How to Make Fictional Oaks Grow From Little Acorns

We've had sleet today and there's snow forecast, so it's definitely a good time to hunker down in the warm and do some writing.

How's this for an idea?  Describe a character; flesh out as much detail as you can -- appearance, back story, strengths and weaknesses, hopes for the future, occupation etc.  Put in as much information as you can.  Then do the same thing for a second, completely different character.  Finally dream up a situation in which they might meet one another by chance, and see what happens when they do.

You'd be surprised how much well-realised and engrossing work can spring from such a simple beginning.  After all, every story has to start at some point and an exercise like this might lead to somewhere interesting, or be a good warm up if you're working on an existing project.

Think of it as a new door opening....

(I haven't indulged in one of these for ages...)