Frustrated Writer

I am a frustrated writer. Not that I can't write- I think I can, and others have told me I can. I enjoy writing "next chapters" or "missing details" from novels I have read; however, I don't seem to have the imagination to come up with a storyline on my own. Given an idea, I can follow it and maybe make something out of it, but I am unable to create any ideas of my own. I'll read a book and think, "what a great idea." Or "what a great concept." Why can't I come up with some good concepts?

Am I too old? Am I losing my imagination along with my short-term memory? Is this just another example of the losses that come with getting older? When I was a kid I used to write and draw books. Most of them involved nurses (duh) and I distinctly remember writing and drawing a story about a worm who happened to be a nurse. My nurse worm (I can't remember what I named her) lived and worked in a vast underground complex with wards and individual rooms and lots of other nurse worms and patient worms.

While I don't especially think that worm stories are appealing, at least I know that I had an imagination at one time.

People have told me I should write about my family. I won't, for two reasons. First of all, everyone in it will hate me. And second, while there are some really funny stories (and some bizarre and some sad stories), I have no idea how to weave them all into a book that someone would want to read.

My daughter and i attended a workshop on writing, hoping to pick up some pointers about creativity and ideas. Instead, it was more about how to get your completed material published. I blog, I write my extra chapters and missing details, but all the while I keep thinking that I could be doing so much more.