“1 Year Ago” New Writing Challenge Explained

Why I’m starting this series and how you’re involved.

Alec Zaffiro
2 min readJan 8, 2023
Photo by Polina Kondrashova on Unsplash

How it works

This is a new series I’m starting for the duration of 2023.

The concept is simple: I’m going back to share, analyze, and critique the most authentic personal narrative known to man… his own journal.

Every week, I plan to share real, raw, unedited journal entries I wrote over the course of 2022. Let me explain why.

Why I’m starting this series

I have a relentless belief that this year matters.

Maybe it’s because I moved across the country a few months ago.

Maybe it’s because I made a lifelong commitment to another human being at the start of last year.

Maybe it’s because I’m 26, turning 27 this year, and I finally feel both feet planted firmly in adulthood.

For whatever reason, I’m uniquely optimistic about 2023. I feel like this every New Year, but this year is different. Seriously.

This year matters.

Why? Because I have a vision.

I’ve been envisioning the next 12 months — what I want them to look like, what I want them to mean, what…

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Alec Zaffiro

I write to think and organize my ideas. I like psychology, philosophy, and self-improvement—em dashes are my specialty. Not an expert.*