I’ve been teaching a writing class, Taking the Fear Out of Writing. As a weekly  assignment, I asked the students to write for just five minutes on a specific prompt word. Yes, I used prompts from my Five Minute Friday experience.

So, imagine my joy when I came across Kate Motaung’s latest venture, The Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal.

The Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal is a tool for seasoned, new and wannabe writers. Based on precepts in the Five Minute Friday community, the Journal presents 52 independent one word writing prompts for writers to ponder. The “rules” are simple — free write for five minutes until until you run out of space on the page, time in the day, ink in your pen, or words in your mind. You could write every day, once a week, or whenever inspiration strikes.

The Five Minute Friday community is an online writing community that gathers weekly to free write on a single word prompt at fiveminutefriday.com. You’re welcome to join us

The purpose of the Journal is to get writers to focus, spark inspiration, provide space for you to practice your craft, and challenge you to cultivate the habit of writing regularly. Let go of your inhibiting fears and gain new confidence page by page as you practice these freewriting exercises. No overthinking, no worrying about spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, or what anyone else will think — just write. If the timer beeps and you want to keep going, great! If you stop after five minutes, great! The goal is not to get it just right, but to just write.

While this book is not technically for readers, it most definitely is for writers at whatever stage of development they made be in. Interspersed through the pages are Kate’s pearls of writing wisdom which are designed to encourage you. I was particularly touched by the Writer’s Blessing.

May the pages in this journal open doors to wonder and possibility.
May you dig deep for the gems hidden beneath the surface, for treasure within.
May you push yourself beyond your own ability and draw your strength from Him.
May you delight in the gift of creative work and see in it evidence of the Creator.
May you go further than writing to find yourself and use the writing to find your Maker.

May you go further than writing to find yourself and use the writing to find your Maker!

I give it a solid five stars.

The Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal

Kate Motaung

Paperback: 161 pages, $14.99 (Amazon Prime)

Publisher: Independently published (June 18, 2019)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 107351336X

ISBN-13: 978-1073513369

Kate is the author of A Place to Land: A Story of Longing and Belonging, The Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal, A Start-Up Guide for Online Christian Writers, and Letters to Grief, and co-author of Influence: Building a Platform that Elevates Jesus (Not Me). She is the host of Five Minute Friday (fiveminutefriday.com), an online community that encourages and equips Christian writers, and she blogs at Heading Home (katemotaung.com). Kate is the owner of Refine Services (refineservices.com), a company that offers writing, editing, and digital marketing services. Kate has degree in Bible, theology, and cross-cultural missions from Kuyper College in Grand Rapids, MI, and an Honours degree from the Bible Institute of South Africa. She loves writing creative nonfiction and memoir. Her desire is to point readers to the hope found in Jesus, and to urge people to long for eternity with Him.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: There is a story about an old Cherokee chief who is teaching his grandson about life. He tells him, “A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.  One is evil — he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt and ego. The other is good — he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. This same fight is going on inside you — and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about this for a minute, then turned to his grandfather and asked, “Which wolf will win?” The wise old chief turned to his grandson, smiled knowingly and replied simply, “The one you feed.”

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