New Year's "Resolutions" & Creative Process with the novelist Aamina Ahmad
A conversation with the brilliant Aamina Ahmad on writing rituals, novel research, and how motherhood changes the creative process
I’ve never been a fan of new year’s resolutions. They always felt like starting the new year off with a to-do list. Instead of lofty and ambiguous goals, I like to think of something small and fun I want to integrate into my life that year.
One year it was simply: lipstick. It felt unnatural for me to wear it, and I admired women who carried a tube in their bag or had a go to shade. 2018 was the year of baseball caps. I bought one and never looked back. Now tattered and crumpled I never get on a plane without it.
Maybe my favorite new year’s “resolution” was the year I decided to take more photos on film. I’d dabbled in film classes throughout college and high school and always loved the steps: threading film, catching it on the little hooks, adjusting apertures, bringing the quiet camera lens to my eye, the red light of a darkroom. I knew going for an involved (and I’m sure more rewarding) film camera would be a steep step, and that the trick with “resolutions” is to make the goal as simple as possible— so I bought an unfussy point and shoot Olympus in London’s Spitalfields market and ordered a roll of film.
Now, nearly four years later, my film photos are my personal treasures, the stuff I’d drag out of a burning building God forbid. It’s become such a habitual part of my life I often don’t leave the house without the sturdy little camera. I love the magic of saving months worth of rolls before taking them to get developed, trying to remember what I snapped while I wait for the dropbox link. (I wish I was cooler and could say I develop my own film in a dark room but alas I have a loyalty card at Snappy Snapps)
2024 now and I’ve drawn a blank. I’m not sure what small, manageable goal I want to make a part of my life. I believe in choosing something actionable and then taking the first step towards it as soon as possible, but for some reason this year the very vague ‘I want to experiment more’ keeps bobbing up.
I suppose First Draft was born out of that desire to experiment, as is the main feature of today’s newsletter— Creative Process— in which I voice-note interview artists I admire about the very practical ways they approach the mysterious endeavor of making.
The first artist I’m so thrilled to be in conversation with is the brilliant writer Aamina Ahmad. I’m so grateful that Aamina agreed to this voice-note experiment and shared so many gems about her writing life, including the ritual she returns to and some fun assignments she gives her students.
As ever, thank you for being here. I’d love to hear what you want to integrate into your life this year in the comments. At first, it’s a stray thought, or taking a step that feels unnatural. Then pretty soon you look back a year later and it’s your life. Baseball caps and lipsticks called Pillow Talk, abandoned toys and empty benches caught on film.
xx Fatima
Aamina Ahmad is truly one of the most graceful and spellbinding writers I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Her deeply moving novel, The Return of Faraz Ali, is a true masterpiece. It’s about a young officer who is sent back to his birthplace in Lahore to cover up the murder of a girl, only to find himself pulled into solving her murder as well as the mystery at the center of his own life: his own abduction from the same neighborhood as a young boy. The Return of Faraz Ali is an intricately woven labyrinth of personal and political history.
I loved my conversation with Aamina Ahmad about creative rituals, writing from an embodied place, novel research, and how managing one’s time as a novelist changes with motherhood. I hope you will too.
Fatima Farheen:
Aamina Ahmad:
Fatima Farheen:
Aamina Ahmad:
Aamina Ahmad:
Quick Q&A with Aamina Ahmad
Morning or night, when do you work?
Night!
Carefully outlined or discover as you go?
More discovery but I need an end point to get to, so a very loose plan helps.
Coffee or tea?
A caffeine-free fake coffee tea drink called Pero so that’s maybe both?
Favorite work snack?
When I’m struggling, mini snickers bars seem to find me…
Your first reader?
My mum!
Your best break?
Always a walk.
Here are a few of my favorite film photos, captured by my Olympus XA2 over the years.