22/11/2025
Write Drunk, Edit Sober
Ernest Hemingway is famous for having said, “Write Drunk; Edit Sober”. It’s one of my favourite writing-related quotes. I read the tarot and try to do so in a practical way, focussing on the lessons the cards raise for me rather than on prediction. In my latest pick-a-card readings this quote and the image above came up.
In the card you see the Square Kilometre Array, a majestic specimen. The message on the card is about seeing everything as your teacher. The message that came from my mouth however, was about the process and how important it is – it was about allowing imperfection in our creations.
I am not a professional artist. I have no training or anything remotely close. So for me to get to this stage (of the card in the image) took a lot of something – and I guess that something was trusting in the process. Had I worried too much about the outcome I would not have reached this point.
This card reminded me of why Hemingway’s words are so important for those of us busy with a creation, written or otherwise. Of the cards that I’ve completed, this is the unfinished one. It needs work. Plus, there’s a spelling error! (I obviously took the writing drunk part very seriously – and just forgot about editing).
I don’t think Mr Hemingway was really encouraging us to drink while we write. Rather, he was reminding us to get out of our own way. He was reminding us about the process being the thing, not the outcome. And in writing (or creating our art), we so often get in the way of our beautiful ideas when we conflate the final piece (that is edited) with the thoughts and ideas.
There are different parts to this writing thing – or maybe even life thing- there’s the creative and there’s the analytical. The creative is letting out what’s inside us; the analytical comes after. Even the SKA is not just about the final outcome. It observes. Then the scientists make meaning from that observation. They analyse.
The message is about the beauty in imperfection, the beauty of our thoughts and raw ideas (this is why I encourage freewriting) some of which never see the light of day because of our focus on perfection. And even more important, it’s about allowing the chaos, the hectic, the everything in-between the here and now and the outcome hoped for.
Those who drink know what feeling a little tipsy can do for the heart, mind and soul. And so perhaps we need to allow the tipsiness in our lives. If we don’t allow this time to be chaotic we instead write or create judging ourselves. Worrying about this word rather than that, or telling ourselves we’re talking crap and it doesn’t make sense can cause us to stop instead of pursuing that idea. Same with creating artwork – oy, I have been battling with what some might consider the simplest thing – candles. They are kicking my proverbial butt! But I have to allow the unpretty in order to get to the pretty. I have to allow for the chaos - unplanned, unscripted - before I have my “perfection”.
What about you? Is there a writing project you’re too close to that needs a step back and perhaps a little bit of free-writing. Is there an area in your life where you are needing a bit of the tipsy? Are you needing to let go a little of the outcome and rather sit with and enjoy the process?
If you’d like to see the full reading that sparked this reflection, you can find it here https://youtu.be/pa-MXZ23bzA?si=G1J0I9m6KufOQv1H
