Like all aspects of writing, developing initial ideas requires time, patience and, most importantly, practice. It is also incredibly rewarding, as you may well come up with ideas that no-one has ever put down in writing before.
The best way to start is with inspiration, but this is often one of the hardest aspects of writing to master. Inspiration very rarely strikes at will. There are, however, a number of ways in which you can cultivate inspiration and thus writing ideas.
Look at the world around you - at the view outside your window, at the people you pass on the way to work, at the headline stories in the newspapers. Ask yourself questions about these people and places. Where are they going to? What are their families like? Where do they work and do they enjoy it? From these fairly mundane questions you can build up more complex ones. Did they have a happy childhood? Do they have any obsessions or phobias? Essentially, you are making up stories for people you do not know; writing these stories down can often spark off new ideas or the initial stories can develop into more complex works.
It is a good idea, as a writer, to always carry around a notepad and pen. During the day, whenever you see or hear something which inspires you, write it down. The same goes for those little ideas which pop up in your head at the strangest moments. Write them down, keep them and one day you may be able to incorporate them into your work.
If you're feeling particularly stuck for ideas, try re-reading your favourite book or watching your favourite film. Think about which aspects of that book or film you particularly like and whether it would be possible to adapt those aspects for use in your own writing. It is perfectly possible to do this without making your work derivative, as you will be combining those aspects of the book/film with ideas of your own.
The more time you spend developing ideas, the easier the task becomes. Many professional writers have more ideas than they will ever get a chance to use, simply because they are so good at thinking them up. Frustrating though this may be, it does mean you'll never be short of something to write about!
