Some cool tips on generating story ideas from a very cool writer.
via io9
Even when you do have a terrific idea for a short story, sometimes it’s difficult to know how best to approach it. So far the method that’s worked best for me has been to start with dialogue and nothing else — not even speech tags. If I can get two characters talking to each other, in such a way that their voices and situation are distinct enough to identify w/o descriptions or speech tags or any other kind of distraction, a story begins to take shape.
Akopos 