There are so many good ideas for writing exercises in "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg. This morning I tried the one suggested in the chapter entitled "Every Monday". One of the points made in this chapter was how a friend of the author's remarked once that as a writer Natalie had relationships not only with people but with inanimate objects. That might sound strange at first, but consider how writers have (or should have) a special knack for befriending whatever is around them, absorbing its essence, and letting it flow out through them in words. The exercise? Write "I am a friend to ____" and use only inanimate objects. Try it!

I wrote about one of my favorite inanimate "friends", a pen in the shape of the Egyptian jackal god Anubis. The exercise is to write for ten minutes in a free-write, without stopping or editing. Here's how it came out.

So I am a friend to my Anubis pen. We like each other and spend a lot of time together, happy, sad or indifferent. I love the scratchy sound Anubis makes as he speaks for me. He is my voice on the page of my journal and elsewhere. I hold tightly to him in times of stress and he is my stabilizing rock in times of anxiety or anger. He's rich, with his gold trim and little (fake) topaz gem in his paws. He's good-looking too (for a jackal) with his big pointy ears and his stylish Egyptian wig. He bears the inscription "PLAY PEN" just below his belt. Hmm, rather seductive, ha ha. He's always ready to listen to me and go with my flow. He knows my deepest, darkest secrets and has witnessed me at my best and at my worst. What a buddy, what a pal. As far as inanimate objects go, Anubis is a friend among friends, a prince of playtime or worktime, a pen of great poise and importance, a reliable confidante who has travelled many miles across the pages with me, and, refills provided, will accompany me on many more adventures.