Sometimes you need story ideas. Sometimes you don't know how to get them. Here's a list of things you can do to try to get your brain moving!
1. Play The Sims
You can laugh all you want, but I once wrote a 500+ page novel based on characters I created in the Sims 3, and the slew of crazy shit that happened to those characters after I created them. The Sims is a great way to get your creative juices flowing--and the more expansion packs, the better.
The Sims allows you to make your own characters (or randomize, if you need help creating the characters, too), and in order to stay interested in the sandbox gameplay you're essentially forced to make up a story about said characters, in your head and sometimes in their bios. There are also dozens of worlds, thousands of trait combinations, and tons of character types to choose from and interact with, which can help you .
There are so many variables in the Sims (with expansion packs, at least) that it's almost impossible not to come away with at least enough inspiration for a short story premise.
I suggest using the Sims 3, but to each their own.
2. Read some one-shot fanfictions
Whatever fandoms you might be into, I pretty much guarantee that, somewhere on the internet, there will be at least one good one-shot. For inspirational purposes, I lean toward sadstuck, since there's a lot out there and a surprising amount of it is well-written (plus I'm a masochist and sad stories tend to resonate with me. And I write a lot of tragedy), but one-shots of all kinds can be rife with ideas (AUs, fluff, smut, friendfics, whatever gets your mind working overtime).
One of the best things about one-shots is that they not only deliver a concentrated punch of idea right to your brain (if you're lucky), they're also rarely longer than five or six thousand words, meaning they don't take up a lot of your time. Longer stories, fanfic and otherwise, are great for ideas, and provide excellent insight into how to execute story and character arcs, but they consume a lot more time and energy than the shorter version.
I also suggest fanfiction rather than short stories (though short stories are great and you should totally read as many of those as you can, too) for two reasons--one, you already know the characters, which makes it easier to immerse yourself in the story and quickens the pace of it (since you don't need to read through a description or question their personality or motives), and two, bad stories can be just as inspiring as good ones, and you're less likely to find published works that stink of amateurism. Have you ever been reading a really bad fic with a really good premise and gotten so angry that you decided to write the same basic fic only a mILLION TIMES BETTER?????? Yeah, that's why fanfic.
3. Watch cartoons
Cartoons are great for the same reason one-shots are great, only usually less weighted down by those pesky laws of reality--I mean, Adventure Time has KNIFE STORMS. When was the last time you read about a world with knife storms? Never? I thought so.
Sometimes the best thing for a writer is to just let go of all sense of reality, especially if you write sci-fi or fantasy, wherein anything can happen. Cartoons are also good if you're trying to write family-friendly content, or if you need help writing child characters (or from the perspective of a child). It can also be great for developing mythologies. Imagine Adventure Time as a pantheon: Princess Bubblegum, creator of all Gods (through science, of course); Finn the Adventurer, God of travel and battle; Jake, Lord of Reality Manipulation; Marcelline, Queen of the underworld. That would be pretty dope, right?
4. Go for a walk
Exercise stimulates brain activity; it can help you retain information, recall information, and develop new ideas. I suggest listening to music while you go out (that's how I get into the zone), but some people do find it distracting, or find that they gain more inspiration from the sounds of nature than from the rhythm of music. Either way, it's also good to get away from all the distractions provided to you by the cozy insides of your teched-up, probably loud house. Plus, you never know what you may encounter on your walk--maybe you'll see a skunk making friends with a bird, or some kids scaling up the side of a house, or witness the encroaching Singularity from a safe distance, any of which could be put to use on paper.
5. Take a nap
I really really really truly do advocate that you try the radical curative powers of some good old fashioned nap. It can refresh your mind and body, restore you to stress-point-zero, and you never know what you'll dream of while you're out. Dreams can be quite the source of inspiration, I am told.
I've also has some of my best ideas while perched upon that precipice between waking and sleeping, so make sure to take your notebook with you!
Are there any other methods you use to stir up inspiration or capture ideas? I'd love to hear them!
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