Challenge Accepted!

Not sure why, but a few days ago I thought about challenging myself to write something everyday for a whole month.

I tried doing it before but I failed miserably. So, this year, I thought of a few things that would help me write something every day. For a whole month.

1. I need to do it in public – maybe because I’m just like anyone else who is on social media: I need to be the centre of attention. However, to make myself feel better, I told myself that I’m doing this in public for the accountability. If I have an audience and I’ve made a promise to write every day, I better do it, right?
2. I’ve stolen an idea off of someone’s journal about what to write everyday/night. I found it quite doable, actually. There are 4 prompts: a) affirmation for the night; b) what went well today; c) what do I want to improve on; and d) thoughts and feelings. I am planning to go back to these 4 prompts if I can’t think of anything to write. I don’t want to stick to ‘this script’ too much or too often because it has the potential to be boring.
3. I am reading My Friends by Hisham Matar for Transit Bookstore #WarandPeace Book Club and I’m committed to post something about it weekly, throughout July. This will help a lot with the plan of writing everyday because I can just write everyday about what I read today!

Now that I’ve set things up for this challenge, and make it as easy as possible for my own benefit, I really hope I can stick with it!

For the first day of this challenge, I just go simple by writing about what I think of My Friends by Hisham Matar.

I haven’t really thought this through, but I know I want to make it brief. So, for now, I will go back to just listing things I find interesting in the first few pages of the book.

1. Wow. Hisham Matar can write. Hot damn!
2. I like that very early on in the book, Matar gave a shout out to Ireland via a female character who reminded the 2 Libyan boys that Irish people in Britain are exiles too.
3. I like that the book made a juxtaposition between Qaddafi and our protagonist’s mad relative. After all, Qaddafi was an uncle too and after reading this juxtaposition, I can’t help but wonder what it would be like if I had a dictator uncle. Would my life be the same?
4. The scene at King’s Cross. Wow. I could feel the emotion between the two friends. That scene made me think of which other author who can make me feel so immersed in the story. When I know the answer, I will come back.
5. I can’t wait to continue reading!
   

That is all for today. Short and hopefully a bit sweet. 🙂

Until tomorrow! And hopefully my writing will be better then too!