The “what if” question is the only question in fiction. Everything proceeds from that. You might start out with a landscape. You might start out with a character. You might start out with a plot point. But once you say, “What if?” that’s where it all starts. Without understanding that, you have no story. It’s as simple as that
And the reason I never, ever, ever get writer’s block is that I work on more than one thing at the same time. And so if something is blocking over here, I turn to this. And if that one doesn’t work, I turn to the next one.
