Can inspiration be taught? Students, especially those who are less experienced writers, often believe that they cannot write if they are not inspired, and that they somehow must wait to be so. It is as though inspiration is passive and external to them, something that will strike them, alter their mood, spark their imagination, and generate energy for them to write, so that they can then stare down the blank page and get started—and finished as well.

But this kind of passivity often runs counter to the writing process itself, which allows us to actively create anew at any given moment. This is a lesson that I learned many years ago from Marie Ponsot, a teacher, poet and rhetorician; it is one that I have incorporated into every class I have encountered.

After many years of teaching English 110: College Writing - i.e., “freshman comp” - I have come to believe that yes, inspiration can be taught. Essentially, what we can teach is a set of skills and techniques that students can use over and over and which will allow them to feel inspired because they will see that they are getting somewhere; that they can write with ease and be productive in putting words to paper and forming ideas. This is especially true of free writing, the technique of writing non-stop whatever comes to mind.

When students realize they can jump into a subject through free writing, they are thrilled to find that they have plenty to say. By writing, they find out what they think, as well as the point they want to make. Of course they will need to develop and revise. But they can write and rewrite and realize that they, themselves, are an infinite source of words and ideas, both independently and in response to the material with which they are working. Use free writing, get started, get going, don’t stop. The words will come. Inspiration is ultimately a function of practice. We can generate our own inspiration.