Writing Tip: Your Short Story Train is Idling at “Inspiration Station”!
For those of you staring at your computer screens, watching the cursor disappear and reappear, waiting, hoping for some sudden bright idea to fuel your next great story –
Blink. Shake your head. Refocus.
Contrary to popular belief, writing isn’t all flashes of genius inspiration and twenty-page writing binges. Sometimes, you have to force the words from your brain – sometimes daily. But eventually, once a rhythm is established, it will become easier and easier to write as often as you want. It will become natural, a habit.
If you ever need a little prompting, there are plenty of books out there with ideas galore waiting between the flyleaves. However, if you’d rather not shell out $20 for a book that, frankly, may well sit on your writing desk collecting dust balls, I suggest you visit one of many writing prompts websites out there. These websites give you topics upon topics to write about and they’re completely at your disposal, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
No excuses.
Two good ones are:
http://writingfix.com/classroom_tools/dailypromptgenerator.htm, which, if you wish, sends you six new prompts via email every Sunday, and
http://creativewritingprompts.com/# – prompt 100 is a true testament to “persistence in practice” 🙂
Bottom line of my lunacy: if you want to write, you can’t wait for it to happen to you. You have to pursue your writerliness. Many small writing projects are great novels in progress.
But it has to start somewhere.
Sanskrit Literary-Arts Magazine 
I live down the street from inspiration station. They throw some crazy-ass parties, but never invite me :C