Imagination; blocked, channeled or roam free

Most people block their imaginations when they become adults. Others, channel their imaginations into new ideas and products. Writers of fiction allow their imaginations to run free making for the more interesting stories filled with unique books that captivate the readers. What do you do?

My older brother, when someone asked "where do I come up with my stories?" he replied. "He has always had an active imagination while we were children." Which is true, but when I became an adult to support myself and my family, I always put it on hold (blocking it) to focus on making a living and climbing the corporate ladder in management. Once in a while I would release it, coming up with unique solutions to a problem I encountered. I found my imagination disliked being channeled or blocked, so I started writing. That made my imagination happy and I stayed in a good mood. 

My sister in law asked, "Where do you come up with your stories and characters?" I laughed it off but later thought, "Some characters are my alternate ego wanting to take part in my stories. Others are based on people I know or have met during my long working career, and now." The settings of my stories all took place in my head, all I have to do is transplant them from my mind to the computer (or paper). I find the less I try to control my imagination, the better the story becomes.  In "A Stranger comes Crawling" I had the original plot then turned my imagination loose. The story became better and better. The book, "A Need for Lightning" that I was writing at the time triggered my release of my imagination, allowing my stories to have unique concepts and events.  I stopped writing "A need for Lightning" to write "T.T. Gristman" and "A Stranger comes Crawling". To me, when my imagination starts forming a book, I write it down even though I might not write the whole story. I place it on a back burner until such time my mind is ready to go back to it once again. How do you come up with your stories?

Talk back, I'm listening.