In my experience, ideas usually surface in the course of doing something unrelated, so my best hint on how to write great creative short stories is to live your life to the full - enjoy yourself! Hey! That wasn’t too tough was it 
A darkened room lit only by a dim and solitary lamp may sound romantic but will probably do nothing for your creative fluids.
Instead get out into the world - walk the streets, visit cafeterias, play sport. Do the things you love - have fun.
And here’s the secret. While you are having all this fun, observe people and situations as you go.
Imagine a robber walking into your café or a handsome man or beautiful woman. Look at the people around you. How would they react? What would happen then? What would they think and feel? Have they secrets to hide and why is your hero there? In a flash, the creative fluids will flow. Your mind will be bursting with ideas.
Warning. If you don’t write them down, you’ll have forgotten half of them by the time you get home! So carry a small scrap book or a piece of paper and a pen. Note your ideas as you go.
This is extremely liberating. Once you have noted an idea, you can get onto the next one and let you mind float free again to embellish, improve and build on each new situation. Eureka! Your new and excitingly creative story will be born!
Now here’s the next and important step. When you get back to your ranch, palace or dismal garret, audit your notes (but don’t ever throw them away). Here’s a check list to help you:
Is the theme too ordinary?
Is the situation believable?
Is your idea clear - can you clarify to yourself?
Does the idea tell you something about human relationships or about our world?
If your idea fails this audit in any way, treat it as an opportunity not as a threat. Do some more creative thinking. Go over the idea again. Play with it. Create different scenarios. Go off and think about something else. Give your mind a rest!
During the next day, let your mind drift back to the idea. How would your new hero / heroine react to what your friend just said? What would your friend feel if they had been kidnapped (in the café yesterday)? The blending of reality and fictional ideas is dynamite to creative thinking. You’ll probably soon be on the road to successful stories by putting pen to paper and writing one!
