Write. Belong. Be Read.
Writing Fiction: Style & Content
Format
In-person Or Online
When
Saturdays, 10:00
Current Cohort
Sep-Dec 2025
Next Enrolment
Jan-March 2026
Duration
36 Hours, 12 Weeks
Price
AED 4,500
from idea to publication
About Writing Fiction
What You Will Achieve
- By the end of the pathway, you will write characters whose interior life, motive formation, and emotional plausibility are evident on the page.
- You will produce manuscript pages with consistent narrative voice, purposeful stance, and clear structural movement across multiple sections.
- You will articulate narrative intention and defend key choices in written and oral form, shaping reader experience through deliberate craft.
- You will complete a polished creative portfolio of up to 5,000 words, accompanied by a concise critical commentary that situates your work in contemporary writing culture.
- You will participate in selected publication opportunities through the Sahab Collective Journal, creating an audience facing artefact suitable for approaches to agents or editors.
- You will demonstrate the ability to give and receive thoughtful feedback, integrating peer insight into revision and supporting communal critique.
Writers
Who Writing Fiction is for
This pathway is designed for adults who want to strengthen the dramatic and emotional movement of their stories. You may have scenes that sit flat, characters without clear desire, or pages that describe rather than reveal. If you are ready to explore causality, conflict, discovery and interiority, to understand how readers experience tension on the page, then this pathway provides structured prompts, communal critique and practical method to help your fiction feel alive.
You might:
You might:
- have early chapters or story drafts that lack pressure, consequence, or meaningful change
- want to learn how desire, obstacle and revelation shape character arcs and reader identification
- be open to narratological concepts that clarify pacing, perspective and timing of discovery
- seek a community that offers precise, attentive feedback on character interiority, scene logic and emotional plausibility
Name of Pathway
Tuition Time
Mode of Learning
Venues
Start Date
Finish Date
Portfolio Development
What you will Produce
Format
Cohort Size
Entry Requirements
Fees
Programme Options and Fees
In Person and Online
In Person - 1 Seminar: Craft Orientation
AED 500
Experience communal critique and reader response, and begin shaping intention on the page.
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1 seminar
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Curated Reading List
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Three hours of seminar-based learning
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Access to the Manuscript Circle
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Contact Sahab Collective to participate in a live trial session at discount
In Person - 5 Seminars: Technique Progression
AED 2,000
Continue the momentum across multiple drafts. Develop consistency, explore form, and receive iterative feedback.
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5 seminars
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Curated Reading List
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15 hours of tuition and creativity
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Access to the Manuscript Circle
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One piece of extended writing workshopped in class
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Instructor feedback on short-form pages generated n session
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Flexible, with non-consecutive attendance
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Sessions may be applied across different pathways, subject to availability.
In Person - 12 Seminars: Publication Portfolio
AED 4,500
Complete your manuscript, refine narrative intention, and prepare for publication with sustained, professional support.
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Full course of 12 weekly seminars (36 hours)
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Curated Reading List
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36 hours of tuition and creativity
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Access to the Manuscript Circle
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Two pieces of extended writing workshopped in seminar
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Regular instructor feedback on short-form pages generated in session
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Flexible attendance, with credit applied to alternative sessions if requested
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Access to parallel online sessions for added flexibility
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Two developmental meetings supporting manuscript progression and commentary strategy
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Submit up to 5,000 polished words for publication pathway in the Sahab Collective Journal
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Pay in full for a 20% discount, or via instalments
Download Programme Specification
Pathway Progression
Louis Garratt
Creative Director, Educator, Writer
About
Louis Garratt is a writer and educator who founded Sahab Academy to give working creatives the structure, feedback, and community he once sought himself. His background in international education shapes the Academy’s balance of theory and practice, helping writers move from private drafts to finished, publishable work.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need prior study or a writing portfolio to join?
No. Curiosity, discipline and a willingness to be read are central. This programme supports both beginners shaping early pages and experienced writers refining longer manuscripts. You will encounter literary theory in accessible extracts, learning how ideas from thinkers such as Kristeva, Gusdorf or de Mann can refine intention and reader experience. The communal nature of critique means you learn as much from reading others as from having your own pages read. You do not need polished work to begin, only a readiness to draft, listen, revise and pursue clarity in language.
How much time should I expect to commit between seminars?
Weekly seminars provide the foundation for learning, but momentum is sustained between sessions. Most writers spend several hours across the week drafting new material, revising existing pages and completing short reflective prompts that prepare discussion. Reading selections are concise and chosen to sharpen craft, not overwhelm. The developmental meetings toward the end of the pathway provide personalised guidance, ensuring your independent work is purposeful. The expectation is not constant labour, but steady attention. This rhythm builds pages with intention and prevents projects from stalling in isolation.
What kind of feedback will I receive on my work?
Feedback comes through a combination of communal critique, close reading and one-to-one developmental meetings. You will learn to listen for how real readers experience tension, clarity, voice and structural movement. Comments focus on intention rather than taste, and emphasise revision across drafts rather than quick fixes. Communal critique cultivates an editorial eye that becomes transferable to your own pages; what you learn by responding to others often illuminates your own decisions. Developmental meetings guide portfolio cohesion and support the critical commentary, helping you articulate why your narrative choices matter.
Will my work be published?
Selected work from each pathway is published in the Sahab Collective Journal, a curated print and digital publication that brings emerging voices into conversation. Publication is accompanied by a public reading, which shifts your writing from private ambition into communal reception. Your final portfolio may include short stories, memoir fragments or chapters from longer projects, supported by a 2,000-word critical commentary that reflects on cultural positioning and reader response. These outcomes form a tangible artefact for approaching agents, editors and writing competitions, demonstrating disciplined revision and an awareness of audience.
Can I take more than one pathway?
Yes. Pathways may be taken sequentially to deepen craft and extend a manuscript over time. Many writers begin in fiction or nonfiction and later pursue Author’s Craft and Voice, or Genre and Form, to strengthen narrative stance and reader awareness. Because each pathway focuses on different experiential effects of storytelling—psychological interiority, cultural positioning, or structural clarity—returning writers encounter new tools rather than repetition. Continuing within the academy also strengthens community ties, expanding your network of attentive readers and sustaining accountability beyond a single semester.
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