Featured Writer on Wellness: Aamna Qureshi

The biggest emotional challenge of writing?

The waiting.

So much of writing and the publishing process takes an immense amount of time. Months can go by with no movement, no change, and as a result, you can feel completely hopeless and out of control.

What You Can Control While Waiting for News from Agents and Publishers

It is very anxiety-inducing, waiting and waiting around with no news for weeks. The way that I cope with this is by keeping myself busy.

The one thing you can control is how you spend your time while waiting for responses: you can either do nothing, which will make the time pass slower, or you can work on new projects, which will distract you and keep your life moving forward.

A really important thing is to have a good daily schedule. I like to start the day with some light yoga and stretching, and end the day with light meditation. I don’t do anything crazy, but I find that spending even a few minutes centering myself helps me stay calm and grounded.

Another thing that helps me cope emotionally is to have a skincare routine: I find massaging my face at the beginning and end of the day very relaxing.

How Writers Can Suffer from Tendonitis

The biggest physical challenge of writing?

Joint pain!

I’ve developed terribly painful tendonitis in both of my wrists. There’s not much I can do about it, but it helps me to wear wrist braces when I’m not writing, to try and accelerate the healing and make sure the pain is not exacerbated.

On days it’s especially bad, I’ll wear the braces whilst typing as well. I’ve heard ergonomic keyboards are very helpful, too, but I haven’t tried them, as I’m often carrying my laptop away from my desk to sit on the floor or my bed or by the fire or out in my backyard.

Another important thing is to stay hydrated. I always keep a massive water bottle on my desk. It’s also important not to have caffeine on an empty stomach, so I always make sure to eat breakfast before sitting down with tea or coffee. I also take a multivitamin! So lots of little things that I think help.

Writing Stories is a Translation of Feelings

What helps me stay creative?

Consuming media! Watching tv shows and movies, as well as reading books.

Also, talking to people. I love, love, love talking and listening. For me, writing stories for me is a translation of feelings and experiences and thoughts that I have, a way to write those things down in a way that I can make sense of them, or in a way that is entertaining.

I often reread or rewatch favorites, particularly those that I think are incredibly well done on a craft-level, as they inspire me to focus on my writing again. I’ll list a few favorites here, though there are many, many more.

For books, I love Melina Marchetta’s contemporary works, especially The Piper’s Son and Jellicoe Road; Sally Rooney’s novels; Evie Dunmore’s Bringing Down the Duke; Sarah Hogle’s You Deserve Each Other; Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology; Renee Ahdieh’s The Wrath and the Dawn duology; and Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices trilogy.

For movies, I love rom-coms and period pieces, especially Letters to Juliet; Jab We Met; Love, Rosie; Pride and Prejudice (2005); Little Women (2019); Howl’s Moving Castle; and The Last Letter From Your Lover. For shows, I love BBC’s War and Peace; Sanditon; Miss Scarlet and the Duke; Normal People; Las Chicas Del Cable; Anne with an E; and Baby Daddy.

I Try Not to Drive Myself Crazy by Thinking About All the Things I Could Be Doing

My most successful marketing tactic—not worrying about marketing!

It’s such an erratic thing, and there’s no set formula to it. I try to do as much as I can, by being active on social media, but beyond that, I try not to drive myself crazy thinking about all the million things I could be doing.

I enjoy Twitter because you get to interact with so many lovely people and it’s very immediate and in the moment. I’ve made great friends and have such amazing interactions with some truly wonderful people. It’s an incredible community of writers and readers.

I also enjoy how random and quick Twitter is; it requires very little from you. Plus, it is, at times, unbelievably hilarious.

Of course, there’s unpleasantness, too, and drama, as with anything, but I try to avoid it and scroll past whatever I don’t have the capacity to engage with.

How I Get the Writing Done

I set deadlines for myself, and when I am on deadline, I try to write 2,000 words a day, 5 days a week, so about 10,000 words a week.

I do that after I’ve done all my prep work, which is a messy outline (alternatively very vague and very specific). It, of course, depends on the story, too. Sometimes I write half of it, then take a break for a few weeks or few months, then come back to it; sometimes I can write the whole thing in an uninterrupted span of a few months.

The most important thing is to push yourself, but not force yourself. Be kind to yourself, take breaks, recover, and come back with renewed energy.

Advice for a Young Writer: Don’t Give Up!

Don’t give up! I know it’s cliche, but you just have to keep pushing through, never giving up, and something will happen, eventually.

You might need to change tactics and abandon practices and start over and over again, but if you keep going, something will happen, and it’s so worth it.

* * *

Aamna Qureshi is a Pakistani, Muslim American who adores words. She grew up in a very loud household, surrounded by English (for school), Urdu (for conversation), and Punjabi (for emotion).

Through her writing, she wishes to inspire a love for the beautiful country and rich culture that informed much of her identity. When she’s not writing, she loves to travel to new places where she can explore different cultures or to Pakistan where she can revitalize her roots.

She also loves baking complicated desserts, drinking fancy teas and coffees, watching sappy rom-coms, and going for walks about the estate (her backyard). She currently lives in New York.

For more information on Aamna, see her website and connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.

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The Lady Or the Lion: As crown princess of Marghazar, Durkhanai Miangul will do anything to protect her people and her land. When her grandfather, the Badshah, is blamed for a deadly assault on the summit of neighboring leaders, the tribes call for his head. To assuage cries for war, the Badshah opens Marghazar’s gates to foreigners for the first time in centuries, in a sign of good faith. His family has three months to prove their innocence, or they will all have war.

As Durkhanai races to solve who really orchestrated the attack, ambassadors from the neighboring tribal districts arrive at court, each with their own intentions for negotiations, each with their own plans for advantage. When a mysterious illness spreads through the villages and the imperialists push hard on her borders, Durkhanai must dig deep to become more than just a beloved princess—she must become a queen.

To distract Durkhanai from it all is Asfandyar Afridi, the wry ambassador who tells her outright he is a spy, yet acts as though he is her friend—or maybe even something more.

All buying Links at CamCat Books.

The Man Or the Monster: In this sequel to The Lady or the Lion, Durkhanai grapples with the consequences of choosing her lover’s fate. But with war looming and her father’s vengeance threatening to engulf her, the fate of her kingdom once again lies in her hands.