Chemicals

I did some research before I started NaNoWriMo.  Not too much, just enough to get the general idea of how it works and a glimpse of what I could expect.  I bought the book, "No Plot? No Problem!"  I explored the website a little.  It looked like zany fun.

One feature that caught my eye was that the veterans were giving me license to drink all the coffee and booze I want to as noveling fuel.  I love coffee (and hard liquor [and good beer]) so I was kind of excited to experiment with potentially performance enhancing chemicals.

I know myself though.  I know that in fact I have a low threshold for where caffein or alcohol go from help to hindrance.  I thought that really I'd just up my chocolate/Nutella intake and that those would be the real fuel for my novel (my novel's working title is "Chocolate Kick")

I knew I wouldn't go nuts with chemicals but I did try to push my normal limits.  It turns out that extra chemicals haven't been helpful at all.

It turns out that when I drink more coffee than usual I get spazzier than usual.  I drop things and bump into things and send small objects (like cutlery, writing implements, cell phones, Fay) flying across the room.  If there is any mental benefit - and I don't know that there is - the physical inconveniences outweigh it.

When I tried getting drunk and writing, well, first of all I didn't get drunk.  I guess my heart wasn't in it.  I just got tipsy.  More importantly I couldn't think of words.  I knew what I wanted to say but the words hid in my mind and refused to present themselves.  Definitely an impediment.

As for chocolate, I did eat a lot of Nutella the first week.  I also crashed a lot.  (Nutella is not chocolate.  I know that.  I have an excellent chocolate shop near me.  I haven't had time to go there yet.  I think I can go sometime this upcoming week and then I can test out real chocolate.)  Crashing isn't helpful either.

I think the bottom line is I'm better off if I just stick to my normal eating and drinking habits.  So boring.  Eat right, exercise regularly, don't overindulge.  YAAAAAAWWWWWN!

It's so dull to be mild-mannered.  And yet that's what I am and that's what seems to work for me.  So frustrating.  Life can be so disappointing sometimes.

So I have been experimenting.  I love to experiment because I live for the unexpected and I have such high hopes of encountering exciting new things.  Instead I've been confirming conventional wisdom.  Oh well.