For me, there is no point in pushing a story to come. I need to let it emerge in its own time. That is not to say I don’t put in my hours; I do. But most of the words I write will be seen by nobody but me, because they are exploratory. Now that I am writing a book of flash fiction I find that the original spark is often visual; I see an image in my head or in life and it sets me off on story exploration. When I was working on somewhat longer or much longer stories, the initial spark was auditory — a voice in my head, usually the fictional person who turns out to be the narrator or non-narrating protagonist. Why the difference? Does it matter? I doubt it. What’s important is to pay attention — to respect those sensory triggers and the process of emergence.