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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/8360
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Javeer, I strongly commend you for having published so much already, and for having such a strong desire to write more. But having worked with literally hundreds of new writers, I have often seen the problem you are experiencing, and it very often means something very important, and I'm afraid it's something you might not want to hear. But you should listen to this.

People who have something to write about, write stories. People who don't have something to write about, don't. If you want to write, but you can't "come up with" something to write about, you need to ask yourself _why_ you want to write. Is it because writing is cool? It is because you want to be famous? Is it because you think writers make a lot of money? Is it because you just wish you could escape your stressful life and writing seems like fun? If it's anything like any of those reasons, forget it. You're not a writer. If you have something to write about, and you write stories _because you HAVE to_, THEN you're a writer. But if you have to struggle and strain just to figure out what you could possibly write about, then you really need to ask yourself why you want to write. It would be like saying you want to build a dog house for your dog, but actually you don't own a dog, and, well, you're allergic to dogs anyway.

Real writers are always being asked where they get their ideas, but real writers don't even understand the question. Why don't they understand? Because real writers don't get their ideas from anywhere. Their ideas _are always there_. Their ideas are always swimming in their heads, and popping up unbidden, and appearing without warning, and forcing themselves upon the unsuspecting writers' brains, and demanding to be presented to the world.

If you can prove me wrong, if you can say "no, you're crazy, you don't know what you're talking about, you're not going to stop me!" and then what I said gets you fired up and you write a dozen stories and you get them all published, then good for you! So let's see you do it. But if you think about it seriously, and you realize I'm right, then maybe I've saved you a lot of trouble and worry.

Original score: 3