Doha: The Ministry of Culture’s Qatar Authors Forum (QFA) organised yesterday a workshop on the foundations of the art of the novel with Dr. Amir Taj El-Sir, running from January 12 to 15.
The workshop aims to provide participants with a solid foundation in novel writing, from the initial idea through to the final text, with a focus on practical experiences and engagement with real texts.
This approach helps enhance narrative skills and artistic awareness among participants. The workshop is primarily directed towards young people and those with a tendency towards literature and the novel, including secondary school and university students, as well as budding writers seeking to advance their writing tools based on correct artistic principles.
The event covers core themes such as sources of fictional ideas and methods of transforming inspiration into a narrative topic. It also addresses character development with strong human depth and artistic appeal, plot techniques and the structuring of events, and style and language in novel writing.
In addition, the workshop features contributions drawn from the personal experience of Dr. Amir Taj El-Sir in developing a text from the first draft to the final version, along with a practical session on writing a novel excerpt and reviewing it within an interactive panel discussion.
Participants are expected to produce an excerpt, a fictional story, or a full draft ready for completion, while also mastering the basics of fiction writing, developing self-critical skills, and learning literary editing techniques.
This is the second-level workshop in a series of foundational workshops that QFA organises as part of its ongoing efforts to discover literary talent, elevate writers’ and cultural knowledge.
