Popular 'Mechanics'

Forget the Karsh photographic image of Tennessee Williams in moody black and white--- cigarette curling smoke upwards, the whole portrait implying a concentration of deep thoughts. Forget also famous 'Potheads' like Willie Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, Steven King (surprise!) and 'Great Alcoholics' ( Poe , Hemingway, Dorothy Parker). Were these substances/ 'mechanical' aids really necessary for good writing?

Better ones would be 8 hours of sleep (so the brain can regenerate), a good diet (to fuel those 'neuro blasts'), plenty of fresh air (to wipe the cobwebs away) , exercise (if the body 's healthy so is the mind and spirit) and lastly a positive, curious, and imaginative outlook on life. Satisfying relationships certainly can't hurt the creative process either. (Is it really necesssary to be a starving artist, full of angst and recrimination?)

Do what your mother told you to do in your early years and you'll probably never be dogged by 'blank page syndrome'.