Writer's Block: The Rock

"The Rock"

The rock sat motionless, ignoring the paws of the dog prancing upon its smooth surface.  The surface seemed smooth at first glance, but these dog nails were not the first to place marks of character upon the surface of the stone.

A lump protruded from one end as if a bubble of air were attempting escape.  The hard crust of the rock, though, held the bubble frozen in time, never to burst.

The rock stood impervious to the wind.  Though dirt flew upon it and the grass bent in the breeze, the rock stood still, unmoved by wind.  While unchanged by the wind, water darkened its underside.  Though not releasing the bubble, it soaked up the fresh spring rain, hoping to gather a bit of moss before the scorch of the summer sun dried the earth around it in the days to come.

The rock rejoiced in springtime, soaking up the rain, blowing bubbles and standing firm in the rush of stormy winds, while maintaining rest and peace--calm amidst life and weather and dogs.

Truly this rock marvels at activity all around while activity struggles to find peace in a passion to be still and one with God.


Writer's Block exercise:
Writing exercises can often jog the pen when it seems dry. Active writing has been driven into my hand since my early attempts garnered such critique from teachers. Falling into the passive voice cripples the effort to pull a reader into the page.

To help exercise my active writing chops, I chose recently to write about a rock in our yard with a purposeful attempt to use active verbs. Try it yourself. If not a rock, try anything seemingly inanimate and animate it with your active voice!