SELINSGROVE -- Eighth-grader Francesca Damiano sat typing away Thursday in a computer lab at Susquehanna University's ultra-modern Apfelbaum Hall, working to revise a piece of historical fiction.

"It's about the Spanish armada," Francesca, of Selinsgrove, explained. "The English fleet had 130 ships and the Spanish fleet had only 30."

Francesca and 29 other pupils in grades four through eight have been developing their creative writing skills thanks to SU's 2007 Junior Writers' Workshop. Director Kathy Irwin Lentz said the three one-week sessions are designed to get kids to strengthen their writing chops the old fashioned way: by writing, workshopping and revising.

"The first two days were all about writing, voice, organization, sentence fluency -- things like that," she said. "By Wednesday, the students were ready to read their work out loud."

Susquehanna University junior Kristina Fangmann, a writing major from Northumberland, is one of several university students lending a guiding hand at the workshop.

"It's not what I expected. The kids are doing a lot more than I thought they would -- I just give them feedback to help their development," she said.

Pupils talked about their work Thursday in a round-table discussion with university interns, debating the merits of giving a name to the killer in one kid's story.

"We want the students to understand you can't be a writer until someone reads your work," said Ms. Irwin Lentz.

She noted the Junior Writers' Workshop isn't as much about having her students produce a polished piece of work as it is about helping them advance their talents.

"I'm very pleased," she said. "Parents were happy with the way it went last year, and we're back this year with an even better program."

She added there are still slots available Aug. 13-17 for pupils who have completed either third or fourth grade. Those interested may call 372-4354. Workshop fees are $145 per person.

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