Writers: Writing what you are told to

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Do you ever struggle with being told what to write? For example, say someone told you to write a story about a princess and a unicorn or something. Is it hard for you to come up with a story using what they said? Do you find it easier to write only your own ideas? I'm jsut curious if this might have anything to do with autism. It's something I struggle with greatly because I just can't seem to do it no matter how hard I try. D:

I think I could write a story on what I'm told to write about. I have a very creative and imaginative mind, so if somebody told me to write a story about a princess and a unicorn I would think up some sort of story about a princess and a unicorn. I like my stories to involve a lot of social interaction, so I'll probably end up making the princess and the unicorn have an argument or something, over some sort of ''secrets and lies'' feud.

Although I have a creative mind, I don't write a lot of stories about fantasy. I'm more of a true-life kind of person, but I love to make up characters and their names and make up story lines as I go along. I am better at writing stories in first person, rather than third person.

When I worked as a technical writer in Silicon Valley and Utah, I used to complain to those (family and friends) who imagined Ernest Hemingway when I told them that I was a tech writer that I "created on demand." It was boring and tedious, and I couldn't care less about the subject matter. But, my knowledge of writing style and technique made my books easier to understand than most others.

I am no writer, but I do paint.
Some people like my paintings very much and there is an editorial office who wants to make postcards from it, and also grafics for a book
and I fail, because when they choose me it was based on what came up in my imagination,
and now I have to do what being asked,
and it's very hard,
I try and make very little progress,
and I am having meltdowns sometimes because my brain is numb.
Though I want to find a way to fulfill my assignment.

Writing to please anybody is instant death.

I used to, but the more I spent time writing the more I was able to actively mold ideas and branch out. I'm happy to write what I'm told for money here and there.

How hard it is depends on the task given, but it's definitely much easier to write something that is my own idea!
In elementary school I could pretty much make a story out of anything, but from my teen years I found that harder and needed a task that fit me in order to write well. That kinda makes sense since more was expected. There was enormous difference in how I wrote when the task was a good fit for me (pretty dang good TBH), and the tasks I had to do because that was the assignment (mediocre and often rather empty of content).
We could often choose between 2, 3 or 4 different assignments, and what they were would really make or break my grade.

I also write a lot better when I write freely than when I translate something.

I like to be told what to do. I like to paint and do other art projects, but if someone tells me what to do, then I have a starting point, and I can use problem solving and my ideas to finish it.

i suffer from a dearth of ideas, so i appreciate it when someone gives me a starting point. i used to belong to a writer's group. every month there was a writing prompt. i found those exercises to be useful.

It's not that hard, start writing about yourself, your life, now create a character you would like to be, one you wouldn't... and thats how start a story, or part of it :p

Generally, at school, I can write on a given topic or with given elements. The problems come when I have no relevant experiences and it's supposed to be a true personal story (like the one about a substitute teacher you've had who could keep the class in order; I've never had such a sub) or when I'm told what side I have to argue.

I often find it extremely difficult to write about a subject that someone else has given me, probably because without personal interest in the subject I have no frame of reference to draw from at all.

Both my mother and my little brother also have the same problem. I think my mother is somewhat autistic, and my brother definately is.

Many autistics have a really hard time doing anything they can't find the motivation to do. It has to be meaningful. I think that is what, in many cases, can lead to this inability to write about some made-up topic, since it doesn't feel meaningful for the person who is given the task.

I find it more difficult to write about a topic given to me than it is to come up with my own. I love creative writing and have a lot of story ideas from my own imagination.