How Lee Child Uses Cannabis For The Creative Process – Cannabis News, Lifestyle

Lee Child is the bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series. The books follow an ex-military cop who hitchhikes across America and accidentally stumbles upon small-town criminal groups or larger conspiracies. Sometimes it’s so easy to save an old man from a pickpocket attempt, which leads to something more extravagant. Cannabis connoisseurs may be interested in how Lee Child uses cannabis in the creative process.

The source material is Andy Martin’s 2015 book Reacher Said Nothing: Lee Child and the Making of Make Me. Reacher Said Nothing is a rare work. Never before has an author allowed another writer to sit and watch him type a book. That alone is worth reading, especially if you’re the creative type or interested in how creative stuff is done.

How Lee Child uses cannabis for the creative process

“He took out his pipe,” writes Martin, “filled it with unadulterated marijuana from a pouch and puffed thoughtfully. “It’s just a maintenance dose,” he said. “A charge.”

Lee Child’s latest Jack Reacher novel is almost done, but he hasn’t used an outline yet. Don’t know how the story will continue when he starts writing. He doesn’t even know how it will end. This is partly why Lee Child uses cannabis for the creative process.

Since the Jack Reacher series is a mystery thriller, Lee wants the revelation to be as startling as any. He wants to work on the clues with Reacher. But that often means working his way into the corner.

As Martin shows in his book, Lee Child works scene by scene. He never continues with the story until everything is perfect. Until what he wrote for the day is rewritten and ready for publication. The advantage of this style is that it is finished when it writes the last scene. There is no second or third draft. The downside is that if you get stuck anywhere, you’re really stuck.

“I spend hours here with just a few lines,” Lee complains to Martin. Hence “the maintenance dose”. As Martin writes: “[Lee] had this theory about how it [cannabis] helped him “make connections.” He used to smoke one in the evening, now he sometimes drinks during the day as well.”

While in Madrid emphasizing the novel’s progress, Lee Child tells Martin, “I’m going to have to smoke a hell of a lot of weed when I get back to New York. That will help.”

How Jack Reacher is made

When Lee Child isn’t using cannabis for the creative process, when he’s not typing on his computer, he’s lying on his couch thinking things through. Lee does not smoke cannabis while writing. He says elsewhere that it slows him down. But it’s clear if you read between the lines that he smokes at night and makes those connections.

And as a co-writer (though far less successful) I can relate to that. You write a lot during the day. Later that evening you smoke a little and reconsider what you wrote. And it’s like a fresh pair of eyes. You notice all the little details. The voice. Or lack of. Reading Martin’s book, one can assume that Lee Child uses cannabis for the creative process by editing at night.

Andy Martin’s book on writing a novel fills a niche. The subject itself, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books, are mainstream paperbacks. Two Jack Reacher books are movies (starring Tom Cruise, who is too small to be the real Jack Reacher). And the first book was recently adapted into an Amazon series starring Alan Ritchson, with Season 2 already confirmed.

Jack Reacher: friend of cannabis

Alan Ritchson plays Jack Reacher

The Jacker Reacher series is ideal for readers who enjoy using cannabis. They’re fast-paced mystery thrillers that are easy to read, even after you’ve downed a joint or two. The audio books are great and easy to follow even when stoned. (I recommend Dick Hill for the third-person books and Jeff Harding for the first-person books and to avoid Scott Brick’s narration altogether).

Not only is Lee Child a suburban author, creator of the coolest person in crime fiction – Jack Reacher – he’s also a cannabis ally. He says cannabis kept him from becoming an alcoholic. Martin quotes him as saying, “I don’t think weed should be legalized… It should be mandatory!”

If you haven’t read a Jack Reacher novel, you’re missing out on hours of entertainment from another cannabis connoisseur.