Where to get writing ideas

I love online generators.  I have just spent an inordinate amount of time playing here:  serendipity by Manon   Name Generators, Place Generators, even an Online Handle Generator!  Many, many generators, all in one handy place.  This is a Cat Waxing Site Extraordinaire!  You have been warned!

Yes, it will name French boys:  Joseph Leclerc, Bernard Marais, Roland Lefevre.  And French girls, too:  Anne-Elisabeth Feuillette, Coralie Danis, Jeanne Jacqueme.  Also Japanese names, Trendy names, Gnome names, and more.

Need a new online handle?  SunsetGurl, EbbingMuffin, MeanGothChicken.  Maybe you need to name that town your main character is from (or going to):  Forest Chase, Belmont Grange, Peach Towers.  Need a fantasy place?  Highfay, Oldwood, Lightmeadow Forest.

The Chinese Restaurant Generator is one of my favorites, for that little takeout place around the corner:  Beijing Pearl, China Pine, Golden Mandarin Garden, and The Happy Pagoda Tea House!

This isn’t just a play around kind site.  Many of the names sound real, and there are generators that result in useful information.  For example:

A Character:  This man is a honest carpenter who is usually businesslike. He has long, straight dark brown hair, grey eyes, and tawny skin. He is fragile with a thin, high-cheekboned face.  Hmmm.  Fragile.  Could be Roland Lefevre!

A City:  This large city stands astride a river and is mainly constructed of red brick. It is defended by arcane spells and its most noteworthy feature is the colorful elven quarter.  Is this Highfay? 

A Room:  It's an ample room, but quite dreary. The walls are obscured entirely by floor to ceiling bookshelves, broken up by sheer, hospitalish green-beige curtains on the windows. 

Those last three could easily be jumping off points for stories.  That elven quarter, for example, sounds fascinating or scary as all get-out, depending on the type of elves that live there.  This site generates writing seeds.  A few things it 'built' for me are now incubating.  Hopefully a story or two will result.

Try it out and let me know if it works for you.