Writing Alcoholic Characters

valdesi · May 27, 2019

I am interested in writing a story. One of the main characters will be an alcoholic. He isn't a happy drunk, but neither is he actively trying to end his alcohol addiction. Think of Peter O'Toole's character in "My Favorite Year," or Billy Bob Thornton in "Bad Santa." (I realize that these two characters aren't similar in personality; Thornton's character being a more nasty, acerbic drunk).

I have the fortune of being a non-alcoholic. However, in order to dive into my character's psyche, I would love to research the disorder in depth to really get to "know" my character personally. Are there any non-fiction books, novels, documentaries, or movies that you would recommend to give some insight into the alcoholic's perspective. I read "A Million Little Pieces" years ago. But I want an older, mature alcoholic; rather than a 23-year old.

Thank you so much.

Margrave86 · May 27, 2019

As with depression, people like to mischaracterize alcoholism as some kind of mental disease.

It's not.

Alcoholics have some kind of deep-seated existential fears or worries they want to forget about. Maybe they want to avoid feeling guilt for something bad they did; maybe they realize life is inherently meaningless and nothing they do will matter; maybe they're trying to squash homsexual tendancies in a society that's not accepting of homosexuality; maybe they realize their own mortality and the fact they're going to die without accomplishing anything; maybe they're worried they will be seen as an economic failure because they were laid off. Whatever existential crisis they're dealing with will be the root of their alcoholism. Alcohol becomes their way of shutting out the nagging voices of doubt.

AW Admin · May 27, 2019

This really isn't a Basic Writing Question. I'm going to find a better home for the thread.

ap123 · May 27, 2019

Margrave86 said:
As with depression, people like to mischaracterize alcoholism as some kind of mental disease.

It's not.

Alcoholics have some kind of deep-seated existential fears or worries they want to forget about. Maybe they want to avoid feeling guilt for something bad they did; maybe they realize life is inherently meaningless and nothing they do will matter; maybe they're trying to squash homsexual tendancies in a society that's not accepting of homosexuality; maybe they realize their own mortality and the fact they're going to die without accomplishing anything; maybe they're worried they will be seen as an economic failure because they were laid off. Whatever existential crisis they're dealing with will be the root of their alcoholism. Alcohol becomes their way of shutting out the nagging voices of doubt.

This...is very reductive, and I'll be honest, something in the tone makes me very uncomfortable.

valdesi said:
I am interested in writing a story. One of the main characters will be an alcoholic. He isn't a happy drunk, but neither is he actively trying to end his alcohol addiction. Think of Peter O'Toole's character in "My Favorite Year," or Billy Bob Thornton in "Bad Santa." (I realize that these two characters aren't similar in personality; Thornton's character being a more nasty, acerbic drunk).

I have the fortune of being a non-alcoholic. However, in order to dive into my character's psyche, I would love to research the disorder in depth to really get to "know" my character personally. Are there any non-fiction books, novels, documentaries, or movies that you would recommend to give some insight into the alcoholic's perspective. I read "A Million Little Pieces" years ago. But I want an older, mature alcoholic; rather than a 23-year old.

Thank you so much.

I wrote a mss a few years back where the protagonist is an alcoholic. While there are certain aspects that will be shared, every person is different, and within the realm of alcoholics, you run the spectrum from people who are fairly functional, holding jobs/careers and living with family to people who are homeless and don't have any friends/family, the key, imo, is remembering this needs to be a fully fleshed character.

A few books:

Dry, by Augusten Burroughs

Wishful Drinking: Carrie Fisher

Drink: Ann Dowsettt Johnston (sp?)

Drinking: A Love Story: Carol Ann Knapp

Good luck!

Kylabelle · May 27, 2019

I know you ask for non fiction recommendations, but, having lived with alcoholics and worked for them, I highly recommend the novel Unknown Man # 89 by Elmore Leonard as a crystal-true depiction of the addiction. It's not a long read but it captures much and conveys it very well.

Chris P · May 27, 2019

Recovery memoirs are almost a genre unto themselves, and you can find oodles of examples, most of them much less sensationalized and more authentic than A Million Little Pieces (which as come under fire for its questionable truthiness). If you're willing to dig, many are self-published and available for (legally) free.

One great resource for a non-technical, ordinary folks perspective is the book Alcoholics Anonymous, about three-quarters of which is personal stories. You won't find a very scholarly or medical analysis of the issue (one of the main criticisms of the book), however. Some of the stories go back to the 1930s and are laughably dated in the language, but are accurate as far as what these people experienced. The more recent stories are from the 1990s.

ETA: This list has some very interesting offerings: https://ew.com/books/addiction-recovery-memoirs/

neandermagnon · May 27, 2019

Another fictional example, but Stephen King recovered from alcoholism and the main character in his book Doctor Sleep is an alcoholic who kicks the booze a short way into the book (no more details because spoilers). Given that he wrote the character from knowledge of what it's like to go through alcoholism, it's a good one for your research. I'm sure there are other books of his that deal with alcoholism, but this is the main one that springs to mind. It's the sequel to The Shining and the main character is the little boy from The Shining. The main character in The Shining is also an alcoholic but I can't remember if that was written before, during or after King was dealing with alcoholism and it's ages since I read it so I can't remember all the details but it came across as very realistic.

Margrave86 · May 27, 2019

ap123 said:
This...is very reductive, and I'll be honest, something in the tone makes me very uncomfortable.

I'd argue that the field of psychiatry is far more reductive and uncomfortable in its implications, but in the interests of both keeping this thread on topic and respecting my fellow writers, I'll end this discussion here.

soulrodeo · May 27, 2019

Both my parents died from alcoholism in their 40s (liver failure) when I was in my 20s, and the years leading to it were as traumatic and horrific as you can imagine. If you have any questions for what it’s like to live with that, feel free to PM me.

Writing Alcoholic Characters

valdesi

Margrave86

AW Admin

ap123

Twitching

Kylabelle

unaccounted for

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred

neandermagnon

Nolite timere, consilium callidum habeo!

Margrave86

soulrodeo