The responses pour in. I explain to the students that everyday I try to learn something new, that I can't go to bed without a brand spanking new morsel in my head. Someone almost always does, and if not I explain. Beat their heads against wood. Almost always someone points out that people sometimes do the same thing.
Hands shoot up like fire.
I try to jump around from subject to subject and even allow a good joke here and there. The next step is naming the character and giving her traits. We figure out all her likes and dislikes. We flesh her out, maybe draw a moon or a tree or jail bars, give her a locale. I explain to the students that everybody has a secret power.