Many writers get ideas from listening to the news, reading newspapers or the internet, watching programs about current affairs, noticing topics that are trending…
In fact, being alert to what's going on in the world is usually a great way to get started as a writer. Many local or regional newspapers are interested in stories of community events. A simple news item might give you inspiration for a follow-up feature article, a poem, a story, a related news item, or something larger. A story in a national newspaper or magazine might give you a bigger idea.
Or you might simply use something in the news as part of a larger story or book.
Let me give you a few examples:
Years ago, I decided to enter the Toronto Star's short story contest. I think it was fairly new at the time. However, I had difficulty thinking of something to write that I thought the panel of judges would be interested in. I tried several things and was feeling my wheels spinning. Nothing felt right.
After some thought, I decided that the judges would likely be looking for something that was "current" in some way. So I pulled out the newspapers for the past week. I found several stories about the closures of some of the VIA rail services. Hmm. What did I know about railway services? Well, I had been raised in a small town and I knew there were some people who depended on the train. Plus one of my mother's uncles had been a railway station manager. And I began to ask what if? I thought of my grandmother. What it she lived in a small town and didn't drive a car? And what if there was a railway train she could take to the city once in a while?
The resulting story, One Last Ride on the VIA Rail, was a Judge's Choice in the Toronto Star Short Contest that year, and was published in the Toronto Star.
One more example:
Even though my novel, Glitter of Diamonds, is a mystery, it's actually based largely on actual events.
One of the main characters is a young pitcher who has escaped from Cuba and been granted asylum in Canada.
I got the idea for this book from three different news/events sources.
1. Listening to Bob McCown on the FAN 590 one day, he and his guests were talking about sports figures who act like jerks and how some of them needed a good wake-up call.
2. A Cuban ball player had recently defected. I knew that over the years, Livan Hernandez and a number of other Cuban baseball players have escaped from Cuba and gone on to play for major league teams. Surely there would be more.
3. My knowledge that Worldteam Canada, a mission organization, is planting churches in Cuba because Worldteam USA cannot (due to government regulations).
I put the three things together: what if a Cuban baseball player defected and came to Canada, where he got lost in the glitter of the opportunities and became a jerk, while at the same time, back in Cuba, his wife was being influenced by Christians from Canada? What would happen when they were reunited in Toronto?
And that's where my starting ideas for Glitter of Diamonds came from.
Note: The irony is that the Toronto Blue Jays recently signed a Cuban player who defected. He's a short stop, not a pitcher, and hopefully he'll remain a nice guy. 
