You're walking on a lake covered with ice.  The ice expands beneath your feet sending great booms echoing through the chilled air. The snow sticks to your tongue spreading a metallic taste throughout your mouth. A light whiff of pine from the nearby trees reaches your nose. You've almost reached the opposite shore. Tendrils of smoke, spiraling from a little cabin twist up into the tree tops. The sun warms your numb face and makes the floating snow flakes sparkle.

Reading that paragraph, you travelled to the winter's day that I pictured in my mind. This was because of the sensory details that I included. For this activity, picture a scene in your mind. Think about every aspect of this scene in terms of the five senses. Then, write a paragraph, just like mine, that takes readers to the place you picture in your mind. Remember, the writer's goal is to select words that create a picture in the reader's mind most like the one that they see.

Everyone tends to disclose their deepest, darkest secrets at slumber parties, so why would your characters be any different?
      In this activity, write a short story of what happens when you invite your characters over for a slumber party. It doesn't have to be great literature. The purpose of this activity is to learn more about your characters! Some questions you can ask them include:

1. Who's your crush (either real of celebrity)?
2. What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?
3. What type of ice cream do you like (find out about their likes and dislikes)?
4. What do you want more than anything?
5. What's your favorite movie?
6. Do you have any enemies?
7. How do you react in scary situations?
8. Who are the members of your family?
9. What do you carry in your purse, purse, backpack, pockets etc? 
10. Do you have any pets?
11. What will happen if you don't achieve the goal you are working towards in the story?

At the end, you should know a lot more about your character and be able to write more in depth details about your character's life.