Alcohol and Fanfic. . .

[catscradle]

Seldom do these two things seem to mix. I don't refer to drinking while writing, though I'm sure that can occasionally apply - I think some actually improve, so it's a toss up - but no, I refer to those people who write a scene with alcohol without a single clue as to how it operates in the human body once consumed.

We have two types of scenarios that need attention.

1. The belief that 1/1,000,000,000 of an ounce is enough to get anyone slammed if dropped in non-alcoholic drink - the sweeter the better - in secret. Newflash: You don't use a medicinal dropper to add alcohol to a beverage and expect anything to happen. Unless it's LSD, it's just not going work. It's even worse if you're using schnapps as opposed to something like vodka (I've seen it), but at such a low dosage, neither are going to be doing much to anyone. A shot of NyQuil is going to do more for you than that.

2. The belief that consumming an entire bottle of hard liquor wouldn't faze the character doing the drinking one bit because they are that cool.

Unless this character has been an alcoholic for the past five years, they may feel that bottle of 100 proof tequila just a wee bit.

I just read a bit of a hybred of these two scenerios where Relena was tricked into drinking a Long Island ice tea. She never realizes the beverage is alcoholic till it's too late and she's taken advantage of and so on and so forth. Unless Relena is the absolute dumbest person in existence, there's no WAY she's going to be THAT ignorant to the fact she's drinking alcohol. There are five types of alcohol in that drink - now, granted a really good Long Island is suppose to resemble the taste of tea, but I've never had one THAT well mixed that I couldn't tell I was drinking alcohol.

I suppose this comes from young writers not experienced in drinking, which isn't a bad thing per se - not trying to get the kids to drink (might also be against some's religion or philosophy - totally cool with that), just maybe check into it a little more before writing about it. There are plenty sites on the web that give out information on the subject of drinking. Or just watch parents or other family/friends on what they drink and how much. You don't need to be experienced or go out on a drinking binge to write a believable drinking scene. Just a little bit of observation and research can go a long way to make a story a little more believable.

Comments

[thebratqueen.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of a tip I heard re: acting drunk. "Remember that the drunk isn't trying to fall down, they're trying to stand up." In other words I'd like to add to your rant by doing a point 3) not knowing what a drunk person is like and therefore being unable to write one. Ditto for anyone who doesn't know how to write a scene of someone being stoned.

[catscradle.livejournal.com]

*NOD*NOD*NOD*

And it's a tough to deal with people on what to tell them - I mean, can't really tell them to do a little personal research (though for those of legal age, it can be fun ;)), but you can point them in the direction of what to read for examples, or tell them to watch others - but it's still not always going to help. I got a LOT of "Well that's how my older brother acts when he's drunk!" Then what are you gonna do? (But Jesus Christ, God help their brother if they do act like that after a single beer. . .) And you've got different types of drunks, like the frat boys are going to act different from the loner drunk - mob mentality being what it is. The long time alcoholic acts different from the girl getting tipsy at a social. A street bum and a tycoon - well they normally at the same, actually. One is just dressed better Anyway, writers need to consider the setting, the character type, all the environmental factors when writing on the subject.