A Sudden Stroke of Inspiration

I think it is accurate to say that most of the people reading this (yes, both of you) know that I have ambitions to be some sort of a journalist or writer once I graduate from college. Lately I have been strongly disinclined to write for the newspaper, it just is not fun. I really enjoy creative writing and unfortunately the sports page for the college newspaper does not give me an effective medium to harness my creativity. However, one night about a week ago I was lying in my bed thinking about some of the great novels I have read and it struck me. Why don't I write a novel? In theory this was a great idea but in application it is quite difficult. For about the last month I have been thinking constantly about topics to write a creative fictional story about. Naturally, there were plenty of bad ideas but most of them resembled books I had read in the past far to much. Then once again I was laying in my bed thinking about the books of great authors like Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, and J.K. Rowling when an idea finally hit me. I will not post it yet as I am still working on a detailed outline for my purposes but I assure you, as soon as I have something down on paper (or down on word processor) it will be down on here. So if anyone decides to actually read this glorious post and have feedback or advice on how to get started as a serious writer it would be very much appreciated. Until next time: Love, peace and chicken grease.
Barry