Don't know if this will help or not, but I've taken to carrying a notebook everywhere I go, and when I come up with a bit of detail or dialogue, I write it down ASAP. This is especially helpful as I tend to think up my best dialogue when driving, and if I wait to get home to the computer it's gone. If your handwriting is illegible, maybe one of those voice-activated tape recorders would be a better bet.I kept a little leather journal notebook in my pocket for years, and while it works great for those quick little details (world-building and stuff) I could still never get anywhere with the actual text
Once you have the basis, the rest is just filling it out to bring it to life. It worked for me, and might not for you, but it couldn't hurt to pick up some dice and see if you can shake out some of your creativity, you know?
Here's something I've recommended to quite a few people that actually worked wonders. I myself thought it was common sense, but I guess not.
Don't leap right into writing novels! Even if you only want to be known as a novelist or etc. Start with short fiction. Become proficient with telling a complete story, with beginning middle and end. While short fiction is by no means easy to write (some consider it to be more difficult than novel length), by its very nature it allows the beginner a very helpful thing: a reachable goal while that white hot 'oh-lordy-I-gotz-a-great-idea' passion is burning brightly. :)
Short fiction allows you to practice, in miniature, all the important tools of novel writing: structure, character, plot, dialogue, integration of backstory with action, etc.
And the best part of this as a training technique is this: your short fiction doesn't have to really be all that good! It just has to be completed and analyzed and what you learn from it used to better your next story.
Give it a shot. :)
I actually kinda love that idea, because it's easier to set small goals that way. You've got the skeleton in your short summary, so all you need to do is dress it up. I'm definitely going to be trying that myself.
Don't leap right into writing novels! Even if you only want to be known as a novelist or etc. Start with short fiction. Become proficient with telling a complete story, with beginning middle and end. While short fiction is by no means easy to write (some consider it to be more difficult than novel length), by its very nature it allows the beginner a very helpful thing: a reachable goal while that white hot 'oh-lordy-I-gotz-a-great-idea' passion is burning brightly. :)