Fiction writing

There's probably a few dozen topics posted on this, so why not one more. i'm taking this fiction writing class and i'm actually having a really hard time coming up with stuff to write about.
the first assignment we had was to write 1500 words about one of two pictures. i felt my story was horrible, but there was really nothing i could do about it. for the next assignment i need to have 2000 words about whatever i want.
i haven't really ever had this problem before. i've thought about making one of my poems into a story but worry i wont be able to come up with enough material. so...yeah, writers block... any suggestions?

I think I would take the most surreal experience that happened and embellish it . It could be a story a friend told that you had a hard time believing, or something that happened to you and you don't think anyone could imagine it

I've been in a writing class before, and I know how hard it is to come up with things to write. But my problem was more with the professional stuff than it was with the fictional.

I think what would help is if you went out into a park or something, and just watched how people go on in life. Choose a scene you like and exaggerate what you've seen. Another thing you could do is choose something that happened to you and add details that weren't there into it. Also, you could write down a dream you can't forget about.

To start writing, don't think... just write. Write whatever comes to your mind, your first few sentences may be gibberish, or you telling yourself to think of something or to write... but you'll get something out eventually... Sometimes, I start with doodling and drawing because I have nothing on my mind and then the words come along.

As for your idea about turning one of your poems into a story, I've done it the other way round... and I think that could also work. It's easier to turn a poem into a 2000 word story than it is to turn a story into a 8 line poem. Because in the story you say things more literally and have more description in there.