All of us have different stories and experiences in life, and most of them are exciting and unique. Very few people share their stories and experience in an artistic way by writing them in the form of books. Sateah Afridi, a 27-year-old female author from Pakistan, is one of those people. Sateah has recently published her book We Are All SINNERS In The End. The book was edited by MAKA and Illustrated by Fakeha Sajid.
She wrote and compiled the book in the year 2020. It was an ode to her maternal grandparents. The book surrounds themes of loss, love, freedom, and compromise.
This week we had a chat with her and asked her questions about her writing process, favorite books, and more. Read below:
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
This is an easy one. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Since I was probably 6 or 7 years old. I think I still have some of my old notebooks in which I scribbled out my practice autographs.
Do you remember the first book you read?
It was this one! (Mahawary And Zarb-ul-Misal). I memorized the entire book through the pictures. I couldn’t even read properly but I knew what all the words said because the pictures were so beautiful.
When did you write your first poetry?
My first attempt at writing poetry was when I first started writing altogether. I was around 6 or 7 years old I believe. I wish I still had those works but back then backing up hard drives wasn’t so common.
Your favorite writers/poets?
Surprisingly, I try to avoid poets. So that whatever I write is from an untainted perspective and I’m not influenced by anyone’s writing. However, I do have some favorite writers. Like, Syndey Sheldon and Nicholas Sparks.
Your favorite books?
The Hunger Game Trilogy was by far the best Young Adult novel I’ve ever read. The world-building and the grey areas of morality. Everything was just so stunningly drawn out.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
I can’t explain it. I don’t write with a set schedule. I write whenever creativity strikes. Which can sometimes lead to very odd workdays because I do have a full-time job as well and I need to finish deadlines, but I also need to write what’s in my head before I lose it.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I write by hand. I know in this digital age everything is on computers and laptops but my first instinct is to scribble is down on a notebook then get it transcribed by my editor who edits it while retyping it.
What inspired you to write your book “We are all sinners in the end”?
The dedication is the reason this book even exists. I wrote the dedication over a decade ago and I wanted to have something to honor it.
How long did it take you to write the book?
I don’t think I can truly measure it. In a way, this book took almost 13 years to make but in another, it took a little less than a year to compile. Some of the work in it was from very long ago but a lot of it was written in 2020, during the height of quarantine. So, I would say that it took less than a year. We started in July of 2020 that, yes, have to create and do this project and in March 2021, we had the launch.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned while writing your book?
How easy and seamless the process is. The companies make it sound scary and daunting, but it was all pretty easy, honestly.
Any advice for young authors who have just started writing?
Never delete anything. Ever. You don’t like it? It’s fine. Put it away. Come back to it after a while. But never ever erase something just because you think it’s not good enough. You look at it with extreme scrutiny, your reader will not. Keep everything you write and never stop writing. No matter how bad it seems your work is.
You can purchase her book by clicking the link below
