One day in the fall of 1971

[Old Medic]

One day in the fall of 1971, I was tripping on acid, at a point in the trip past the intense peak -- when I was still very high, but definitely starting to come down. I wandered into the kitchen and, for want of anything else to do, sat down at the table. On the table was the manuscript of a book of short stories that I was writing. The manuscript was ready for a final read-through before being sent to the publisher. Somewhat aimlessly, I began to read the book. Although the first stories that I had written had been done while sober, I had made a point of writing roughly the last half of the book while high on grass. I don't think I initially intended to edit the book while on acid, but I rapidly realized that I wasn't too high to do a proper job, and I got into the work.



As I was reading the stories, I began to experience mental images of the characters acting out the dialogue scenes. The figures were small, perhaps six inches tall, superimposed on my field of vision perception. At first they spoke the words I had already written for them, but instead of the one voice of my own thoughts, they each began to have a distinct voice, with its own clearly modulated and accented tones, rhythm and cadence, and so forth. Next they started to say things that were not in the manuscript. Just as actors working with a script might do, the mental images of the characters corrected their lines, saying things that were more natural for them to say, that flowed better from their lips, and so forth. I copied down the new dialogue on my manuscript, as it was spoken by the characters in my imagination. This experience of the characters "coming alive" went on for a couple of hours, as I read through and edited perhaps 70 or 80 percent of the book. In a couple of instances, the vividness of the characters led me to re-write the plots, as I became aware that it was out of character for a given character to do what I had written for him or her. The next day, after the trip had ended, the changes that I made in the manuscript while on acid all seemed to me to be improvements; and so Around and About Sally's Shack went to press with the final editing having been done on LSD.

     

I have since run across four or five instances of other writers having the experience of characters "coming alive" in a similar way, due to the vividness and intensity of the creative inspirations. The only time that I have experienced it I was on acid. For over a quarter century, I have used psychedelics only sparingly, and almost always for one of two reasons: either to seek a religious experience that will provide me with divine guidance in my life, or to seek a solution to a problem of literary creativity. While high, I will often spend some time having an intense experience of aesthetic appreciation, enjoying the creative work of others, but the major goals of my use of the sacraments are never merely recreational.

[Renee]

I'll bet that even today each and everyone of those characters occupy a very special place in your head.

[Anonymous]

What does "tripping" on acid mean?



Does that mean smoking illegal drugs?

[Romero]

"Tripping on acid" means hallucinating or having a psychedelic experience after taking it. It isn't smoked and is usually taken orally.



That isn't Old Medic's story. It's from something he found on the internet.

[Anonymous]

"Tripping on acid" means hallucinating or having a psychedelic experience after taking it. It isn't smoked and is usually taken orally.

I see, it's a pill then?

[Romero]

The synthetic chemical is added to a small piece of paper which would be absorbed in the mouth and/or sometimes swallowed.

[Anonymous]

The synthetic chemical is added to a small piece of paper which would be absorbed in the mouth and/or sometimes swallowed.

That seems yucky.

 :o

[Romero]

It's tasteless. Just a tiny piece of paper.

[Anonymous]

It's tasteless. Just a tiny piece of paper.

Is it addictive?

[Romero]

It's not addictive like many other drugs, but some users can become sort of addicted to its effects.