How do you come up with new ideas when you're writing? We all can get into the flow of writing and let the story unfold once we've envisioned it, but how do you get that ball rolling. Where does the premise come from? How do you decide the characters and their role?

One word: Randomness.

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In fanfiction, it's actually easier to create premise and decide characters since you have the main story and lore of whatever property i.e. MLP you are using. Characters are even easier since you already know them and you just have to write down what they would do in the situation you created.

What's hard is to actually materialize the idea and make a flowing story that keeps your audience's attention. I can only suggest to read and remember what made you stick to a book/fanfic you've read.

It depends on the writer, to some extent. My current projects have been built around central ideas: or, rather, interesting crimes for a detective to solve. These ideas seem to sublimate from the aether - I carry a Moleskine notebook in my pocket to catch stray ones as they come into my head. Once one has that will-o-the-wisp of a central premise, one can design the characters to fit, which usually goes fairly quickly with an ecstatic internal logic as they seem to design themselves. Very frequently, I do not know who my characters are, in full, until I actually begin writing. For my Unicorn and the Crow, the main character just barged her way in and insisted on the story being about her! Other writers control things more tightly, but no matter how they work, every writer that I have met carries a small notebook with them to set down their ideas that just come like a lightning strike from the blue before they are lost to the vagaries of time and care.

-Foxmane

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I take inspiration from various forms of media, such as music, art and other stories.

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Insanity. Pure and simple insanity.

But in a more serious note, I get ideas from just about anything. And at times (when I actually think I should work on it) I'll expand on an idea leading to a more... centralized idea. Characters, environment, difficulties, sub-plots, and much... much more. All of these I can come up with before the story begins, but it can become boring, or things end up changing at one point. Letting things just go with the flow, if you will, is often the best thing to do.

Yet, speaking as someone who focuses almost exclusively on more original character, and a few location that I have been slowly working on, I can say that it is far more interesting to have a "living world" type of thing. As in working in the same universe can make call-backs to other stories, and even future stories, some have called out to stories in other places. Then again, I'm mostly just rambling about minuet details, well base details.

Right! Before I let my mind wonder too much more, I shall answer your questions.

"Where does the premise come from?" Well, this can come from an array of things. I more-or-less mentioned it above; in that I can get ideas from anywhere. If I feel particularly inspired, then nothing can stand in the way to me making a story (other than losing interest in it, or hating it; but the latter is far more likely).

"How do you decide the characters and their roles?" This one. Um... this is a little strange to say: I give a character life (in my head) and more-or-less just put them into the story. They go about and act however they would in said situation; though sometimes a character is there because I need a role filled and that character is a one-timer.

I'd love to go on (and on... and on), but I should just bring this to an end right n--