Thank you so much for your comment! It provided me some insight and a realization that it is better not to force an idea but just let it flow.

And also it is good not to publish until the story is finished because of the numbers and also not to disappoint the readers. Even if I am writing a story that I enjoy, I know how that feels when your favorite story has no updates so I will try to avoid that as well.

i usually think up a grand topic/ trope for my characters i want to write about, (like cheating, childhood friends to lovers etc.) then let inspiration presents itself to me at random moments, usually they come in the forms of specific events (like, this character attends his love interest's exhibition which is also their first reunion after a long time), and then i develop ideas and plot points from those specific events (they cant see each other much because they live in different countries, and it's because blah blah blah), and eventually my imagination will help me build up enough conflicts to create a story (i usually go with short fic/ oneshot though, so maybe the process can be vastly different if you aim for epic/ long story)

upvotes, subscribers and comments mean a lot to me, but they don't affect me that much if i really like the story i'm writing. frankly though, if i know i'm writing for a fandom that hardly gives my stories attention (i.e. the target audience is too small), i tend to not put too much effort into writing and keep it short and sweet as possible. i try to publish stories only after i finish writing them though, i guess it's because i dont want the numbers to hinder me from wanting to finish what i had meant to ^^

i used to force myself to think up stories to write right away when i still feel like writing, but it usually worked out badly. i think it's better to just sit back, relax, and let inspiration finds you when it's ready!