Turns Out It’s Not Ideal to Write a Novel From a Bar Stool (Sober Firsts)Turns Out It’s Not Ideal to Write a Novel From a Bar Stool (Sober Firsts)
Recovery Rocks
Lisa Smith and Anna David talk about their past attempts to write while drunk or high and contrast them with their experiences of sober creativity. Their conversation reflects fears, triggers and growth around writing in addiction recovery, highlighting how sober work can be stronger and more focused.
16:54•7 Aug 2026
Turns Out the Best Writing Isn’t Done Drunk or High
Episode Overview
- Substances like alcohol and cocaine do not improve writing; they waste time and distort judgement.
- Many people in recovery fear they cannot create sober, yet often find their work strengthens without drugs or alcohol.
- Writing classes and workshops can push authors to focus their stories, such as keeping addiction present on every page in a recovery memoir.
- Triggers can be linked to tools of the trade, like computers, and may require practical strategies such as changing environment early in sobriety.
- Cringeworthy early drafts are part of the process; sober persistence leads to clearer, more meaningful work.
“I spent three years rewriting one line and it was better at the beginning.”
How do individuals turn their lives around after addiction? This chat between Lisa Smith and Anna David is all about what happens when you stop trying to write from a bar stool or a cocaine binge and actually put pen to paper sober. You’ll hear Lisa laugh about her “drunken scribbles” and grand plans to write a book on a barstool, only to wake up, read the pages and think, “I hate you.
What are you doing with your life?” Anna shares a very different but equally chaotic story: she became convinced she needed cigarettes, then red wine, then cocaine in order to write. At one point, she spent three years rewriting a single line of a screenplay and admits, “the first one was the best.” Their conversation will really speak to anyone in recovery who worries that creativity dries up without substances.
Anna recalls believing she could never write without cocaine, describing nights alone with a beeping orange laptop, frozen over the keyboard and jumping out of her skin every 60 seconds.
Later, in rehab, she found herself terrified of her computer because it was her biggest trigger, yet she eventually found that “turns out I’m a much better writer sober.” Lisa talks about learning craft the hard way, taking writing classes at NYU and hearing workshop leader Jennifer Bell insist that, for a recovery memoir, “there needs to be alcohol on every page.” That advice helped her focus her story on addiction and recovery rather than drifting into unrelated anecdotes.
Along the way, they swap stories about cringeworthy notebooks, starstruck moments in writing workshops, and the myth that “writers drink” to make their work better. Their takeaway is simple: writing sober may feel terrifying at first, but it’s far more honest, sustainable and productive than anything created under the influence. If you’ve ever told yourself you can’t be creative without a drink or a drug, could this be the nudge to try your own sober first?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.