Althoughbecame well-known for the informality
of his style and an apparently loose structure, including elements of stream of consciousness,
he was a highly self-conscious craftsman who consulted earlier writers recommendations on
writing. He strongly prescribed particular approaches to writing, which include his staunch
advocacy for passion and against structure.
In 1958, Kerouac published an
essay outlining these tenets entitled Essentials of Spontaneous Prose. The essay contains
brief sections on such things as procedure, method, timing, and structure. In one notable
section on mental state, he cites William Butler Yeatss idea of trance writing and
encourages the writer to operate from a semi-trance. Writing quickly and excitedly without
censoring oneself will allow the subconscious to admit in own uninhibited interesting
necessary and so €˜modern language. Another point he emphasizes is beginning from the center
of interest, which is an image that engages one at that particular moment, rather than planning
ahead from an idea one already had. From this center, he instructs the author to write
outwards swimming in sea of language until they are exhausted.
Many readers
find that Kerouacsdoes embody these principles. The immediacy of action and the combination of
intense but temporary focus with an openness to the events unfolding around the narrator are
evident throughout . The novel is very loosely plotted, as each action
seems rarely to influence those that follow, conveying the impression that the author has merely
recorded what was happening. Kerouac famously typed on a roll of paper, rather than sheets, so
that he could not pull out a page that displeased him.
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