All you need to create a good story is a character the reader cares about, and a problem that character has to overcome. I like how Storm Machine talks about fear of the Blank Page, and also, finding a story that you connect with as an author. After all: if I don't care about my character's story, how do I convince readers to care about it?

I'm a clickbait addict. The Google algorithms are scary good at snagging me. I can use the "What If" exercise to piggyback on headlines that catch my eye:

House passes 45-day funding bill, likely avoiding a government shutdown
- What if the government shut down permanently? What might that look like after a week, a month, a year, a decade, a century?

College football player stomps on opponent's neck during game
- What if an athlete is permanently disabled in a maliciously inflicted injury from an opponent? What if the opponent got away with it, and the injured athlete is planning their revenge?

Pair of Ukrainians accused of squirreling away Russian anti-aircraft missile system
- What if this pair of Ukrainians were tech savvy teenagers who try to sell their find on social media? What if Russian spies come after them, and they have to go on the run, fleeing from their families, schools, friends, maybe even stay offline to avoid getting caught?

Angry elk rams its rack into a stopped car in shocking attack caught on video
- What if the car was stopped in the middle of nowhere, with no cell service? What if someone in the car suffered a life-threatening injury from the elk attack, and the characters have no way to get to a hospital?

Now let's play with the settings:
- What if the government shut down permanently, and the setting is 100 years in the past? 500 years in the future? In another country, on another planet, or in another universe?

- What if the injured athlete is an Olympic athlete from a poverty-stricken country, whose family depended on the athlete for basic survival? What if it happens far in the future, on another planet, in another dimension, or in a world where athletes earn special protections for themselves or their families? Or where athletes are severely punished for losing?

- What if the Ukrainians were instead an alien species, and the Russians were the human race? How might that change how you tell the story?

- What if the elk were instead a dinosaur? How did the car and the dinosaur meet? Did the car go back in time? Is the dinosaur alive during modern times? If so, how did it get here? Was it created by scientists? Was it a child's drawing brought to life by a wizard, a wish upon a star, or a magical object? Did it hatch from an egg deposited in the jungle when a meteorite hit? Is the dinosaur really a dinosaur at all? Could it be a robot, or a secret weaponized government vehicle?

Find a story (or two, or ten) that piques your interest.

Then brainstorm possible characters.

- Government shutdown: Toppled president/PM/monarch? That leader's family who goes from a life of wealth and leisure to a life on the run? An ordinary citizen or family whose life is uprooted by a changing laws, culture, security? An cunning administrative assistant who convinces the new regime to trust them, so they and their family can survive the purging of the old government, or so they can thwart the coup or later overthrow the new regime?

- Injured athlete: The athlete themself? Their family? The guilty opponent? A young adult who grew up idolizing the athlete (or the guilty opponent) who has recently become a criminal investigator?

- Ukrainians: The pair in possession of the anti-aircraft missile system? A spy on the Russian side tasked with tracking down the pair? A spy on the Ukrainian side tasked with protecting the pair? An ordinary family who gets caught in the crossfire?

- Elk: Someone in the car? Someone looking for their missing loved ones in the car? The elk? An innocent bystander who owns a house near the scene of the accident who rescues the people in the car, or who rescues the elk? The elk's young calf who must learn to live without their mama? A talking mouse who lives in a hole under the scene of the accident whose home or family is in danger from leaking fuel, falling debris, or a vehicle fire?

Cheers,
Michelle

PS: All the examples in this post are free for the taking.