--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I write as if I were drunk. It is a…" description: "\"I write as if I were drunk. It is a process of intuition rather than placing myself above my story like a puppeteer pulling strings. For me, it's a sca..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/elif-safak-8931_above_i-write-as-if-i-were-drunk-it-is-a-proce_3214243.jpg" --- # I write as if I were drunk. It is a process of intuition… ![“I write as if I were drunk. It is a process of intuition rather than placing myself above my story like a puppeteer pulling strings. For me, it's a scary, chaotic process over which I have little control. Words demand other words, characters resist me.” quote by Elif Safak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/elif-safak-8931_above_i-write-as-if-i-were-drunk-it-is-a-proce_3214243.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/elif-safak-8931_above_i-write-as-if-i-were-drunk-it-is-a-proce_3214243.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd3/elif-safak-8931_above_i-write-as-if-i-were-drunk-it-is-a-proce_3214243.jpg) > “I write as if I were drunk. It is a process of intuition rather than placing myself above my story like a puppeteer pulling strings. For me, it's a scary, chaotic process over which I have little control. Words demand other words, characters resist me.” [Elif Safak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-safak/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She describes writing as an intuitive, chaotic act where control is limited and the text seems to guide itself. **In simple terms:** Writing feels like a wild, uncontrolled process. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty in creative work. Themes creativity intuition control chaos process Mood reflective introspective conflicted Type creative process philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - journalism - personal essays Key Concepts stream of consciousness authorial voice self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - How does loss of control affect your storytelling? - Can chaos become a tool for originality? A Different Perspective Some writers find structure more productive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characters/) [Control](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Drunk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drunk/) [Intuition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intuition/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Placing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/placing/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Puppeteer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/puppeteer/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Doing a life study while drunk and in the process of being seduced is never a formula for quality art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/doing-a-life-study-while-drunk-and-in-the-process-of-being-seduced-is/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [“English words made only from twenty-six characters? Are English a bit lazy or what? We have fifty thousand characters in Chinese.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaolu-guo/english-words-made-only-from-twenty-six-characters-are-english-a-bit/) [Xiaolu Guo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaolu-guo/) > [“Write drunk (on emotion); edit sober (on rationality and intention). Faulkner, reimagined by me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-cooke/write-drunk-on-emotion-edit-sober-on-rationality-and-intention/) Christina Cooke > [If a man can only write well when drunk, I'll tell him: get drunk. And if he tells me that his liver suffers with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/if-a-man-can-only-write-well-when-drunk-i-ll-tell-him-get-drunk-and/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [I have written much less than most people who write; I have drunk much more than most people who drink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-debord/i-have-written-much-less-than-most-people-who-write-i-have-drunk-much/) [Guy Debord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-debord/) > [Among the small number of things that I have liked and known how to do well, what I have assuredly known how to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-debord/among-the-small-number-of-things-that-i-have-liked-and-known-how-to/) [Guy Debord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-debord/) > [Sometimes I write drunk and revise sober, and sometimes I write sober and revise drunk. But you have to have both elements in creation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/sometimes-i-write-drunk-and-revise-sober-and-sometimes-i-write-sober/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Write drunk; edit sober.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/write-drunk-edit-sober/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You can't write drunk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/you-can-t-write-drunk/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [American nuclear reactors are well into middle age. 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For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-safak/with-the-forty-rules-of-love-i-wanted-to-write-a-love-story-but-i/) [Elif Safak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-safak/) > [Writing is a tribute to solitude. It is choosing introversion over extroversion, lonely hours/days/weeks/years over fun and sociability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-safak/writing-is-a-tribute-to-solitude-it-is-choosing-introversion-over/) [Elif Safak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-safak/) > [Submission does not mean being weak or passive. It leads to neither fatalism nor capitulation. Just the opposite. True power resides in submission. 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But it's also obvious that this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-safak/obviously-turkey-is-not-a-typical-authoritarian-regime-and-obviously/) [Elif Safak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-safak/) > [Feminists are now being vilified in politics, erdogan used to speak more embracingly, saying he was the leader of everyone, whether they voted for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-safak/feminists-are-now-being-vilified-in-politics-erdogan-used-to-speak/) [Elif Safak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-safak/) > [We're born into a certain family, nation, class. But if we have no connection whatsoever with the worlds beyond the one we take for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-safak/we-re-born-into-a-certain-family-nation-class-but-if-we-have-no/) [Elif Safak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-safak/) > [I write my novels in English first; then they are translated into Turkish by professional translators. Then I take their translation and rewrite. 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