Earnest Hemmingway said this, and was quoted. Not that anyone was, or should be, surprised by it as Hemmingway was notorious for his drinking.
So, why do you suppose he actually said it as if he meant it, when he knew it could be quoted? Did he actually mean it? Was he really advocating writers should drink themselves into inebriation before they begin writing? If so, why?
I think the obvious answer is because inebriation causes the lowering of our mental and emotional protection measures. It loosens our inhibitions and releases more of the actual truth about what we really think and feel about nearly any given subject.
Unfortunately, it also perches us precariously on the precipice of drunken mood swings to allow our uncontrolled motor-mouth to rush off into unintended and definitely ill-advised rants. On the plus side, Hemmingway does also advocate editing when sober. This would allow us to remove or revise those unfortunate rants.
The point here, I think, is to dig down, below the surface thoughts and observations we have. The truth about how we feel is there, but often disguised under flooring of all the “PC” niceties society tells us we must have in order to get along, and to avoid offending others.
Let’s face it. In today’s world there are so many self-interest groups, so many points of view spread so liberally throughout electronic media and instant, world-wide communications, that whatever you might say or write is going to offend someone. Offending others is unavoidable. It is going to happen, and with regularity.
What Hemmingway is telling us is to dig down to the truth about how you feel about the subject at hand. This is your personal truth, and you need to know it, to acknowledge it, if you are going to know who you are and what you stand for. And if you want to share how you feel with others through your writing, accept that you are going to offend someone.
There is no need to be cruel or vulgar in offending others. Those things are choices. Being “politically correct” does not necessarily mean you have to omit or lie about how you feel and what you think. It just means you should try to be nice about it. If you can’t be nice, then be truthful without apology and without intentionally being mean.
In a nutshell, I interpret “write drunk” to mean digging down to the truth of my personal thoughts and feelings. I interpret “edit sober” to mean attempting to remove any deliberate cruelty or meanness and focusing on the truth in as socially-acceptable manner as possible without being dishonest.