Regardless of when the ideas pop into your head – like in the shower or driving to work – you need to harness these opportunities and maximize the creative energy in a constructive manner.  Many writers carry around a voice recorder or punch notes into their iPhone or Blackberry.  What matters is when you’re struggling to come up with creative platforms on demand, be sure that you are prepared to document those sporadic bouts of literary genius!

Here are a couple of tips to keep the creative juices flowing and find inspiration from nothing:

Think of a Scenario or Social Backdrop

This is one of the oldest methods in the how-to books of writing – and it is still as effective today!  To start, take a look around you and observe the people, what they are doing, how they look and what their expressions are.  For example, begin with the attractive but stern women who just stepped off the escalator;

Her hair is wet from the rain, yet she appears to be at peace with the world and her current state of being.  She walks through the lobby with the confidence and determination of a spartan general.

This is your opening scene.  Now ask yourself questions like where is she going?  Is she married?  Does she have kids?  Expand on your initial observation and before you know it you will be pages into a very compelling story.

Combine Potential Stories Together

This has to be one of my favorite methods for generating fantasy/fairy tale/science fiction based story lines.  Take the last really great movie you watched and throw it in the blender with the latest headline on the Sunday newspaper.  For example, the last great movie you watched was Angels and Demons, while the Sunday newspaper headline reads: Boy rescued from well after being stranded for 72 hours.

The story starts with this boy, who is known by secret scientifically driven organization to be the last living blood line of Jesus Christ.  His parents were murdered and he has been captured by this cult for the purposes of collecting a ransom and destroying the reputation of the world’s most powerful organized religion.

As you can see – there were a million possible directions I could have went with those two methods given.  These exercises will also improve your ability to “freestyle” topics, characters and ideas on the spot, strictly based on existing stories and your direct surroundings.