I feel it s best to always write what is in your heart. Writing with dollar signs in your eyes takes all the joy out of it. Instead, think of reading as the soil in your idea garden s flowerbed. Let s get back to associations. That s an idea based on an association.
Ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere.
From reading the newspaper, watching a movie, visiting with your friends. So keep your eyes open. Take everything you experience and use your experiences to generate new ideas. Maybe you have a great idea for a story, but you can t figure out how to make it grow. You need to nurture it, just as you would any seedling.