If you write stories for fun like me, here’s something to try.  Get a letter die like the one below.  Or if you can’t find one, use Scrabble tiles, Boggle cubes, or slips of paper.

Roll it twice to get two letters.  Or more times for more letters, if you like.  Then madly generate words from those letters, and see if that sparks a story idea.  What I do sometimes is allow myself no more than 30 minutes to flesh out a story.  I can polish it later if I’m pleased with it, but the time limit gives me permission not to get hung up over grammar and fine detail.

Incidentally, Strip-o-Tron (part 1, at least) was written in about half an hour, and so was Bird in the Hand.