In need of some help

Where do you get inspiration for writing a novel or short story? I get ideas but then when it comes down to writing them, nothing sounds correct. I have a lot of beginnings, and a lot of deleted beginnings. And yet I've never got past the first chapter because I always get stuck and then nothing I write is good or anything near.
I don't understand, can anyone tell me why this happens?
I need to be able to write a short story (Max 2000 words) in about a month for a competition. Now I'm starting to freak out, and nothing has inspired me.....

Same thing happens to me all the time. I write really good first chapters or I have really good ideas, then I start it and never look back. It's annoying. Something to do is read. That's what I always do. I'm not saying copy other writers work orideas but once you read, your imagination starts thinking, what if this happened instead, and stuff like that. Seriously, I just got out 14 books at the library. :p Read.

~Jasmine Bells

Yeah I read, and read and read!!!! But then I stopped, and I've just started again
But I end up writing books similar then I give up as it sounds to copy catty if you know what I mean.

Don't rely on inspiration. If writing were mostly inspiration, I'd have finished a lot of books already. The thing is, writing is mostly hard work and slogging along through things you sometimes hate yourself for writing. If you don't press on, however, you'll never finish.

I suggest not fixating so much on writing perfectly the first time. It's not going to happen. Instead, write out everything as it comes to you and do not edit. Just write until you reach the end of the story, and, once you've finished, then you can go back and edit. First drafts exist for a reason, and that reason is to be the absolute crappiest piece of writing you'll ever write so that all future drafts are better. Along the way, you might find a way to make things better, or a plot twist that's just perfect for your story.

Basically, I've found that most of writing is actually rewriting and reworking first drafts. Inspiration may give you the initial idea and desire to write, but it's ultimately perseverance that gets the actual writing done.

If the plot fizzles out too soon, try to think of a good ending. That's half the battle -- once you have a destination, there are any number of ways to get there.

You can get inspiration from everywhere. Real life usually helps a lot. Look at your own life- anything interesting there? No? Look at the news. maybe you can find some inspiration there. Like Jasminebells said, other books are great too. Is there a character you love but don't know enough about? Give him/her his/her own story. Movies are great for inspiration as well.

I recently read an article on how to keep your plot moving.

What often happens to me is that I think up a bunch of interesting scenes, but then I don't know how to get to them as a write. But this article suggested that instead of writing from chapter one to the end, to try writing out those scenes you already have in mind and find an order for them...and then connect them by writing what goes in between each scene. In other words, you don't necessarily have to write your book in order, chapter by chapter.

I thought this was great advice...hope it helped you, too.