I came across this billboard beer advertisement a few weeks ago: “Mientras escribes tu destino, tienes la otra mano libre.” Loosely translated (very loosely) it means, “While you’re writing your destiny, you have another hand free.” (Forgetting, I suppose, that many people type these days and use both hands, but whatever.) I don’t think it’s encouraging writers to become alcoholics, but I had to admit I thought of Ernest Hemingway, and I think he would’ve chuckled. (Did Hemingway chuckle? Or did he brood? Or something else entirely? I can’t imagine him sprinting through fields of daisies with his arms thrown out in glee, but I don’t know enough about him to guess about chuckling.)
But the billboard has made me think a little. One’s brain is not always focused on writing. It does other things. And what if you’re waiting for feedback on a manuscript from brilliant writer friends? Do you start a new manuscript? Or do you let your brain revel in those other things? Or do you just drink yourself into a stupor? That last one isn’t such an option while pregnant, so I’m reading, playing with Z, and thinking about what I might write next.
Besides, it’s too cold for beer anyway. I’ll save it for May, after the baby comes.
Beth Hull 
The mental image of Hemingway sprinting through fields of daisies made me laugh out loud. 😀
Glad I could make you laugh, Maggie! For some reason, imagining him doing undignified things makes me laugh, too.
A drink in the other hand is more socially acceptable today than a cigarette (or a hundred of them), which is bad for baby, too.
At the same time, I prefer something milder when I’m writing. A cup of coffee will suffice.
Sean, I prefer something milder, too. The danger with hot beverages, when I’m on a roll, is that I forget about them. Nothing worse than tepid tea or coffee. Then again, if I’m stuck, tea/coffee is the perfect excuse to sit back & sip.
I say write write write! Get out whatever is mulling around in your head, regardless of where you’re at with a manuscript or a submission of any other kind. Write with one hand, both hands, a pen, a computer, a pencil, whatever. Write! And my thought on Hemingway is that if he did chuckle, then it was probably a sinister sounding chuckle – I’m not hearing a “delightful” chuckle from that guy 🙂