[stylist] need inspiration

[Allison Nastoff]

Hi everyone,
This semester, I am taking a creative writing class in college.  
I love to write, but I am more accostumed to writing essays, or 
newspaper articles.  But for Monday's class, I have to write a 
short literary fiction story--and by short, my teacher means a 
minimum of seven print pages--and I have absolutely no idea what 
to write about.  The textbook says that there are stories all 
around us from our personal experiences, to things we hear about 
in the paper that can make a story.  But do you think I can 
recall meaningful personal experiences when I need to? 
Experiences that I can think of (school, being blind, singing in 
choir), seem too childish for this kind of class based on the 
other stories the teacher has assigned for us to read, and all I 
see in the news is stories about the economy and the war, nothing 
that has sparked a story.  So I was wondering how do you writers 
find ideas for a story? If you are writing a story based on a 
personal experience, how do you develop it into a seven page 
story when thinking back on the experience, you have no idea how 
to make a real story out of it, no matter how profound it may be 
to you?
Any advice you could give me would be wonderful.
Allison Nastoff