How do you put a story together?

I'm an avid reader and I've always felt inspired by those who can write... and make up such great stories through the pages of a book...

I wish I could do that!

How do you put together a book? I'm probably getting ahead of myself here, and should start on how to write properly for starters, but I really wonder, how do you distribule all this information and ideas buzzing about in your head and turn it into a story?

Strasberries,

Let me preface by saying more than half my ideas end up in a pile in my "documents" folder, a few pages in as I abandon them for something anew.

That, mainly, is why I am a short story writer.

The ideas part, well, I wish I knew how that worked also. I don't think I write the way most people would recommend (structuring a plot, developing characters, coming up with a strong ending etc before writing). All my decisions, or at least most of them, happen in real-time. That is to say, as I'm writing, I'm creating. Almost none of it is planned, aside from a very vague idea of a character, or a setting, or a change in a character's life that is subject to change.

I don't think a single story has ended the way I planned. At least, the ones I actually think are any good.