The Chaplain

MY, it's been a long time! Forgive the tardiness. Since my last post, Grove City has put on two plays and is currently in the middle of Children's Theater, and I had a week of break that went way too quickly. And now it is April, and the weather is finally heating up!

On another note, I have another writing challenge for those of you who have been holding out to see what I come up with next. However, I cannot take all of the credit for this one. It was a group effort, including three other members of my creative writing class.

Prompt #3: Describe a Person You Know
Describe a person you know without using any adjectives of adverbs. Rely on the strength of your nouns and verbs alone! (Prepositions are, of course, encouraged.)

My Group's Response:

"The Chaplain"

The chaplain intoned, “May the words . . . of my mouth . . . and the meditations. . . of our hearts . . . be acceptable in your sight . . . oh, Lord, our Rock . . . and our Redeemer. Amen.” And chapel began.

The podium covered him up to his chest, obscuring the lapels of his jacket. He readjusted the microphone, tilting it towards his lips. His jacket swayed as he leaned forward in earnestness. As he scanned his PowerPoints and read his notes, his words plodded and bounced across the loudspeakers. His face flushed with the heat of Scripture, and his gaze betrayed his fatigue. His eyes slid across the clock at the back of the chapel, and he gripped the lectern. His time was running out. He condensed his thoughts and pushed on. Panning his gaze over the students seated on the edge of the pews of ice, he wrapped up his sermon and announced, “Chapel . . . is dismissed.”

What I thought of this prompt:

Aside from being a good chance to interact with my group mates, this was just a fun activity overall. In class, we were given a limited number of campus personalities to choose from, and those who have attended Grove City College will immediately recognize the endearing personage described here. I also enjoyed this activity because it stretched me as a writer. I love being descriptive, and I know how easy it is to let my adjectives and adverbs run away with my writing. By limiting myself to nouns and verbs, I was able to see that less really is more. One strong verb can say more than five adjectives - and it often does.