Mutant Husband Erik
I have a few musicians and a few different playlists/albums I listen to when I'm trying to get back to writing.
I also find that talking to a friend and actually visualizing the space where I want the story to take place in (what objects are there, who is there, what the place looks like, how dark it is, etc) also helps a lot when I'm trying to continue a story or trying to figure out a place where the story really starts. If you visualize your place, try looking around for objects you didn't know were there, or try zooming out of your place (think 'bird's eye view') to find out if there are other things you maybe didn't know were going on. Looking for conflict this way is also good. Where there is conflict or tension, there is usually a story to be had!
Another foolproof way to get back to writing if you haven't in a while is FREEWRITING. Freewriting is awesome. Just write whatever thoughts float through your mind (no matter how nonsensical they are) until you start formulating a story. This is always fun because I usually end up going from random strings of curse words to an actual srs bsns story.
lol curse words!
xd Something similar to the free-writing thing happened to me once. I don't remember where i was or what i was doing, but i randomly thought of these words: "Thousand year sale"
i don't know why i thought it, i just did, and from there, i got, 3 characters that i LOVE! an entire WORLD plus a netherworld, a cute/psycho villain, henchmen, antagonists, and the setting for a never ending story
xd
All from those 3 words