Writing Under the Influence

I'm reading On The Road, by Kerouac. I've wanted to read this for awhile now--mostly because it's so highly regarded, but also because everything that I know about Kerouac points to the fact that he's my kind of writer. Now, I must admit that my knowledge is limited at this point, but the fact that he draws on his own life and experiences for the majority of his work really sucks me in.


According to the book's intro, Kerouac struggled with his writing for several years--trying more than a few different versions of the book--before settling on a draft he was happy with. His fictional counterpart, however didn't have any evidences or that struggle. I wonder if he just had enough perspective afterwards to realize that it's part of the process. Then again, he didn't mention his personal drug use beyond "tea" (marijuana) when (rumor has it) he ultimately typed the book's first draft in a three week, benezedrine-fueled fury. But hey, that's apparently just part of the process too. (A note, gentle reader: yr. corresp. promises only to write under the influences of red wine and/or emotion, and to edit and post afterwards, while sober)


It's cathartic to get everything out at once, and be able to rearrange the non-linear mess of human experience into something more reasoned and logical. When you discover that your parents are getting divorced, you don't think of it as part of your character development or any kind of symbolism about your fractured persona, but it helps to get all of that out on paper and get a simpler, two-dimensional perspective on things, instead of continuing to spin in a three-dimensional cloud of fists and debris. That's why I write.