I always see guides for overcoming writer's block, but never see any advice on how to come up with ideas for a story. At the most I'll have a cool visual or image floating in my head, but not enough to build a whole story around it. And I have even less luck if I want to write a particular genre like "murder mystery" or "something with ghosts in it".
What helps spark the imagination for storytelling?
Just keep jotting those ideas down in a notebook and in the dim hours of the night when you've turned off the computer and are laying in bed but still unable to sleep your mind will mash them together and bounce them off each other like dodgem cars and a narrative will start to form.
>>8476271
This pretty much
>>8476260
Pick up a newspaper or just go to a news site. Read some articles and they will help stir up ideas for stories. Go people watching in cities, malls, parks. Observe the oddities and mundane shit in the world.
See two people carrying a table. Is it because they're moving? Is the table haunted and cursed?
My problem is I tend to gain my inspiration at the oddest times and it's hard to excuse myself to start writing. My ideas flow everywhere, but my desk. It helps to carry a notepad or use a notepad feature on your phone.
>>8476307
You get the ideas first, then you write them down. Don't search for inspiration at your desk.
>>8476325
This is bad advice. Unless you're someone who never wants to write. Then it's good advice.
>>8476260
There is no such thing as writer's block
You are just a plebian, unimaginative fuck
>>8476260
Consume or at least consider works from your medium. What made them good? What didn't you like? What could they have done better? What did you think of the characters? What were they missing?
If you're writing a novel, read novels while you're stuck.