While trying to remember how I wrote, back when I was writing a lot of PSDF stuff, and failing miserably, I suddenly had an extraordinarily bad day.

And so I remembered that quite a lot of my good PSDF stuff was written while raging madly about the unfairness of the universe.

Then I saw the only two pretty girls all shift- and, since this is Saskatchewan, home to ugly women of legal age, they were both highschoolers.

And so I remembered that most of the rest of my good PSDF stuff was written under the influence of sexual frustration.

And then I ran out of goddam money, so I couldn't buy lunch or supper.

And so I remembered that the last of my good PSDF stuff was written when I was living on $40 a month for food and constantly hungry.




...



So does anyone else feel like their best stuff is done when they're angry, horny, and hungry?

It's a hella good motivator, dude.

Huh.

Come to think about it, might be the reason why so many artists turn to shit after they taste financial success.

Damn.

Well, if it'll help you any, I can come over and set yer house on fire.

Please don't. We're having enough problems paying rent as it is.

Altered mental states are classic artist-generators. Classically, you see this in the boozers and the druggers, but really, ANY kind of chemical and biological stress can do very strange things to the mind and lead it where one would not normally go.

Hungry, and likely missing important vitamins and ingreedaments can make you feel like shit one day, then bounce back and feel like you're the king of all known reality the next after a meal consisting of something more than rice and Kraft Dinner.

Sleep, naturally, has a big effect on me. I often find the best writing times when I'm purposely messing up my natural sleep-and-wake schedule.

And horny = chemicals! SO MANY CHEMICALS AND ENDORPHINS AND SPOOKY PROTIENS! ARGH! It's like getting drunk, eating a pumpkin and then shooting up some heroin while staying away for 40 hours....only IN YOUR PANTS!

Ahem.

^_^

Yeah, and when everything calms down, you can usually find inspiration when your brain returns to normal and functions at 110%.

Gonads...and Strife.

i find that i can only draw some what good work at night just before i really need to go to sleep.... its like i can't draw in sun light or when i'm fully awake and in no need for sleep or something

and Toze i think you know this but i'm gonna 'say it' anyway... you were writting better at those bad times because subconsciously(or consciously) you want to excape reality into a better place.. or the at least a place were you'll be some what happier or constructive.... or you just really want to play god in some way or form... i don't know... never read the PSDF stuff

*gasp*

I must say that I find myself totally unperturbed by anyone who attempts an interpretation of my works without having read them. However, there may be an element of truth- I DID purposely escape reality. It was only a tiny portion, however, and far more of it was the creative expression I enjoyed.

My best drawings come out when i have other stuff to do, like at school. my best literary stuff shows up when i'm really, really upset.

The very basic neurological processes are devoted to the interpretation of pain and pleasure. These two experiences form the basis of the human psyche. Thus, all great drama, comedy, and tragedy cycle around the give and take of these two experiences. When you are experiencing both of these sensations (the pleasure of looking at beatiful women vs the pain of an untapt erection), you are in a better state of mind for the creative process.

*offtopic*

Untapped? Hah, that's awesome!

*/offtopic*

That's depressingly modernist and materialist, you know. I agree there's some chemistry involved, more'n like, but the mind isn't a machine, and there's something more to the creative process than input/output.

But agreed, "untapped" is awesome.

i was basing my stuff on what you posted on the first post... i have a little habbit of generalizing things with what little information i have... sorry if i offended or something

Toze, the mind isn't a machine, this is true. One can have absolutely brilliant "normal" days, and at the same time, have completely unproductive "drunk" days too. In fact, a lot of the dangerous traps involved with drugs, alkeyhols, and chemical imballances happen when the person believes they need to rely on such things to generate compelling work.

Such is not the case.

If anything, this is a testimony towards the wonders of the mind. That it can take abnormal, and sometimes destructive behavior, and use it for good... as well as surprise and amaze when everything is normal and ordinary.

Giving it the 'bump' by shifting gears is often what generates the idea/work/etc that artists and writers so covet...but it is not that state itself that generates the idea. Only the change.

The mind uses strife and change as fuel...not drugs, hormones or REM sleep cycles. If that all becomes 'normal' for the brain, then the effect is lost.

Chemistry is only a small part of what influences the brain. Don't worry, my intent was not to say that it creates what is put into it and nothing else. ^_^ Dear god...what does caffiene make the brain do? I'd be fucked.

My complaint about materialism was targeted at SC's post, not you guys. I mean, in one sense he's right, but the phrasing just seemed too deterministic for me.

I believe in chaotic determinism. I believe certain things always come to the same end, despite the fact that each individual iteration may take a different path. On other things, they all take similar paths, but along seperate terrain to similar, but wildly different ends. So while simple chemical reactions like a single nneuron firing can be predicted, you can't predict what it will mean on the human scale. You know how your brain is going to fire, but that's hard to figure what the response will be.

I REALLY wish I kept the chat logs from when I spent a summer arguing with an MIT student that thought could be original VS all thought comes from pre-defined sources and can never deviate.

It was...actually pretty interesting. One of the only 'fun' Internet Arguments I've been in that didn't end in "Oh yeah? Well you're HITLER!" or "NO! U!"

and as we all know, I'M hitler.

myself, my best writing to date came after i crammed a bunch of asimov in my brain. then i shoved anne rice in there and they had messy fiction-sex and i'm trying to clean up the debris so i can write something worthwhile again. soon.

heh, chat discussions. the most interesting one i had was during a Magic the gathering online tornament, waiting for the last group to finish. we started talking about card mechanics and finished with a MASSIVE discussion about the structure of the universe and live/alternate realities and all sorts of stuff. we even got 3 mods and 2 judges in on the discussion.