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How did Jack Kerouac develop his sketching technique in Visions of Cody?

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Portrait of Jack Kerouac, American novelist and poet, looking over his shoulder in a collared shirt, circa 1965. — Jack Kerouac American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac, c. 1965.

Jack Kerouac developed his "sketching" technique in Visions of Cody by following a suggestion from his friend Ed White to write "like a painter, but with words". Seeking to refine the spontaneous prose style he had previously utilized in On the Road, Kerouac combined that method with a focus on visual possibilities in language.1

This approach allowed him to capture the essence of his subjects through a more poetic lens. Visions of Cody, which describes a buddy trip and incorporates transcripts of conversations with Neal Cassady (fictionalized as Cody), is considered the most successful realization of this technique. By treating his writing as a form of visual art, Kerouac aimed to move beyond traditional narrative structures to create vivid, immediate impressions of his experiences.1