What to write?

My biggest problem with writing is not the writing itself.  My biggest problem is with WHAT to write.  I seems simple enough, right?  No, not at all.  In the dark recesses of my mind there are many different stories, scenes and possibilities looming, just waiting to pounce.  These ideas are extremely cruel sometimes.  They only show themselves once I am well on the way with a completely unrelated story.

So I have been having some second thoughts about my little brand new Work in Progress.  It occurred to me that many of the ideas I have are not my own at all.  They are snippets from someone else's great idea.  My characters are based on other people, my plots have been done before and my great villain is just another rat.  When I realised that my work seems reduced, reused and recycled, I wanted to lose all hope in writing.  I mean, what is the point of writing, if you are just writing crap?

Luckily the dump I was in lasted for less than a day.  At some point I knew that I could not stop writing.  I did not want to stop writing at all.  Even if what I wrote was crap, I liked it.  I liked the process, the challenge and the jubilation at being able to do what I wanted.

Have you ever felt like you could just stop writing becuase you are writing badly?  That is no reason to stop!  I always write badly.  I am a scientist, so all my writing is focused on getting the point accross with as little hassle as possible.  I am also a technical writer.  There is no room for writing flowery descriptions in technical writing.  This affects my creative writing.  I cannot change who I am.  I cannot change the kind of writer that I am.  And it is nobody's bloody business if I write the way I write.  I am not writing premarliy to publish, I write because I am a writer, for no other reason.

I am going to try getting some exercise in writing for the sake of writing.  No plots, no predefined characters.  Just write whatever comes out of my head.  That is the most fun way to write, anyway.  And tonight, when I get a chance to write for my WiP, I may be able to show, not tell.  Maybe, just maybe, I can write well.  But if I don't, so what?  Who is going to care?

Do you also feel like you are writing badly?  How do you manage the frustration?