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There is a reason why that writer is unable to write more than a few sentences of anything: he is trying too hard to think of something to write, rather than actually writing.

Many prolific writers are asked where they get their ideas from. The most common answer is 'watching the world and catching snippets of conversations etc' (incidentally something which no writer can do while stuck in a lonely garret). However, there is one method of gathering ideas which is rarely mentioned: writing.

Those who dream of writing often do just that. They sit at their desk with the shiny new paper and their pen and wait for the muse to visit. They have a long wait. By writing something (anything!) you visit the muse and the ideas will come flooding in. Ideas are like buses - you wait for ages and then three come at once. This is because writing attracts ideas like bees round a honey-pot.

You might say, "But if I don't have an idea, then what can I write?". The answer is: writing exercises. These are prompts designed to get you writing. There are some featured in the 'Young Writer' magazine on the 'Writing Activities' page, and if you have access to the Internet you can search for exercises and story starters there. An example might be:

Exercise
Describe a scene from the point-of-view of a blind person.

Story Starter
"The day after Sophie left, I . . ."

These exercises can spark short stories, or even novels, but that's not the point of them. They are essentially to help you find the muse and get the ideas flowing in.

A good way of using them is to write exactly one hundred words. Number ten lines and write ten words on each line, this will help you to concentrate on the process of writing, rather than the quality of what you produce. You do not have to write a story, or even anything logical, just write. After all, we're writers - that's what we do.

Jessica Wright is a freelance writer living in Kent, England. She writes fiction and nonfiction of varying lengths and has had articles and short stories published on and offline.