KEROUAC’S SPONTANEOUS PROSE.

KEROUAC’S SPONTANEOUS PROSE. Kerouac believed in what he called “Spontaneous Prose.” This wikipedia article contains a list he made of 30 essentials for his Spontaneous Prose method. Some of them were: ” 8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind”; “13.Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition”; and “28.Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better.” Kerouac was very proud of how fast he could type. He wrote ON THE ROAD in only three weeks on a long scroll. Was it all spontaneous writing? The original of the scroll in the New York Library Exhibit shows that Kerouac did make minor corrections on the scroll and it appears that some sections were based on earlier drafts. However, Kerouac considered the scroll to be a seamless whole. When a publisher told him that the book could not be edited unless it was on regular sheets of paper, Kerouac retyped it rather than simply cut up the scroll. Despite Kerouac’s reluctance, the publisher made extensive edits before publication.