Very informative post. What I do when it comes to writing is I tend to ask questions to myself. The questions could be anything. For example, I'd ask myself, "Do penguins have knees?" Then, I would research and find out the truth. Then, once the truth is found, I would think of a way to connect my newfound knowledge to my writing.
For example, one of the characters in the story is a penguin and he complains his knees hurt.
Ha! That's an interesting way of generating topics. Kinda like an impromptu speech where you need to continue someone else's impromptu speech! It can go anywhere!