It’s Been a Year!

Dear God, it’s been a year. I have absolutely no idea how such a thing could possibly have happened. Part of me feels like I started this blog only yesterday and the rest of me can barely believe that it hasn’t always been a part of my life. But it’s true.

A year ago today, The Imperfect Muslimah was born. Back then, I thought that the blog would serve as some sort of electronic diary for me – unseen by anyone really despite being on the Internet and easily accessible. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the idea that I was capable of truly interesting people with what I wrote – definitely not enough to actually make them keep coming back for more.

But it happened, somehow or the other and Alhamdulilah for that.

Starting The Imperfect Muslimah was the beginning of a journey for me – and what better way to celebrate the progress that I’ve made on this journey than to look back and appreciate all the milestones on the way. Now, don’t think that this is some sort of ending – I love doing this so much that I’ll do it for as long as I’m able In Shaa Allah. It’s just that I’m quite a sappy person.

A year ago today, I wrote my first blog post. At the time, I had no idea what The Imperfect Muslimah was going to turn into, or even what it was already. All I knew was that I hadn’t been able to write with any success for over a year at that point and I was willing to grab onto anything that helped me lift myself out of that hole.

Surprisingly enough, it worked. I didn’t even try to write the fiction that had been my preference before. I stuck to blogging and soon enough, I didn’t need to struggle to get the words out. I even found it in me to start writing for another website, the Muslimah Bloggers which I still write for and help out with to this day.

Things didn’t stop there. I had originally been writing under a pseudonym, too shy to do it under my real name. But as I got more confident with the idea of blogging, I began to tell people about the blog and then eventually claim it under my name as well. It was such a natural process that I don’t actually have a date for it marked down anywhere.

Things continued on in that fashion for a long while. But then in August, there was another fairly big change. I’d begun playing around with writing fiction again and on August 1^st, I finally shared that with the world. Since then, I’ve written three full-length manuscripts, a novella and a handful of short stories. I rediscovered my passion for telling a story, for being able to draw an audience in and entertain them, weaving a tale as I went.

Without The Imperfect Muslimah, I don’t know that I would have ever done that. I still remember just how hard and pointless-seeming it was to write. Now, don’t get me wrong – every writer has days when they hate their own work, days when the Block has taken creativity and inspiration hostage. But I’d always likened it to having a blockage; you could still feel the flow of words, it was just that you couldn’t get them out. In that scary time, I could no longer feel them. I could no longer remember quite how to tell a story.

It was terrifying for me because writing has always been a part of me. One of the most important parts, to be exact. And somehow, I’d managed to lose it.

But now, I’ve found it again. So much so that I’m about to release my first book. So much so that I’m considering starting a podcast and have been toying around with the idea of submitting to magazines again.

All of this begun with starting The Imperfect Muslimah. And every one of you readers have joined me along the way. It’s been a fantastic journey so far and I’m truly grateful to all of you for the support, love and feedback that you’ve given me so far. I hope that I continue to entertain you for a long time to come In Shaa Allah.