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/lit/ - Literature

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14761379 No.14761379 [Reply] [Original]

What does /lit/ think about using stimulants to write? Is it the 10x or the life derailment? I could quite easily get them prescribed as ADD medication or “mood stabiliser”. I'm a 23 year old improover, I’ve got my physical health very much sorted but I'm still struggling with concentration. I’ve sampled some stimulants previously, namely dexamphetamine and Ritalin (Adderal in the US) and found it to be very useful for long stretches of work. I don't really believe I have ADD, I think my problem is a function of unfettered access to hyper-stimulating devices throughout my childhood and education. I have been seduced partly because of its fabled use by many great writers. Is it going to make me an übermensch of unstoppable productivity or leave me as a teeth grinding tweaker with the same empty pages?

Any thoughts or advice, particularly from anons that use prescribed stims?

>> No.14761402

>>14761379
Ritalin exists in the US and is methylphenidate. Adderall is 75% dexamphetamine and 25% levoamphetamine. Also, to answer your question, they will most likely be effective for like two weeks and then you will just build a tolerance and be the same as you were before.

>> No.14761429

>>14761402
Are you speaking from experience? Surely well timed T breaks could mitigate this issue. Although a long term trend towards higher dosage is likely and problematic.

>> No.14761472

>>14761429
I've known many people who have taken stimulants and have dabbled myself. Some became really addicted, but thats pretty rare if you're even remotely responsible. But I don't really know anybody who has genuinely benefited a great deal from them. Sure, they are super helpful if you want to occasionally work super hard and power through things, but just developing better habits is a much better strategy long term I think.

>> No.14761491

>>14761472
I think you're right, but I was hoping that someone would convince me otherwise hah

>> No.14761510

Something something amphetamines something something Nick Land

>> No.14761516

Not to mention the fact that if you have a poor constitution the hangover isn't even worth the minimal boost you get.

>> No.14761540

>>14761379
Speed is fun but that's all I can really say for it. It won't make you more productive.

>> No.14761550

>>14761510
Philip K Dick, Ayn Rand, Jack Kerouac, Joan Didion, Satre, Paul Schrader. Who else?

>> No.14761619

>>14761379
I wouldn't suggest using any type of chemical to alter your state of mind in order "to write." Creativity comes from your soul, from your heart, and from your mind. Your words are who you are, in other words. You should be feeling and seeing and looking at the world with clear eyes and a clear mind so that you can most accurately tell your stories (or poems) that you need to tell. Don't muddy your waters, make them crystal clear.

And don't fall for the "many great writers did X drug" meme. That's just bullshit. In school we heard all the "stories" and all the legends and all the memes. But we were all too young to understand, and our professors did not know because they could not know because they were not writers, they were professors.

Faulkner and Hemingway and all the rest of them didn't drink because they particularly "liked" to drink. They drank to ease the pain in their minds, to stop the voices of their characters calling out to them while they tried to sleep, to quiet the words and sentences and entire scenes poking into their brains unannounced and not asked for during any time of the day, during conversations with friends or family, while driving a car, while watching a TV show or listening to the radio.

You see, when you're a writer, it never leaves you alone. It is what you are. And that's why the "many great writers" drank. They were trying to ease their pain.

I was a young writer and stupid once, too, and sneered at Shakespeare and Milton because I believed Bukowski. Then I started reading Shakespeare and Milton, and I would weep because I knew I could never write like that. I read gonzo writing by Hunter Thompson because I thought it was cool, but when I read him I saw nothing cool about getting drunk or stoned out of your mind like an irresponsible teenager and destroying property. I thought Naked Lunch by Burroughs was telling it what it was like on the streets, man, until I read it and saw through it for the utter shit that it was.

I only understood this after completing my second novel. And don't even get me started on poetry and the likes of Dylan Thomas.

>> No.14761668

>>14761619
cringe

>> No.14761708

>>14761619
To put this in a less gay and cringe way, I've found that taking stimulants makes me write much more voluminously, and in a very readable way, but it also makes me write without spirit or depth or authenticity. I become like a writing automaton. It's hard to explain exactly what the quality is that changes in my writing when I'm on stims. And I wrote a great deal of my Masters thesis on vyvanse, and was praised quite highly for the work. But something about my writing becomes less human, and though formally constructed equally as well as my writing off stimulants, it is missing whatever it is about me that gives me my authentic voice.

I tried going down that road writing fiction, and though I ended up with a lot more output than usual, I am not moved by or proud of any of the things I wrote while on stims.

>> No.14761711

>>14761379
We're at the point in time where writing without caffeine or simulants will give you a unique voice

>> No.14761888

>>14761619
>Faulkner and Hemingway and all the rest of them didn't drink because they particularly "liked" to drink. They drank to ease the pain in their minds, to stop the voices of their characters calling out to them while they tried to sleep, to quiet the words and sentences and entire scenes poking into their brains unannounced and not asked for during any time of the day, during conversations with friends or family, while driving a car, while watching a TV show or listening to the radio.
And in news, heres other shit that I made up

>> No.14762756
File: 25 KB, 351x351, 1483460340704.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14762756

Took them for a while, gave me stimulant psychosis. Be careful with that stuff if you're already kinda a nutcase.
Also, I just stopped taking an SSRI because it was making me go insane. I still feel kinda loopy though. Will this go away soon?

>> No.14762789

>>14761379
Stimulants don't really improve your concentration. They are only useful once you have already set your mind on something, providing you with an extra boost of cognitive endurance. If you are not already focused on a goal, taking stims will just make you procrastinate more intensely.

>> No.14762804

>>14761379
>I have been seduced partly because of its fabled use by many great writers.

Who? Auden seems the only one close. Sartre is a terrible writer, so is Rand (the Galt speech is 35000+ words of the most tortured amphetamine prose of all time). Kerouac wrote somewhat well, but his amphetamine jitters were tempered by ungodly amounts of alcohol.

Stimulants are for copywriting, not writing.

>> No.14762825

>>14761379
in the end its not very useful, id suggest just trying to become a better person

>> No.14762840

drugs are overrated desu and very rarely worth the side effects/comedowns (especially ritalin)/addiction etc, and if you feel like you need something like a drug to be creative you should ask yourself why you wanna write, and if you should be in the first place.
functionally stims definitely are good for reading and soaking up information, and for lists/planning and non-fiction, but they can actually blunt your creativity. on the other hand weed and psychs - by yourself and in the right environment without distractions - are good for creative thinking, and thinking through the minutiae of your ideas, but make it harder for you to get those thoughts down on paper.

personally i find doing the opposite - looking after my gut and mental health, getting a proper diet with the right nutrients, and especially lifting heavy weights (could have something to do with combination of testosterone boost and activated cannabinoid receptors) and walking in the forest - to not only help me think creatively, but give me the energy and focus to get those ideas down.

>> No.14762849

>>14761379
Drugs are mostly a meme as said repeatedly itt. Better tricks are reading, going outside, visiting new environments and talking to new people. Also looking at people/listening to their conversations in public place.

Really words should be your drug, so read a fuckton, and focus on well recognized books and/or books that really speak to you.

>> No.14762852

>>14762756

SSRIs/SNRIs/anti-psychs/mood stabilizers/benzos are straight up evil poison for everyone except hardcore schizos. NEVER take that shit, I can't stress this enough anons. That feeling will largely go away in a month or so, but you might have physical or mental after effects that will stick with you for years, depending on how long you were on them.

>> No.14762865

>>14761402
That's not true, unless you're taking way too much or or are taking a high, but not extreme dose but don't have ADD.

>> No.14762875

>>14761491
If you do have ADD then they will likely be live changing and they will certainly not only help with concentration but probably been more importantly help you with executive functions, helping you get your life in order.

Also, no you will not build up a tolerance in two weeks.

Also, I recommend amphetamines over methylphendiate. Especially formulations such as Vyvanse which are advanced forms of slow release and are only dexamphetamine.

>> No.14762984

>>14762875
This desu.
I´ve taken both concerta (methylphenidate) and vyvanse, can confirm

>> No.14763939

I highly recoemnded a combination of caffeine and pregabalin for writing/reading. I can go all day and night stringing myself along on this combination without any kind of crash & a kind of concentrated looseness that helps with thinking and ideas

Can you get addys prescribed in UK by the way or something similar

>> No.14764109

Does anyone here with ADHD have experience with Ritalin? I got diagnosed as an adult a few months ago, but I feel uncertain if it's correct due to various reasons. I fear that I'm actually just addicted to stimuli, and taking Ritalin will worsen my 'condition'. I also know I get addicted pretty easily which is why I avoid alcohol and drugs in general.

>> No.14764279

Drug use only helps incredibly disciplined people. Get on a good meditation routine first, then microdose. Don't overdo it even if you want to, you'll build up a tolerance and go down a rabbit hole. Remember that you could also achieve such states naturally through intense exercise, good diet, meditation, and maintaining hydration levels. Just make sure you're able to focus for several hours without any stimulus before you mess around. Being able to focus beforehand is the only chance you have of actually being productive when you're on the drug. Otherwise you might just fuck around and barely get anything done.

>> No.14764299

I'm surprised nobody here is on Modafinil.

>Pros:
Works just as well other stims
Doesn't cause psychosis
Low potential for abuse
Low potential for addiction
Doesn't cause cardiovascular problems
Cheap
Doesn't affect sleep if taken early in the morning
Contraindications rare

>Cons:
Can give some people a rash

>> No.14764389

>>14764109
Hey I am 19 so not really an adult i guess. But I started ritalin a year ago and im not sure u should take it. It might make you "dependant" on it. You might start to get the idea that u wont be able to concentrate at all anymore when u dont take it. I also feel like it takes away to "think freely" I guess. Unless ur ADHD is super bad, I think it might be better to try to improve your concentration with practise.

>> No.14764451

>>14764299
>works just as well as other stims
Does it give you the rush though? I’ve heard it just keeps you awake like more consistent caffeine and that it makes you kind of autistic and actually not that good to work on

>> No.14764507

>>14762789
>If you are not already focused on a goal, taking stims will just make you procrastinate more intensely.

This is my experience with stimulants. I don't understand how people take them and finish a bunch of chores and homework. Every time I do them I just spend hours on completely irrelevant things. One time I somehow ended up spending hours reading the Wikipedia pages of a bunch of Baroque composers whose music I had never heard, then I didn't remember anything I had read afterward.

>> No.14764523

>>14764451
>makes you kind of autistic and actually not that good to work on
Feels amazing, reminds me of MDMA.

>> No.14764822

>>14761888
Don't know if he's lying, but I known for a fact that Faulkner didn't wrote anything while drunk. He use to binge drink after finishing his works and that was all.

>> No.14764839

>>14761379
look up binural beats on youtube specifically memory concentration and focus ones.
Theres also a guy who made one for adderal and other stims.
I think its much better than drugging yourself up and changing your brain chemistry.

Also try listening to 432hz music instead of 440hz and stop playing video games.

>> No.14764894

my suggestion is to experiment. I find stimulant use to be effective at engendering a habit, when rote mechanism is required, or a stable memory is needed, it aids in any such endeavor. for creativity, for the concrescence of ideas, it shows some instances of limiting one's capacity. think of it as a tool and a tool alone, and you will find its utility. it will certainly not be a panacea if you are struggling in some foundational measure. if you just need something to blind you to some of the more obnoxious details of reality for a period, and to retain specific ideas, then it's your drug.
overall, i would consider it to be the hermit's alchemical delight. where you can stand in a crowd, be it thoughts or men, and devote your entire focus on a single detail.

>> No.14764915

Relevant to your interests:
https://www.theverge.com/2012/7/26/3184496/hacked-brain-adderall-cautionary-tale

>One of the first things you notice about Adderall is its "hard reset" effect on your metabolism. As you begin to come up, you'd best plan to be near a toilet.

>> No.14764932

>>14764839
>432hz
Back to /x/ with you

>> No.14764971

>>14764839
this is supposed to be a board for "cultured" people

>> No.14765001

>>14761619
You have to go back

>> No.14765013
File: 2 KB, 120x117, 1559245261609.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14765013

>>14764839
Don't go any lower tho, if you reach 420hz you'll get too relaxed.

>> No.14765028

>>14764915
That article is a load of misinformation and faggotry.