Finding novel ideas

Newspapers and magazines are a good source I think. Besides that tiny incidents that happen everyday can be woven into interesting scenes. But what do I know- I've never been published :(

You can get ideas from real life news stories. Heck, if Law & Order can do it, why can't you? LOL! Or from your own experiences, even other books you read. It is good to listen to what people are saying around you, even if they are not talking to you. Perhaps go and sit in a coffee shop and just listen to people's conversations. Writing prompts are very helpful. I wrote almost a whole book from writing prompts. I like http://www.creativewritingprompts.com. There is also a book by Judy Reeves that provides a prompt for every day of the year and then some. It is called "A Writer's Book of Days". Even if you can't get a story from a prompt, you are at least getting some practice and something could eventually come from it. Good luck!

I write also, secondtimeagain, and I know what you mean about the writer's block. I learned a long time ago that some of your best stories can come from actual events and people that you know of or remember from the past. Build your story around such an event or person. We write best about the things we know, experiences we have had. The best of luck to you!

If you don't mind venturing beyond the Internet, I have some suggestions: (1) I love colleting newspaper clips in an envelope, an a scrapbook or pasted into a notebook. I ask family and friends to clip articles out that they think are interesting, along with my own, then I find ideas from there. (2) I visit the library and photocopy articles from magazines to find ideas from. (3) I sit in coffee shops and write down what I see around me, what people are talking about and what I'm thinking about as I sit there. Of the three, the newspaper clipping collections are my favorite. Other ways to collect ideas are from blogs - people write about very random things that can easily be twisted into works of fiction.