Create a Scene

Sometimes when I'm talking to new writers about how to create a more interesting manuscript, I ask them Where is their person now? What are they doing? Where do they live?
Describe.
Describe the actual landscape around your person. If they live in Pittsburgh, then where are they? Are they walking on the flat meadow by the river? Or are they climbing a steep hill to get where they are going?

In other words -- describe the scene so that the reader can also 'see' it.

Just recently I read April Pulley Sayre's post on I.N.K. -- Interesting Nonfiction for Kids. where she talks about teaching a class of children how to describe scenes. Since I've never taught writing to children, I thought her technique might be useful someday.
-wendieO