[ OT ] Doubting yourself as a writer , what does it take to write a story ? General tips , getting started , advice needed

Write every day, and just write random scenes. Do you know any painters or other visual artists? They just draw constantly—on table mats, napkins, scraps of paper, whatever. It's not as though full-fledged paintings are the only thing they draw. They just draw. They doodle. And some people do it so much that they practically do it instinctively and without thinking. 
 
 I think that writers should practice the same `` habit of art,'' as one of my old professors put it. When I'm at the top of my game, I'm intensely strict with myself about writing 600 words a day, and it's always easier ( and more fun and less stressful ) because I'm not necessarily working on a story. I'll think of some short little scene and just write it. I'll think of an interesting line of dialogue, and I'll write it. Sometimes I'll just write descriptions of interesting-looking people. And for me, that's been the best way to develop characters and stories. Because if I'm writing a few pages of random stuff every day, eventually one of those scenes, scenarios, or characters will kind of pop, and I'll know straightaway that I can write a whole story from that scene or character. 
 
 TLDR: Write every day about random stuff, and the characters and stories will develop themselves. Like a visual artist, keep a `` sketchbook.''
