Writing Rules: Jack Kerouac’s Rules for Spontaneous Prose

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Joseph Rubino / Monday, October 31, 2011 View Comments

This will be the first in a series of maddeningly good authors giving advice on writing. Enjoy.

1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy

2. Submissive to everything, open, listening

3. Try never get drunk outside yr own house

4. Be in love with yr life

5. Something that you feel will find its own form

6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind

7. Blow as deep as you want to blow

8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind

9. The unspeakable visions of the individual

10. No time for poetry but exactly what is

11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest

12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you

13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition

14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time

15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog

16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye

17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself

18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea

19. Accept loss forever

20. Believe in the holy contour of life

21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind

22. Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better

23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning

24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge

25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it

26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form

27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness

28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better

29. You’re a Genius all the time

30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

More: Writing

Tags: Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac, rules, writing rules

http://lifestyle.eprofitsmaster.net/pippas-party-tips-new-nook-next-week/ Pippa’s Party Tips; New Nook Next Week? | Life Style

[...] If you believe the late Jack Kerouac, there are 30 keys to writing spontaneous prose. The trouble is, the majority of the rules, like number 26 “Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form” don’t make a whole lot of sense. But rule number three is a pip: “Try never get drunk outside yr own house.” [Lit Drift] [...]
http://www.blackwomenandmoney.com/advice-columns-by-famous-authors-wed-love-to-read/ Advice Columns By Famous Authors We’d Love to Read | Black Women And Money

[...] we’d actually like to take practical life advice from the All-American hobo, we do adore his “Rules for Spontaneous Prose,” which basically amount to “make brave art” and “live life to the crazy-fullest.” What [...]
http://www.lostateminor.com/2012/05/18/jack-kerouacs-rules-for-life/ Jack Kerouac’s Rules For Life — Lost At E Minor: For creative people

[...] in the dignity of yr experience, language and knowledge’, you can’t blame us for taking Kerouac’s words as rules for life. [Read on for the 30 Rules][via LitDrift]1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild [...]
http://coolthingsing.com/architecture/jack-kerouacs-rules-for-life/ Jack Kerouac’s Rules For Life | the cool thing sing

[...] in the dignity of yr experience, language and knowledge’, you can’t blame us for taking Kerouac’s words as rules for life. [Read on for the 30 [...]
http://juliekesti.com/2012/06/a-list-of-confessions-to-your-imaginary-accusations/ a list of confessions to your (imaginary) accusations* » julie kesti – art-by-mail and love notes from shanghai! – juliekesti.com

[...] Some of the list, you’ll notice, are things I can only help so much–because of where I’m from in place and time, though I make an effort to be aware of my starting point. Ultimately I try to cut myself some slack, let the worries go and remind myself my aim is towards something like this. [...]
http://www.vanseodesign.com/blogging/draft-writing/ Thoughts On Writing A Draft For A Blog Post | Van SEO Design

[...] Everything up to this point in the process has been about getting to know the room. The notes and research were about seeing the colors and hearing the sounds. It was preparation for spontaneous prose. [...]
http://davidwallacefleming.com/2012/07/24/ten-great-writers-on-fiction-writing/ Ten Great Writers on Fiction Writing | David Wallace Fleming – Author

[...] 2. Jack Keruac’s Rules for Spontaneous Prose [...]
http://thedovekeeper.com/2012/08/27/other-stories/ Other Stories | The Dove Keeper

[...] lot of this style was inspired by Jack Kerouac and his work. I remember when I first discovered his rules for spontaneous prose and being completed elated. Most people are when they find him, especially young university-bound [...]
http://stephanienikolopoulos.com/2012/10/17/overarching-writing-tip-from-big-sur-writers-dont-censor-your-first-draft/ Overarching Writing Tip from Big Sur Writers: Don’t Censor Your First Draft « Stephanie Nikolopoulos

[...] probably a fan of the Beat Generation, which means you’ve probably read Jack Kerouac’s Rules for Spontaneous Prose. In a recent fit of procrastination, I stumbled upon Henry Miller’s Commandments while browsing [...]
http://monkeymoonmachine.com/2012/10/21/more-boring-than-silence-a-runny-nose-manifesto/ More boring than silence: A runny-nose manifesto | MonkeyMoonMachine

[...] to the stylized, formalized, familiar text. While I feel hospitable to Kerouac’s idea of spontaneous prose being valuable, I don’t know that I’d assert the merit of the spontaneously [...]
http://thelondonsalon.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/on-the-road/ On the Road | The London Salon

[...] that began with Miles Davis. Its Hemingwayan writing style, which Kerouac himself called ‘spontaneous prose‘, fits the story, where experiences flow from one into another without clear distinctions. [...]
http://pleasekillme.com/jack-kerouacs-essentials-for-spontaneous-prose/ JACK KEROUAC’S ESSENTIALS FOR SPONTANEOUS PROSE | PleaseKillMe®

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