A list of sentences about characters follows. Each one is described by a single adjective. This tells us what the characters are like and what we should think about them. Good writing doesn’t tell us what to think. Rather, it shows what characters are like: it is the reader’s job to deduce what kind of person the character is.

Lei is a brave girl. 

Tom is a feisty boy. 

Mrs Khan is a sad woman. 

Mr Skinner is a lonely man.

Jackson is a happy baby.

The Professor is an intelligent woman. 

My grandfather was a practical man. 

Your challenge is to choose a character listed above and write a short scene where the actions of the character reveal the characteristic described. For example:

Lei is a brave girl. 

Lei heaved her backpack onto her shoulders. “I’m going to find that cure. I will not give up,” she declared loudly. Her friends went to stop her, but Lei was already trudging up the steep, dark mountain. She looked up. Thunderclouds were gathering in the sky, but Lei narrowed her eyes and didn’t hesitate to go on.