Hi, I'm a famous author. 22 years in the business as a pro, 13 novels, 6 NY Times bestsellers, published in 20+ countries. Yes, you need to learn to write, and NOT indulge your personality "defects". Yes, there were a ton of alcoholic writers, most of whom self-destructed. The last part, kind of important. Also, the easier part.
When I was coming up, my contemporaries often told me, "You just need to go to the beach, smoke some weed, and think, man." Those people are not writing professionally now. Others said, "You have to publish it yourself, you can't let obtrusive editors put their grubby hands on you stuff." Those people are not writing for a living, either.
Everyone is romanced by the stories of eccentricity of the writer, the self-destruction, and I indulged some of those notions in my 20s -- walked to the edge, then crawled back away from it and started finishing books and selling them.
Indulging the romance of "being a writer" can be great fun until it's not, but it doesn't get the work done, and while you may be smart enough to write well under diminished capacity, I'm not. Never was. I mean, at the time, I thought I was writing brilliantly, then I'd sober up and read the crap I'd written the night before.
I think it's healthier and more productive, perhaps, to PLAY at being the eccentric, pretending, staring out over the moors with your jaws clenched, contemplating grand romantic gestures, then go inside, sit down by yourself, and start putting down words and sentences. PLAY at being eccentric, WORK at being a writer. You want to READ Hunter Thompson and Charles Bukowski, you don't want to BE Hunter and Buk. That will make you very unhappy and very dead.
None of those writers you cited would be famous for their flaws alone, they are famous for their writing, and it's extraordinary that they were able to write well in spite of their flaws. You are not that good. At least I'm not. Your mileage may vary.
