have been, after all, a number of famous writers who were known to be fond of a drink, such as Ernest Hemingway, Charles Bukowski, Edgar Allan Poe, and Dylan Thomas. It is debatable whether these writers actually took the time to sober up when they needed to edit.
However, thinking more freely and associatively, as creativity often requires, can certainly help in the craft of writing, and some studies have shown that having a blood alcohol level of around 0.07% may actually help with tasks such as problem solving and creative projects, and results vary by individual and task type.
Therefore, approximately two or three drinks may help with that novel you are working on. However, consumption of alcohol above that amount will hinder your writing efforts, and you would be worse off.
There is some lab research looking at whether mild alcohol impairment affects performance on creative-association tasks, with mixed and generally small effects. It’s a long way from that finding to “alcohol helps you write.” The studies test narrow puzzle-style tasks, not sustained creative work, and none of them look at editing, where working memory and attention to detail matter more than loose association. We’re not going to translate any of that into a drink count — the honest summary is that the science is thin, the effects are small, and it doesn’t tell you anything useful about how to approach your own writing.
Note: Alcohol affects everyone differently, and these effects vary by individual tolerance and context. If you have concerns about your drinking, consider speaking with a healthcare professional.
Let’s examine what occurs in your body when alcohol enters your system.
Alcohol is a depressant. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, it affects the cerebral cortex, which handles thought and information processing, the limbic system, involved in emotion and memory, and the cerebellum, which governs movement, balance, and muscle coordination. These areas of the brain are more incapacitated when there is a higher dose of alcohol in the system. Because blood vessels are dilated by alcohol and more blood is flowing, blood pressure must be maintained by an increased heart rate. This is why your heart beats faster when you ingest alcohol. Approximately 90% of alcohol is expelled from the body through its metabolization in the liver. The rest leaves through urine or via exhalation by the lungs.
You may want to keep your occasions for drinks to a minimum. A study has found that even moderate drinking could cause cumulative damage over time in areas of the brain associated with memory and cognitive function. You could be impairing your memory and cognitive abilities permanently, which would ultimately not help with either writing or editing. I highly doubt that Edgar Allan Poe was a good writer because of his alcoholism and the damage that it entailed. He was a good writer in spite of being an alcoholic.
While some tasks like writing can benefit from a slight lessening of the inhibitions, editing is certainly not one of them. This is because editing necessitates a good working memory, high concentration, and attention to detail, so alcohol and the activity of editing do not mix well.
You wouldn’t, for instance, fill out your tax return while drunk. Similarly, missing a run-on sentence, leaving spelling errors, or misplacing a comma can have embarrassing consequences later on. Nonetheless, editing, even while sober, can be taxing.
If editing happens to be the task at hand, try drinking some coffee. The caffeine in your coffee can kick in within 15 to 45 minutes. It may help to sharpen your eye for proper grammar and punctuation for several hours.
Caffeine works by binding to adenosine receptors in the brain, blocking adenosine from attaching to them, a mechanism confirmed in sleep-regulation research published in the Journal of Sleep Research. Left unblocked, adenosine binds to these receptors and suppresses neural activity, which is part of how the brain promotes sleepiness and relaxation over the course of a day.
When caffeine occupies those receptors instead, neural activity increases rather than winds down, which is the basis of caffeine’s alerting effect.
Wakefulness is promoted, and production of the hormone adrenalin is elevated. Adrenalin is a “fight or flight” hormone and is responsible for the greater intensity in attention and energy induced by the caffeine in your coffee. It also explains the jittery feeling some may get when they drink caffeinated beverages.
Some students may be familiar with cramming for exams the night before an exam with a large cup of coffee to hold vigil. Dissertations and doctorate defences may keep you up all night, but you can always receive help with editing and proofreading of your theses or dissertation.
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