Ideas for Writing Stories!

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I love to write; it has been something I have done ever since I can remember! It also influenced my to become an English major... The problem can be, where to get ideas for STORIES?? Here are some ways I find ideas: 1) Newspaper / magazine: look at articles, headlines or photographs in newspapers or magazines. Use them to think up a story. For example, you see a photo of a soldier standing by a stone wall. Write down all your thoughts on paper, find a story! 2) People around you: I think this is best. Just go somewhere like a park, school, library... anywhere with people who might be talking. Even at work! Just quietly listen to what they say. Take note of how they talk. How do they express themself. Any story ideas starting to grow? This is also good for developing character speech patterns. Listen to how real people talk and try to practice writing character speech the same way. This avoids characters who talk like robots, or unnatural. 3) Your own life experience or people you know: Think of your life and the people you know. What experiences has your mom had? Your friend? Your teacher? Writing a story using stuff you know can be interesting for readers, and gives the story a sense of being real. 4) Read, Read AND Read some more: I have heard some people say they do not read, because they want to come up with origianl ideas. This is a mistake! Ask any creative writing or literature student... our teachers make us READ everything under the sun! Reading not only helps you with sentence structure and grammer (read a lot and sentence structure becomes second nature). Reading also makes you familiar with tried-and-true story lines. I don't mean story ideas. I mean story lines like - man has a problem, man struggles with problem, man has sudden realization or self discovery, man conquers problem. Everything from Star Wars to The Three Musketeers are stories that deal with a similar story line following the hero / heroine. Reading a lot helps you discover how a story might flow from Beginning, Middle, End. 5) Ok, now you feel ready to go out and get to writing, right?! Get a notebook and put it in your purse or pocket and keep it there! (This is something I don't do, but badly need to). Write down all the ideas as they come to you. You all probably have experienced... when you think of a great story then don't write it down, and it disappears. Don't let that happen, capture that genius idea of yours on paper! A writing teacher had told me: the difference between a dreamer and a writer, is a writer writes it all down. Happy writing! :o)