: Re: What do you do if you enjoy writing, but have no ideas? I've done some writing in the past - mostly short descriptive pieces, although I once wrote 9000+ words of a story idea I had. What

But coming up with the idea in the first place was just a happy accident.

You are far from alone. Every time I've sat down and said to myself "Okay, think of an idea for a new story," I inevitably sit there for an hour then give up with a blank page. People (or at least I) just don't work that way.

So what I've done is find a way to make coming up with ideas routine. I've found that by decoupling the "think of an idea" from "and write a story about it", both parts become easier. When there is no pressure for your idea to be anything but a brief what-if, you allow yourself to be much more creative.

I do this by setting myself a goal of roughly 3-4 ideas per week. I will sit down, open up a blank document and a few specific websites. I'll open up Google News and Reddit Random and maybe a few other things, and just write down single words that jump off the page at me, with no particular goal in mind. When I get 5-10 words, I'll open up Flicker Explore and look for 3-5 pictures that grab me. Without fail, every single time, when I smash the words against the pictures, I'll get a small what-if nugget of an idea that falls out. I write 250-500 words on the subject, then file it away in a big directory with all the others, then promptly forget about it.

When the day comes that I say to myself I'd like to write a new story, I don't have to stare out the window anymore hoping for inspiration. Instead, I open up the directory that is chock full of dozens/hundreds of ideas I've already had (this is the important part!) and pick one, or two, or a handful. On their own maybe they aren't very good, but with time, a fresh perspective, and in aggregate, I always find something to inspire a new, full, story.

Hope that helps! Just remember that you aren't lacking for ideas, you're just looking for them at the wrong time & place.

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: Re: What do you do if you enjoy writing, but have no ideas? I've done some writing in the past - mostly short descriptive pieces, although I once wrote 9000+ words of a story idea I had. What

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: I would choose the first option over the second. That said, @Stephen has a point. If you include the "s" as he suggests, you will put the verb in present tense, if you leave off the "s",

: Does writing in a certain mood change how a writer writes? I'm not sure if this is right for this part of Stackexchange, but since there is no psychology section, here we go: I'm currently

: When developing a stage play, whose gender matters more? The characters' or the actors'? When striving for gender balance in a play: What is more important, balance among the characters or among

: Looking for writer's platform I'm looking for a platform (web app, saas application) to manage writers and articles for a large blog. I'm looking for the following features: I enter topics,

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